BFTG Leeds

[RoyalBlue]

I did watch him. He wasnt great but he can do those things I mentioned. 1 game where the majority of our players were very poor does not counter my argument in favour of him.

Besides. None of our strikers are consistent. May as well go for the one who is guarenteed 1 good game in 5 over the ones failing to score easy chances.

Baldock is consistent, you always know what you’re gonna get
We don’t know if Boye is consistent because he doesn’t ever play more than once in a row

I still have hopes for Puscas but he needs sub appearances IMO, because it’s clear the situation is getting too much for him right now, take him out the firing line, give him a few games off the bench and see if he can work that way to regain confidence

I don’t think Joao is the answer at all but I hope to be proved wrong

Yep thats right, drop your star striker giving him even less chance to score goals. Great for his confidence.....

I've clearly shown my hand as a Puscas believer but, do you know what, I think it might help him to have a few games coming off the bench, hopefully as an impact sub. Perhaps let Meite soften up the defenders for 65-70 minutes and then introduce Puscas.

[RoyalBlue]

My concern is that, whether intentional or not, we appear to be reverting to a team always trying to defend 'nil'. When that fails we are generally stuffed. We simply aren't creating, shooting and scoring enough. Just 8 shots with only 2 on target last night. And yes, I know that Leeds also only had 2 on target but they had 16 in total, one of which crashed off our bar.

Bowen seemed to acknowledge this problem after the game and says they need to work to fix it but it needs a pretty quick fix. Just three shots on target in our last two games - little wonder we dropped 6 points.

[URZZZZ]

I did watch him. He wasnt great but he can do those things I mentioned. 1 game where the majority of our players were very poor does not counter my argument in favour of him.

Besides. None of our strikers are consistent. May as well go for the one who is guarenteed 1 good game in 5 over the ones failing to score easy chances.

Baldock is consistent, you always know what you’re gonna get
We don’t know if Boye is consistent because he doesn’t ever play more than once in a row

I still have hopes for Puscas but he needs sub appearances IMO, because it’s clear the situation is getting too much for him right now, take him out the firing line, give him a few games off the bench and see if he can work that way to regain confidence

I don’t think Joao is the answer at all but I hope to be proved wrong

Yep thats right, drop your star striker giving him even less chance to score goals. Great for his confidence.....

As usual, you miss the point

He’s scored 1 goal in 14. At what point do you say enough is enough? Each passing game he’ll feel the pressure more and more. Giving him a few sub appearances may be the cure. It may not be. But waiting for Puscas to come good by starting him each game and subbing him off minute 65 when he’s contributed nothing through the game clearly isn’t working

[andrew1957]

Personally i enjoyed the game last night. It was tense and quite exciting and at around the 80 minute mark I was thinking that it was going to be one of the most entertaining 0-0 games I have seen, but sadly that was not meant to be.

Equally if Morrison had not skied that chance we could have won 1-0 and then everyone would be raving about how great we were rather than picking holes in the performance.

On a positive note I thought Ejaria was outstanding. Sadly I doubt we will be able to hold on to him for long but we can enjoy him while we can.

Thought there were loads of positives last night. We largely looked good at the back and to restrict Leeds to just 2 shots on target is not bad at all. We can say we were toothless up front but it was against a team that have only conceded 10 goals this season and so the real test comes in the next 6 games up to QPR. There are no easy games at this level but all 6 look winnable. Win 4 or more and we will be mid table. Lose most of them and we are in trouble - especially as the end Dec/January looks horrid with 7 tough games in a row.

We are a work in progress and a very good Leeds side showed the gulf we have to bridge last night.

[Whore Jackie]

Not sure many people are knocking Puscas's work rate, he tries hard, but his three key weaknesses of a poor touch, lack of out-and-out pace and propensity to miss easy chances leave a few question marks. He's young and needs time to adapt to this league, but I'm not sure he's deserving of our number 1 striker status. He's a much better player with Baldock, but I'd be interesting in seeing how Joao or Meite fare with Sam too. Baldock is the key to our striking options.

[NewCorkSeth]

I did watch him. He wasnt great but he can do those things I mentioned. 1 game where the majority of our players were very poor does not counter my argument in favour of him.

Besides. None of our strikers are consistent. May as well go for the one who is guarenteed 1 good game in 5 over the ones failing to score easy chances.

Baldock is consistent, you always know what you’re gonna get
We don’t know if Boye is consistent because he doesn’t ever play more than once in a row

I still have hopes for Puscas but he needs sub appearances IMO, because it’s clear the situation is getting too much for him right now, take him out the firing line, give him a few games off the bench and see if he can work that way to regain confidence

I don’t think Joao is the answer at all but I hope to be proved wrong

Yep thats right, drop your star striker giving him even less chance to score goals. Great for his confidence.....

Is he our star striker? Also how di you know it wouldn't spur him on? We have no idea what his character is. Dropping our record signing might even have an affect on other squad members, let them know it is a meritocracy and they cant take their starting spot for granted.

[Whore Jackie]

Thought Leeds were pretty good, though felt we could nick the three points throughout the game. If they had someone better than Bamford up top, they'd be walking this league. Credit to their fans for clapping in honour of Ryan too, looked over and they'd all joined in.

[Bigtimmeh]

Yeah so maybe Baldock?

I think Joao can be our man. Capable of playing with back to goal, strong upper body, decent with ball at his feet and, most importantly, provides good link up play.

The question is what do we do about Meite. He isnt cutting in off the bench but hasn't done much to deserve becoming 4th choice. Baldock coming back and playing well has caused a real headache.

Did you see Joao against Blackburn? I hope it was a one off but he could do none of those things you’ve listed. Just threw himself to the floor and his first touch was horrific

Even from the Wednesday forums, it was one good game for every four poor ones. We saw the impact Joao had against Cardiff but we don’t need inconsistencies in our strikers

He was so good when he came on against us in the first game of the season and has been playing with an injury since then (on and off). I have high hopes for a baldock João partnership but it will be impossible for anyone upfront if we can't control the middle a bit more.

[NewCorkSeth]

I quite like Boye as a player but, although he did reasonably well trying to attack when he came on last night, I was really disappointed in his work rate off the ball and tracking back. I thought he displayed by far the lowest work rate of anyone who played for us last night.

I am amazed any of our fanbase sees anything in Boye. I think I must be going crazy. He is flashy but completely ineffective. He can barely get a pass away and somehow manages to get dispossessed immediately after beating the first man. Hes not even good at getting fouled! The only thing I think he does well is gets back and slides in on someone hard.

[Ascotexgunner]

There’s a player in there. He does well for Romania so how do they play him? I think it’s with a strike partner from what I’ve seen, although he’s more of a finisher than a holder up of the ball. Drifts in and out of games. So more Cureton than Kitson as it were.

He only scored three goals in qualifying. All against Malta and the Faroe Islands so I suspect that's more his level.

[leon]

There’s a player in there. He does well for Romania so how do they play him? I think it’s with a strike partner from what I’ve seen, although he’s more of a finisher than a holder up of the ball. Drifts in and out of games. So more Cureton than Kitson as it were.

He only scored three goals in qualifying. All against Malta and the Faroe Islands so I suspect that's more his level.

That sort of opposition doesn’t stop England fans wnaking off about Harry Kane.

[Lower West]

Baldock is consistent, you always know what you’re gonna get
We don’t know if Boye is consistent because he doesn’t ever play more than once in a row

Boye has only just returned from injury. At least Bowen is trying to retain consistency by only making enforced changes.

[Lower West]

Ejaria - Too good for them at times. The best player attack wise for us. 9 MotM

Floats in and out of games. The Leeds no 23 had him well contained the majority of the game. Needs to build a bigger engine as flags towards the end of games.

[Ascotexgunner]

There’s a player in there. He does well for Romania so how do they play him? I think it’s with a strike partner from what I’ve seen, although he’s more of a finisher than a holder up of the ball. Drifts in and out of games. So more Cureton than Kitson as it were.

He only scored three goals in qualifying. All against Malta and the Faroe Islands so I suspect that's more his level.

That sort of opposition doesn’t stop England fans wnaking off about Harry Kane.

Your talking about the joint favourites there you know....

[Doolittle]

Deserved a point, and a solid effort. But there is a balance to be struck between avoiding overcomplication in defence, and becoming afraid to play. I was struck by how often our CBs contented themselves with an anywhere-will-do clearance, even when they had time to take a touch. Playing the ball forward more quickly is fine, but it still needs to be done with purpose. We gave away possession cheaply throughout, relying on the ball randomly reaching Ejaria for any fleeting chance of constructing something. Leeds are a decent side, but we musn't play the top sides as if we think they are Man City. Especially if we think we have a squad good enough for the top half of the table !

[John Smith]

The Morrison chance was utterly massive. It was almost as if he thought the whistle had gone by the way he panicked and spooned it. If only it fell to a more composed head, like Simon Cox when he dinked the keeper at Boro in 2016.

Richards gave the ball away a lot - didn't seem like he had any belief with the ball at his feet and looked to move it on as early as he could.

Patrick Bamford really is a sorry, pathetic and shambolic footballer. Horrid.

[72 bus]

He was so good when he came on against us in the first game of the season and has been playing with an injury since then (on and off)

Presumably the injury is off every time he turns out for Romania, but comes back as soon as he's in Berkshire ?

[Hendo]

He was so good when he came on against us in the first game of the season and has been playing with an injury since then (on and off)

Presumably the injury is off every time he turns out for Romania, but comes back as soon as he's in Berkshire ?

I didn't realise Lucas Joao was Romanian?

Or that Puscas played against us in the first game of the season!

[danjen]

One final thing, Chris Gunter.
I thought he played defensively much better than we have come to expect and generally had a good game.
Unfortunately for their goal it was an unchallenged header for little Harrison, Gunter's man, and although it was a swift and efficient break on their part we did actually have numbers back.

.

In the build up you can very clearly see Morrison point Harrison out to Rinomhota as his man. Andy does his best to get there but doesnt get inside him. Gunter has never been good in the air (we all know he has let many a free header on the far post in his time here) and, as expected, jumped far too early/was aware of the man behind him but for once I dont think it was his fault. It was Rinomhotas man and he just didnt do well enough.

Having watched the goal on Sky Sports HD many many times from different angles :
1. Leeds had a bit of luck with the goal, although it was still an excellent team goal. The cross was curling back well behind the attackers until it deflected off Richards. The deflection aligned it perfectly for Harrison and caused it to loop up much higher.
2. Gunter had moved in to track Bamford (centre backs were not yet back) and was between Harrison and Bamford (Sky Sports commentators mentioned this).
3. Gunter actually timed his jump perfectly and jumped really high, but the loop on the ball (see 1) meant it dropped sharply and was just too high for him.
4. Rino might have tracked Harrison if he had sprinted from the start, but by the time the cross went in it was too late for him to catch up (Sky Sports commentators also mentioned this).

No blame at all for Gunter.

[karbota]

That was enjoyable match last night, looked really solid at the back, motm a close call Chris Gunter, or John Swift, Ejaria was also excellent. If its true we have had an offer for Puscas please lets just take it. If only we had signed Jamie Mackie when we had the chance, at the fraction of the cost we would have had an inspirational passionate, player, who scores vital goals and motivates those around him. If Puscas goes please Mr Bowen take a a short trip to the Kassam, for a fraction of the price you will get a quality player who has skill, heart and passion, unlike the the mercenary bland Puscas, Joeo, Meite, types, who just dont care.