please log in to view this image Saturday 8th May 12.30pm Premier League Elland Road The team bounced back well after the disappointment of the cup final, albeit against weak opposition. It'll be a much trickier game this week and the difference in experience between the managers is immense. We're still pushing for a European place next season, while Leeds would love to finish in the top half. Bielsa's had a very impressive debut campaign in the Premier League and that would lay down a marker. Can Mason keep the team on track for the remaining games or will we come unstuck in Leeds? Last season was Bielsa's 2nd with Leeds and they improved on his previous effort comfortably. That wasn't a bad one either, as they'd looked set for promotion for most of the campaign, only to fade late on. The club didn't rest on it's laurels having sealed their return to the top-flight, though. They were very active in the transfer market, spending fairly large fees on a number of players. Costa, Meslier, Rodrigo, Koch, Llorente, Raphinha and others were added and Harrison was loaned from City. They started the campaign with two games that have largely summed up their season. The first was a 4-3 loss to Liverpool and the second was a 4-3 win over Fulham. Hard work and attacking intent have been their trademarks and it's often turned out well for them. They've been exposed by greater quality on occasion, but they've impressed a lot of neutrals along the way. Their victory with 10 men at The Etihad recently has probably been their highlight. There was no equivalent fixture last season, of course, but our match at home was pretty comfortable. The visitors started fairly brightly before a clumsy challenge by Alioski on Bergwijn gave away a penalty. Kane put it away from the spot, then became provider for Son just before the break to make it 2-0. An Alderweireld header from a corner shortly after half-time made it 3-0 and largely finished things off. There was still time for Doherty to pick up two stupid yellows and get sent off, but it was too late to matter: No injury news yet, but Davies is out long-term, it seems. Phillips, Forshaw and Belloli are out for the hosts, who should see Cooper return from a suspension. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Lo Celso, Hojbjerg; Bale, Alli, Son; Kane. Subs: Hart, Doherty, Sanchez, Winks, Ndombele, Sissoko, Bergwijn, Lamela, Moura. League form: WDLDWW. Leeds: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Strujik, Alioski; Koch; Dallas, Klich, Roberts, Harrison; Bamford. Subs: Casilla, Berardi, Drameh, Huggins, Jenkins, Shackleton, Hernandez, Poveda, Rodrigo. League form: WWWDDL. Ref: Michael ****ing Oliver. VAR: Paul ****ing Tierney. TV: BT Sport 1. How would you like to line up for this one and what would you change from the Sheffield Utd game? Would you stick with much of the same lineup, make a few changes or go for a wholesale switch? Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Leeds to go with?
Same team as last time out IMO, Tanguy is tempting as Leeds will press and he’s very good at beating a press but his lack of energy worries me. If he does play I’d like to see GLC play as 10 instead of Dele, and Tanguy deeper though I imagine it’ll be pretty fluid like Sunday regardless. Though I’d written him off it would be nice to see Dele get a run, if he can find form it’s him in the shop window if nothing else but it might get the new manager excited and be the start of a bit of a comeback. In many ways Dele is a mirror of Spurs under Poch - maybe peaked a bit early on and was far better far sooner than anyone expected, and hasn’t managed to deal with regressing to the mean. I’d love him to get back to near his old self but the reason I think he might move on is because I’m not sure he’ll do it with us. As I said, a lot depends on the new manager.
I’d bring Lucas in for Dele, that’d be the only change I’d make from Sheffield. Ideally I’d also like Rodon over Dier but it’s not happening.
The former Leeds lads we’ve had in recent years really have been great for the most part. Lennon’s one of the most exciting players I’ve ever watched. Robbo was a top keeper for a spell. Rose had a couple brilliant seasons plus that goal. Woodgate (via a few other clubs)... if only he remained fit! He and Ledley were unreal in the games they managed to play alongside one another. Good times.
Is Ndombele taking the piss? He appears to be wearing about 8 layers of clothing, gloves and a hat. Sanchez is from Colombia and he's got none of that ****.
A Colombian not feeling the effects of UK spring weather ?? Wonder what he is consuming as part of his diet ...
If I was Spurs coach, I would dimension that training drill by both passes and time. This attempt : no more than 3 passes and 7 seconds before a shot on goal. Next attempt : no more than 2 in 5 seconds etc.
Davies is still out and Moura and Ndombele had knocks last week, but passed tests for this one and are fine. I assume Mason's had media training in his time off, as I know he started doing some punditry. He's very good at making composed, multi-sentence statements off the cuff, though. Manages to avoid saying anything controversial or stupid while filling a lot of air time. Interesting.
Leicester losing, Chelsea playing city and Everton and West Ham playing each other. Could be an opportunity for us to make some real progress in the league, obviously we all know how the game is going to go then!
Hopefully with the intent not just to win, but also to similarly rack up the GD (it could well come down to that at the end) .