Leeds United (A) Post Match Thread

[Neville Kneville]

We know we aren't 100% though and so did Leeds, who I think you're selling short a bit there. We should be beating them yes but it was always going to be a tricky tie where we needed to be at our best... So to put it another way, we weren't anywhere near our best and still nearly won.

We showed at the start, the reality of the difference between the teams.

2 seasons ago, that game's a 5-0 imo.

 

[hertsblue]

We can’t put a shot on target and have no strikers and Utd get Cavani on a free transfer

 

[SWPISHOME]

Sorry to say it but there is nobody out on the pitch to steady the ship when waters get choppy - a calming hand on the tiller.....WE MISS KOMPANY and I am not sure they come along that often

Completely agree.

On top of that, the steel we had in the side has been replaced by wet bog roll.

 

[Paul1970]

People are so negative. Leeds play better than Chelsea, United and honestly more impressive than Liverpool.

Ederson kept us in this game. 3 monster saves. We could’ve lost this game, but we certainly miss our strikers.

Would have loved a win but I’m positive. We look very solid defensively.

I agree mate . That was a very difficult game and I don’t think people realise how good Leeds are . Dias and Laporte look really good and ake will be good aswell . We have really fucked with our striker options but when it pointed out that that we have no plan b all many posters on here who now pull pep to pieces were saying we don’t do plan b as it’s not peps way . Every team needs a dzecko when needed . Not bothered about the title as we are In transition and we are not as good as Liverpool at the moment . I do think mendy is done now and also Phil foden is not ready to fill David Silva s yet . And also Rodri is not gonna be able to do what we want him to. All in all it was a good game but not the end of the world

 

[vasan]

Desire or lack of it

possession stats merely show we were tactically prepared and didn't do a full man to man press against their last defensive line and allowed their centers back to keep passing to each other and setup a counter pressing trap against Kalvin Phillips which worked really well

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Problem is our forwards are both injured. Sterling can score but he can miss he's a wide player, Pep will never turn him into a centre forward because if it was that easy he would of been a center forward when we bought him. Mahrez scores 1 worldie every 2 to 3 months so don't expect him to score regularly either, he's also a wide inside forward.
Its glaringly obvious whats happening we have no forwards, doesn't excuse the goalie making boo boo's though does it

Pickford has made more mistakes leading to goals than any other keeper this season , Everton are top of the league because they have a centre forward on fire, end of subject.

 

[domalino]

The obvious issues are still there. The 3 new signings bedding in isn’t the issue. They haven’t caused us any problems as such.

Having 2 strikers one of which is 32 with injury problems is an issue, the balance of the midfield is an issue, the loss of Silva with no obvious replacement is an issue, having one natural but out of form left back is an issue, the way our team panics after conceding is an issue, the amount of quality chances we concede is an issue.

I understand that we had a short break, I know we have injury and Covid issues but we are still showing the same fragility. We’ve become flat track bullies, great when we’re two goals up but likely to collapse when things go wrong.

How can you get worked up that the balance of midfield is an issue when the player who is most likely to slot in and fix that balance, Bernardo, only started training with the side this week, and hasn't been fit enough to start yet?

We didn't panic after conceding tonight, we pretty much shut them down straight away with help from a couple of subs.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

A big concern for me is the lack of great saves an opposition keeper has to make when we play now. We don’t work the keeper hard enough. We need a new striker. We can’t piss around like this any longer. You can’t win the league after 7/8 games but you can certainly lose it and if we don’t shape up very quickly then we will be 8/9 points behind.

Mendy has to be dropped now. He is just a complete liability defensively. Mahrez too. He just doesn’t do enough.

Walker is starting to look sloppy again too.

The positives were Ederson despite the goal, Dias and Laporte who seemed to have a reasonable understanding.

Why did we take until the 80th min to wake up?

Very concerning first few games. Had Wolves and Leeds had a great striker we could easily have conceded 12 goals already.

 

[chaddblue]

This is gonna be a weird season. Nobody has had a proper pre season. Most clubs are gonna suffer fatigue and inevitable injuries and there will be lots of odd results with the best teams getting beaten more often than usual

We were always gonna suffer more than most at the start as we have had even less time to recover and prepare for the new season

I expect that as the season goes on we will get stronger compared to other teams and the strength of depth in our squad will come to the fore. No need to panic yet

 

[Neville Kneville]

Agreed, even the pitch being slippy was good for us. We're not the rags, we have no divine right to win every game, but I'd prefer if we were to lose out on the title again to do it fighting every step of the way.

We might look at today as a good point, who knows, Leeds are no mugs they'll take points at home off most teams

I imagine the scousers will beat them quite comfortably though. And they have already taken points from Chelsea away.

 

[No1 was Colin bell]

Shit performance after a bright opening. How the board can be satisfied with this transfer window I don't know. Or last season's. We're becoming average like Spurs and Arsenal and rags. So frustrating after the CAS victory. I wish we would go for players like Sancho and Haaland instead of Torres.

On top of that, we get nothing from refs and var. Any 50/50 decisions go the way of our opponents, every time.

Lots of work needed now, starting with shooting (yet again), closing down and fitness.

Oh yeah we were supposed to kick on post cas! Forgot about that.

 

[vasan]

We are getting nowhere near the League this year I’m afraid. Two shots on target from 23 attempts says it all. We’re missing that ruthlessness that we had a couple of years ago and we’ll have more days like today and last week. I suspect that we may finish below Utd this year, although still top 4.

Two of our front line strikers are missing, hardly surprising

 

[Damanino]

Reaction is key to losses/bad performances, really wonder what we gonna show vs Arsenal.
The reaction from Leicester to Leeds was not good enough vs a promoted club no matter how good Leeds were compared to the average promoted clubs' level.

Arteta knows this City team inside out with our weaknesses, he lost against us in Etihad last year but few weeks later he beat us after learning from that loss, in Fa cup semis.
He will try to copy the cup game for sure tactically, its up for Pep to see did he learn anything from that game. Problem is we had Lyon and Leicester since that, kind of proving he did not...

I expect Arteta having more issues in games where they re big favourites and they need to dominate games, as I see him as much more defensive coach who learnt a lot from Pep but does not share same romantic ideas about football and how it needs to be played in theory. Even with him growing up in Barcelona and played for Arsenal.

He is much more defensive guy, and like that imo we miss a lot of his input.

The balance is clearly fucked up for City currently in terms of transition into defending after attacks/losing the ball.
And it has been for some time now...

 

[bumbleblue]

We can’t put a shot on target and have no strikers and Utd get Cavani on a free transfer

200k a week and 10 mill agents fee and no doubt a healthy signing on fee for a player who will be 34 in Feb.. not at all “Free”.

 

[lust overlord]

I really don't know if the torrent of negativity on here will prove to be justified. I know I didn't think the performance was bad, in fact the first 20 minutes were excellent and the game should have been over at that point. That it wasn't and City didn't go on to win is mostly down to absolutely shocking shot accuracy from players who really are capable of doing better.

The other reason we didn't win is that Leeds got a spawny goal thanks to a diabolical piece of goalkeeping, why a goalkeeper is trying to punch two handed is beyond me. Our keeper did make some good saves so there is no denying Leeds had chances but they are capable of playing some clever football - they scored three at Klanfield.

We all knew going into the season that City have work to do to get back to a higher level. The team has had no preseason but has new players it needs to integrate and David Silva to replace as the regular centre left attacking midfielder plus we have both our usual centre forwards missing. The team shape and organisation is unquestionably in need of improvement but that is not entirely surprising in the circumstances.

In some ways the club has let itself down again in the transfer market by not doing something special although the three new players may all prove to be very good signings. All those players need to be given time to settle in, although Dias didn't actually look out of place today. Torres does look as though he will need some patience but he's a kid. Ake needs to used at left back for now to bring some straight-forward defensive solidity.

A settled back four of Walker Dias Laporte Ake might just give us a solid base to build greater confidence on which might just allow the forward players to be more relaxed and therefore more composed and accurate with their finishing.

Great summary.
Seasons barely started for us.

It may turn out to be disappointing,it may not
Lots of jerk knee reactionaries on here tonight.

 

[Neville Kneville]

How can you get worked up that the balance of midfield is an issue when the player who is most likely to slot in and fix that balance, Bernardo, only started training with the side this week, and hasn't been fit enough to start yet?

We didn't panic after conceding tonight, we pretty much shut them down straight away with help from a couple of subs.

And Ederson making several world class saves.

 

[hampshireblue]

It could easily have been 4-0 after 20 minutes. Poor finishing again except for KdB and his free kick. Then an individula mistake again costs us. Saying that, Mendy has to go!

 

[Phil1]

Think the Leicester result really did a number on many posters on here.

 

[ancoats]

We can’t put a shot on target and have no strikers and Utd get Cavani on a free transfer

Cavani on a free transfer
simple not true hahaha
£10million on agents fees plus £1million a month over 3 seasons = £46million hahahahaha
can he play a tune on the piano

 

[SilverFox2]

I know we have few fit strikers but surely any professional footballer ought to be able to get shots on target?
24 shots with very few actually needing a save of one sort or other.
The chronic problem that even our fit strikers rarely solve.