BFTG Leeds

[URZZZZ]

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.

Good post DD

[Victor Meldrew]

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.

Not sure why Gunter has his back half turned and is facing right with his eyes closed but I'll take your word on the chain of events having only seen it once.

[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.

Good post DD

Thanks DS.

[Snowflake Royal]

Well, right now we just played the in form team, Brentford who had 4 wins out of five, and then the team fighting for number one position. To only lose 1-0 to both those teams isn't bad when we were looking at relegation spots a month ago.

But we still lost both.

No point playing well and losing, whoever it's against.

-2 GD only. It's certainly better than playing shit and losing. Or playing well and getting stuffed.

And it's a sign we're still doing better under Bowen rather than regressing. And easier games to come now.

[NewCorkSeth]

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.

oxf*rd off newbie.

[Singing Defective]

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.

Baldock was in hospitality and said how much it means to both him and McCleary not to be sidelined, and how determined both are to give all for the new manager.

Swift was dragged in as MOTM afterwards, and looked absolutely shattered.

[RoyalBlue]

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.

Yes, I gained a bit more respect for their fans because of that. I guess there was quite a high qualifying threshold for tickets in their end so those there were likely to be true football fans and any less desirables would have been excluded.

[Notts Royal]

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 !

Do we have a good enough ‘team’ though? We’ve got a good squad of individuals but up to this point in the season our team has been poor. Therein lies the problem with our recruitment strategy over the last 5 or so years.

[St Pauli]

Thought about going to this, but had a bit of work to do, so did that before 8 and then watched the game in the Jolly Anglers. Nice and warm, cheaper, and I was allowed to have a pint within sight of the pitch. All things considered a pretty good match day experience.

[Millsy]

Reading through this thread...

Analysing players, positions etc as though there is something to fix.

This was a closely fought match between two good teams, one of which is top of the league. Had Meite's pass been 2" further back we might have won that match.

There's nothing to fix. Bowen is doing a great job and we have a good team.

Of course there are always ways we can *improve* up to the point of being as good as Liverpool but that's a different matter. Why can't we just accept that sometimes despite having a good team of good players with a good system, good ethos and good manager a top of the table team might just nick a win, as can any team even if they are worse than us. Losing happens.

[URZZZZ]

Reading through this thread...

Analysing players, positions etc as though there is something to fix.

This was a closely fought match between two good teams, one of which is top of the league. Had Meite's pass been 2" further back we might have won that match.

There's nothing to fix. Bowen is doing a great job and we have a good team.

Of course there are always ways we can *improve* up to the point of being as good as Liverpool but that's a different matter. Why can't we just accept that sometimes despite having a good team of good players with a good system, good ethos and good manager a top of the table team might just nick a win, as can any team even if they are worse than us. Losing happens.

Yet by the same means, people are going on like Brentford (A) and Leeds (H) are the equivalent of playing City and Liverpool

The fact we’ve had three shots on target in two games and not really came that close to scoring in both games suggests there is room for improvement in that area. So I’d suggest that in the future, there are things that Bowen can fix against the so called “bigger teams”. One in which he said after the game, that he wished we made better use of the ball which would have enabled us to counter more

[Hound]

I thought Bowen's post match, as per usual, matched my initial thoughts

Leeds and Brentford are certainly beatable - Brentford lost to crappy Blackburn last night, and Luton were a minute away from drawing with Leeds at the weekend

We did pretty well overall, but there is clearly an issue with the front 2. They didnt work, and it is a problem for Bowen to fix. Which is exactly what he did the minute he came in and put Baldock (almost) straight back into the first 11

[Old Man Andrews]

The crappy Blackburn in 13th place, 6 points above us?

[Hound]

The crappy Blackburn in 13th place, 6 points above us?

Yep that’s pretty crap

Didn’t say anywhere we were better

[Victor Meldrew]

Reading through this thread...

Analysing players, positions etc as though there is something to fix.

This was a closely fought match between two good teams, one of which is top of the league. Had Meite's pass been 2" further back we might have won that match.

There's nothing to fix. Bowen is doing a great job and we have a good team.

Of course there are always ways we can *improve* up to the point of being as good as Liverpool but that's a different matter. Why can't we just accept that sometimes despite having a good team of good players with a good system, good ethos and good manager a top of the table team might just nick a win, as can any team even if they are worse than us. Losing happens.

Take a look at the league table-2 points above the relegation spot so we clearly do need to improve and winning at Wigan on Saturday would be a good start.
We do appear to have gone ultra defensive over the past 2 games with the wing-backs actually playing as full-backs so there was little help for the front 2 and the 2 attacking midfielders with Rhino at times a 6th defender.

Despite what some have said on here Leeds are a good side so to nearly get a point was an ok performance but we now need to step up and get the wing-backs attacking so that more chances are created-the number of chances in the past 2 games has not been enough.

[RFCMod]

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.

Watching the Spain-Romania game last week Puscas showed the same jaded figure that he does with us currently
People moaned it was about not getting the service from our midfield but its exactly the same service he gets with his international set up

Obviously he's in a rut and yes a couple of goals could change everything but January is coming fast and if things don't change then who's going to take him on then if hes still off form

[leon]

Thought about going to this, but had a bit of work to do, so did that before 8 and then watched the game in the Jolly Anglers. Nice and warm, cheaper, and I was allowed to have a pint within sight of the pitch. All things considered a pretty good match day experience.

Typical champagne socialist.

[skipper]

Classic Westwood.......

Classic OMA

Classic Bristol Post

[John Smith]

Swift was dragged in as MOTM afterwards, and looked absolutely shattered.

Why? He was atrocious. Not one of his dead balls beat the first man, it was like having Brian Howard back in the team.

[St Pauli]

Thought about going to this, but had a bit of work to do, so did that before 8 and then watched the game in the Jolly Anglers. Nice and warm, cheaper, and I was allowed to have a pint within sight of the pitch. All things considered a pretty good match day experience.

Typical champagne socialist.

I'm more of an amphetamine Communist TBF.