31 Oct 2021 22:02:47
Great three points but a shocker really. If I was Raphinia why would I stay. Phillips only because he's a leeds boy. We need to show ambition or we go downtrend tube.
01 Nov 2021 03:34:02
Hess They'll be sold in summer. £180m combined incoming. No need for you to state obvious. They're both world class and will leave.
01 Nov 2021 06:16:31
Are you very sure about that George?
I would say unless we had a catastrophic season and were relegated we at least would not loose Phillips just yet. Both of these players will leave at some point but I would say both of these players also are benefiting the experience of being with Bielsa and not forgetting they are both being selected for national teams. Perhaps you could say when Bielsa leaves then there’s a good chance these two players will want to leave also.
01 Nov 2021 06:51:51
I think Raph will go at the end of the season but I think Phillips will stay until Bielsa leaves. (He owes him) He’d be nowhere near the England team if not for him.
01 Nov 2021 08:02:08
Danum, as far as Radz is concerned, how much will a prospective club pay for Raph, if it doesn’t meet his expectations, don’t sell. It could be that Raph has an amazing World Cup with Brazil and his value will sky rocket. If he can then get 100 Mil then you can’t turn that down. The sad thing is you are selling your best player but when you look at the rest of our squad you realize that you definitely needs new incomings. Some of the old guard need to be replaced.
01 Nov 2021 10:30:09
I definitely think a lot of the posters who are saying this player will go or that player will go have forgotten about the Qatar 2022 effect.
Should any player have a standout tournament, history tells us his asking price goes up way beyond what he would normally be regarded as achieving.
I can not see the business sense of selling a player that is going to be put in the world's biggest shop window.
(when I refer to business sense I mean the business brains behind the multi-billion American sports conglomerate. A business that has not yet reached the top of its own tree and yet still pulls in top three returns year on year. Now those business brains are world class and all the petty sniping at "Radz and Orta" can not deflect from the fact we are aligned with some of the top business brains in the world. These guys aren't just lucky enough to sit on oil. Or dodgy enough to rise in the post-communist era. These guys have an IRS-investigated track record of growing businesses exponentially.
So why are these guys going to miss a trick on maximising profits? Sell before the World Cup, not a chance.
Of course our best players will be sold. We are Leeds. But they will be sold to benefit the club, and in order to facilitate new 'best players'. Legends for the next generation of Leeds supporters.
01 Nov 2021 10:38:29
I think one or maybe both will go. Perhaps not quite for the 180mill optimistically quoted but enough to get us a Quality midfielder and send James to winger school.
If they go whose to say that they will not progress even further with Pep, Pochetino or any one of a number of top class coaches. No a footballers life is potentially short so the opportunity to advance (double your salary) is not to be ignored. The days of, one club players is long gone. You could say, if we found one Raphina maybe we could find another overlooked gem somewhere. Victor should be out there now looking for a 21 year old Pablo.
01 Nov 2021 10:45:04
So these top " business brains in world "were duping us all along so .
This is all part of the master plan to be in the bottom 5 of Prem and grind out a win against a team lower than us, and ultimately without a big change we could be back down in championship
Yeah, . now that you say it Axe, it all makes perfect sense and is unbelievable business acumen from these men.
01 Nov 2021 10:52:49
Leo, who is to say he hasn't done that already?
Gelhardt
No chance of him making it as an out and out centre forward. Too small. But close control, vision burst of acceleration, goal scoring calmness, sheer confidence. The lad seem to have the building blocks.
Oh, or where you meaning we go out and spend millions upon millions for a ready made replacement for Henandez? And probably stifle the progress of our own.
01 Nov 2021 10:58:37
Not forgetting you’ve got to replace our two star players and replacing KP would be a big challenge. Let’s just hope that they both stay a bit longer than we expect.
01 Nov 2021 11:31:34
Axe, I am sure you can name a few "small" centre forwards who racked up 20+ a season. Players who because of their low centre of gravity strike fear into defenders.
I have already posted that my ideal scenario would be a loan and alongside that a drip feed of some of our more promising gems. I would never stifle any of the young guns we have in the U23s, in fact I would give them more of their head than Bielsa is currently doing. Instead of the underperformers currently being sent out. I am a champion of Lewis Bate who seems an exciting prospect. I would certainly give him minutes in an area that is crying out for fresh blood. In an area that is currently filled with un exciting tryers but nothing more. Yes keep playing them if you must only based solely on loyalty based solely on last years performances? but for goodness sake give Gelhart, Greenwood, Allen, Jenkins, Miller, Kenneh, Dean etc appreciable minutes and not when we are 3-0 down and desperately chasing a game. I am not even saying give the a start. Just drip feed them a few minutes at first, let them grow into the atmosphere, I even appreciate that they may not be ready (evidence suggests otherwise) but the old adage applies, the only way to find out is to play them.
01 Nov 2021 12:00:20
OP Yes, I'm sure. I think almost every Leeds fan accepts Raphinha shall be sold to a big club most likely Liverpool or PSG probably shortly after the WC. Regarding KP, not as straightforward and the player will wrestle with the ethics of leaving but leave he will. Trophies on his mind. He won't achieve this with his hometown club. We can't compete yet. I can also see him going to Liverpool as the careers of Henderson and Milner wind down. Can't see KP going to Devon. He couldn't go through with it. We then use the funds to balance stadium expansion costs and I can see us becoming a genuine force again by the end of the decade. This is how I see it playing out. We're going to go through a similar phase to what Southampton did about 5 years ago when they sold 3 or 4 of their best players for good prices creating financial stability. Realize my view might not be popular but it'll prove to be the truth. Let's hope Summertime and McCalmont will be their equal replacements. As for Bielsa, he may stay on after this season.
01 Nov 2021 12:42:16
Leo I would love Gelhardt to become our Aguero, or similar players. Would love nothing more. But I am trying to be realistic here and there are not many Agueros, Maradona and Messis in this world. Chances are he won't hit those levels. In the PL the majority of successful centre forwards are larger (Vardy always perform better when he has a 2nd striker alongside him and unfortunately Bielsa does play that way. always love twins strikers)
For me Gelhardt has to be the guy who plays behind our striker. The Rodrigo role.
01 Nov 2021 12:46:04
And also Leo, I agree with more minutes for the U23s sentiment.
I am truly excited about the whole group of them and also hope they get some chances at appropriate times rather than chasing.
01 Nov 2021 12:52:46
George, I don't think you will be far away with that prediction about Raphinha and Phillips, and the analogy to Southampton is a good one, although I hope we don't stall as they seem to have.
01 Nov 2021 13:40:59
Sorry Axe a little confused. Bielsa plays with a single striker 4-1-4-1 (Bamford) . As yet I do not know where Joe Gelharts best position is as I have not seen enough of him with the big boys. Either as an out and out attacker or as part of a duo I do not mind. Could a Greenwood/ Gelhart partnership be the future? Who knows. Maybe he won't be a Messi or a Maradona not everybody can be in many peoples eyes he will be a Leeds Legend if he puts away 20+ per season. At this point we just do not know. All we do know is that in the precious few minutes he has played he did not look phased and while he was on he was our most effective attacker. Bode well for the future. I, like you, wish I had a magic ball to look into the future and a magic wand, to make it happen.
01 Nov 2021 13:48:27
Yes. Watched it between 6am and 8am. A real struggle to stay awake.
Adverts at half time were good though ðŸ‘.