07 Jan 2020 12:41:21
After the Euphoria perhaps a reality check. We lost. Why? Because we couldn't convert our chances. We are also vulnerable at set pieces. We are top of the division because we have won games by the odd goal and the and the rest of the high flyers have also dropped points unexpectedly.
We are nine points clear of the third placed team but we were in a similar position last season. We have thrown points away when we have scored a few ie Cardiff. We almost blew against Birmingham and we scraped a draw with West Brom. We lost to Fulham when other championship were beating them. The point. We are playing very entertaining football but we can drop points.
If we do we could easily get overhauled like last year. I've never been a an of Bamford as a goal scorer although the rest of his game is very good. We still need a goal scorer but not like Eddie. We need a Bamford who can score when there are half chances not tap ins. We also need a better defensive centre half who can dominate from set pieces. As an aside I thought the young keeper was excellent. I still think we have a better than evens chance of promotion but there are likely to be a number of bumps in the road.
07 Jan 2020 13:27:48
If we play a 'goal scorer' we won't create as much as playing Eddie showed.
Issue is we appear fixed on our style and formation which required a physical hard working CF.
If there is one out there who can put in the shift Bamford does and be better at conversion rate that would be perfect but I can't think of one right now.
07 Jan 2020 13:51:17
Hess What you and all Leeds fans want is a complete centre forward of PL quality. You do realize they cost big bucks? A natural goalscorer would turn us into a very dangerous side and I'll turn to a point recently made by Notts but originally made by yours truly which I expressed in a different way. Namely, accommodating the 2nd striker. Yes, Cork, my fabled probably now infamous 4-4-2. Had we played like this at home at least, Eddie would still be with us. I accept he can't hold the ball up and is no Bam when it comes to all round play and if we played him we'd sacrifice something in midfield, but when it comes to regular chance conversion he'd score much more than Paddy.
I hope Eddie is adequately replaced and his departure does not cost us later in the season. I remain positive Orta and Radz will take care of the situation but also have some sympathy for the depressive naysayers like CC and Bazookoid.
07 Jan 2020 14:35:59
We cannot afford to lose the Bamford work rate but certainly need an instinctive goalscorer. Perhaps one exists in the far corners of Europe somewhere. Should that be the case then we are looking at a revolutionary, for Bielsa, two up top formation.
07 Jan 2020 14:49:31
Euphoria? If there is euphoria it is misplaced. We lost to a second string side and dominated when they couldn’t be bothered. In the second half they put some effort in and managed to beat us, mainly because our defence is poor and we can’t score goals against quality. This was in no way an audition for the Premier league and even if it was we still lost. Yes, we didn’t play our first team either but even if we did it would still probably have gone the same way. Anyone who thinks we were brilliant and that tells us anything about our abilities is sadly deluded. The match is meaningless.
{Ed025's Note - come on alf, i thought you were excellent first half and yes you faded a bit 2nd but you gave them a right scare mate, what did you expect...to go to the emirates and batter them?, they have some quality players and i think you are being very harsh on your team there..
07 Jan 2020 15:01:35
Georgey Boy, I am passionate about my club
And
I would be more than delighted for Radz and Orta to prove me and others wrong . sign a quality forward or two in this transfer window . anything that ensures we are promoted this season. we must NOT repeat last season's let down MOT.
07 Jan 2020 15:22:02
George what we want is Wilfred Zaha do you think Radz will buy him ðŸ˜.
07 Jan 2020 15:22:17
we can't play 442 though George because our midfield as a 4 is too weak and our defence is exposed without a DM sitting there. Its a way to accommodate another striker but it changes our entire way of playing so it's just not practical.
07 Jan 2020 15:13:33
As long as we are playing this system not sure any striker in our price range would score a boatload, Gayle maybe but he is not coming. We need goals coming from midfield, which we have been doing but a good number 10 would be useful. Pablos goals last season helped us greatly but when he went off the boil no one stepped up. Harrison is looking more dangerous in front of goal and Alioski will also be in there. Thought Costa may have been the answer but not impressing much at the moment.
To last nights game i thought we proved we can trouble the best. We humiliated them first half and although they played better second we did not cave in. In fact if the ref had done his job we would have won against nine men. Yes we do not defend well when under pressure but we are not under pressure for long the way we play. When KP and Ben have to go wide to support full backs it does leave us vulnerable and a no nonsense CB would be great, but who? Think we will have to wait till we get promoted to buy the players we need as we will not get them in Jan window.
07 Jan 2020 15:47:44
I think the original post from Hess was spot on actually . That match was the last two seasons in micro . Great in possession, but don’t take enough of our chances and crap on set pieces . I’ve noticed KP in particular has perfected the art of losing his man at corners . The arse had two free headers last night from corners . We need another striker to keep Bamford honest , to change things and cover for injury . I don’t accept a better finisher will have to cost £15m and or won’t be able to play on his own . The kid Woodrow would surely come for around £6m . Big money in them parts!
07 Jan 2020 15:49:49
Arsenal are not the force they were but are still a top half team in the premier league and were only short of a few starting players. Think you are being a tad disingenuous there Tuppence.
07 Jan 2020 15:51:29
Ed025 we did well first half but I do think that a lot of that was due to Arsenal not really being up for it, expecting to win and underestimating us. In the second half they upped their game and we were found wanting. I just don't think we should take too much from a cup game as it is totally different to the realities of week in week out in the Premier league. We are top of the Champ at the moment but no way are we head and shoulders above the competition like Norwich were last year and they are certainly struggling in the Prem. All I'm saying is let's be realistic - we are not even promoted yet let alone able to compete with the likes of Arsenal on a weekly basis who we couldn't even draw with in a cup game against their second string team.
{Ed025's Note - it was hardly their second string alf, everyone i have spoken to were really impressed by leeds and their style of play, yes you will need to strengthen if you get promoted but thats only to be expected mate, being realistic is ok but backing your team and being a glass half full kind of guy would be better...marching on together and all that..
07 Jan 2020 16:48:29
I sat through this game in the Arsenal end! As that was only place I could get ticket- It was interesting
Some good comments on the game here but from the opposition end-
- They were very critical in the first half rightly so of their performance, this was down to how we played
- Our fans were amazing out singing the rest of the stadium for most of the match- this is our extra man
- Overheard one of their fans saying after the match " Leeds did outstanding job considering value of Arsenal side is at least 10 times that of Leeds
So my point is we will never have the quality of the Arsenal players whilst we are in the Championship, but WILL get promoted with what we have
WE must NEVER make the mistakes that were made in the past overspending which almost lead to the demise of our club!
{Ed025's Note - good post that spleeds..
07 Jan 2020 17:06:21
think this has been agreat and realstic thread.
touble is our style don't suit a out and out goalscorer and belisa will not make room for one, then we have the paper weak defence
the result and game flattered us. we dominated arsenal but then arsenal are easy to dominate when not up for it and first half we was good but they was poor, then they went up a gear and won. all of that is fair enough
what in a way would of been nice is if they would of scored from there three clear corners as against west brom, forest etc them chances have cost us. almost better to lose four nil to highlight our very real weakness and make rads/ belisa do something about it rather than paper over very real cracks
forest as a team on the up. they had one chance against us. a corner which they scored from, i'd love to change that and take a point from them and add two to us. same with our closest rivals west brom
i don't mind losing to a prem team. i hate battering championship teams and still dropping points. fa cup wasnt realisitic promotion is and that will cost us.
07 Jan 2020 17:12:33
No pleasing some people. A cup game we were not expected to win. Outplayed a top PL side for 45mins, should have scored but their goalie made some fine saves. Second half they were more aggressive and pressed us harder which showed up the flaws we have. It was nothing to do with they were not up for the game first half, this is probably the only cup they have a chance of winning this season. Fact was they did not know how to combat our style first half and were not expecting us to be that good. Just get behind the team why not, and be thankful we got beat because squad not big enough to fight on two fronts.
{Ed025's Note - could not agree more BB..
07 Jan 2020 18:33:29
Good post Spleeds and bb. So long as we replace Eddie, we're in very good shape. I'd go after Lyle Taylor from Charlton now he's become available.