BFTG Leeds

[URZZZZ]

Does anyone else miss having wingers on the pitch? Funnily enough, the last time we played with two out and out wingers, we came third. Funny that. This isn’t down to Bowen because he’s inherited such an imbalanced squad but when plan A doesn’t work for us, you know we lose and it just shouldn’t be like that

We are so slow going forward. Rarely do our counter attacks carry any weight. Be great if we had two quick wingers again.

We’ve never been quick on the counter in a long long time. But in general, wingers make the pitch wider, create more space in the midfield. It’s too narrow and it’s too predictable at times, relying on Swift and Ejaria is a dangerous ploy IMO

[tidus_mi2]

Leeds have had a few seasons with no change in manager who has been gradually building a team with one of the highest budgets in the league, possibly even the highest if you factor out parachute payments and we made it a competitive match. If Bowen keeps things going like this we will have no worries about relegation, I think all this talk of making the play-offs is incredibly optimistic though. Just a bit of consistency and not changing the manager and I think we'll find ourselves at the right end of the league within the next few seasons.

[Jackson Corner]

Interesting to hear from Brian McDermott on radio Berkshire before the game. He was critical of Readings player recruitment over the last few seasons.when I look at Puscas tonight who was quite frankly dreadful. I wonder did we really look at him or was he just bought on reputation? I’m a great believer in defending from the front and both he and Mietie are incapable of holding the ball up and gift cheap possession to the opposition. Not the worst performance tonight plenty’ of effort and endeavour but ultimately a fair result.

[CountryRoyal]

I thought we were horseshit, awful with the ball bar Ejaria. Swifts set pieces were horrific. Poor game of football.

Most entertaining thing all evening was all the scraps that broke out in y26.

[URZZZZ]

Leeds have had a few seasons with no change in manager who has been gradually building a team with one of the highest budgets in the league, possibly even the highest if you factor out parachute payments and we made it a competitive match. If Bowen keeps things going like this we will have no worries about relegation, I think all this talk of making the play-offs is incredibly optimistic though. Just a bit of consistency and not changing the manager and I think we'll find ourselves at the right end of the league within the next few seasons.

They’ve had one season and a bit with Bielsa in charge by the way and I don’t think he’s actually spent too much money, certainly not in comparison to others. He’s just tactically a very good manager, kudos to Leeds for managing to get him

I’m all for keeping managers and giving them a bit of time, but when they’re not adapting to the environment of the league and are shown to be tactically inept, there’s no point! So far, Bowen has been astute with his tactics but he got it badly wrong in the second half and didn’t adapt to it. Hopefully, unlike his predecessors, he’ll take it on board and learn

But the main point we need to take away from this is that we shouldn’t see Meite - Puscas from the start again. Did they even complete one pass to each other the whole game? Woeful pairing. People mention Swift/Ejaria as our main players which is fair enough but we’ve only scored 3 goals in the last 750 minutes where Baldock hasn’t played. Compared to 8 in the last 320 that he has played. Spot the difference there...

[tidus_mi2]

Leeds have had a few seasons with no change in manager who has been gradually building a team with one of the highest budgets in the league, possibly even the highest if you factor out parachute payments and we made it a competitive match. If Bowen keeps things going like this we will have no worries about relegation, I think all this talk of making the play-offs is incredibly optimistic though. Just a bit of consistency and not changing the manager and I think we'll find ourselves at the right end of the league within the next few seasons.

They’ve had one season and a bit with Bielsa in charge by the way and I don’t think he’s actually spent too much money, certainly not in comparison to others. He’s just tactically a very good manager, kudos to Leeds for managing to get him

I’m all for keeping managers and giving them a bit of time, but when they’re not adapting to the environment of the league and are shown to be tactically inept, there’s no point! So far, Bowen has been astute with his tactics but he got it badly wrong in the second half and didn’t adapt to it. Hopefully, unlike his predecessors, he’ll take it on board and learn

But the main point we need to take away from this is that we shouldn’t see Meite - Puscas from the start again. Did they even complete one pass to each other the whole game? Woeful pairing. People mention Swift/Ejaria as our main players which is fair enough but we’ve only scored 3 goals in the last 750 minutes where Baldock hasn’t played. Compared to 8 in the last 320 that he has played. Spot the difference there...

Oh sorry, though Bielsa had been there for quite a bit longer, I did tell my dad after the game I thought we really missed Baldock tonight, probably one of the most damning parts of Gomes's tenure was his exclusion of Baldock.

[marlowuk]

Well, I enjoyed the game immensely. Leeds are a good team and we matched them for most of the match although the result was probably a fair one.

Gunter played well; Meite worked his socks off as usual; Ejaria was man of the match for me; Puscas was virtually anonymous; Swift played well but his set pieces were well below par. We were under the cosh for much of the time, particularly in the second half but both sides only registered 2 shots on target each!

And not a single offside in the entire match!

[WestRoyal]

Rafael 6 - not a great deal to do
Gunter 6 - had a solid game, wouldn't mind him getting a contract for another year if he's okay with being backup to Yiadom. Clearly still a half decent player.
Moore 7 - thought he played well, unlucky deflection for the goal.
Miazga 6 - can't think of anything he did particularly wrong or right.
Morrison 6 - point knocked off for not burying the chance in the second half. Other than that a very solid game.
Richards 5 - struggled at the beginning, grew into the game but not his best performance. Offered little going forward.
Swift 6 - most of our play came through him but lost the ball a little too often. Him and Ovie are still by far our best players at the moment.
Ejaria 8 MOTM - creates things out of nothing, though has a tendency to overplay. Would get into any Championship team currently.
Rino 7 - worked hard most of the evening, put in a few good tackles. Looked a bit isolated at times.
Meite 4 - he's a likeable guy but really offered us nothing going forward this evening.
Puscas 5 - ran around a bit but fairly ineffective. Held the ball up well at times. Needs a goal ASAP.

Boye 6 - offered us a much better option going forward. Yes his mistake led to the goal but it was 80 yards downfield so can't pin it all on him.
Loader 5 - see Puscas.
McCleary N/A - what was the point of a 93rd min sub??

Bowen 6 - very nearly got a point. Seemed to try a lot of long balls today, but without really winning any 50/50s it was often just gifting possession away.


In all honestly Leeds never looked like losing, and although we could've come away with a point, I think it shows we have a lot of work to do to be fighting at the top of the league again any time soon. They looked fitter, more organised, more comfortable on the ball. Their play in the final third was pretty abysmal at times but can see why they'll be fighting for automatic promotion this season.

Lazy written rating & totally disagree, loader held the ball up a lot better in his 7 mins on. Would start him Saturday.

[elrey]

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.

[Hound]

I’m definitely in the ‘we played pretty well crowd’

Bowen got it right imo. Leeds created next to nothing (2 shots on target). The main aim was undoubtedly to keep it tight and hit them with a set piece which we very nearly did. It’s probably how you play Leeds most effectively - all this talk about wingers, getting forward more just opens you up to their counter attacks

Leeds are undoubtedly a very good defensive side (10 conceded all season), have a fantastic CB in White, and know their roles. In saying that Meite and Puscas just don’t offer enough as a pair. Too similar, no chemistry- as someone pointed out don’t think they made a single pass to each other

Miss Baldock very badly, which is bizarre considering where he was. I don’t like any of our forward combos without him at all. Dire recruitment from Gomes and team in the summer bringing in all 3 of Boye, Puscas and Joao who don’t offer much different to Meite. Bowen has to work out how to be effective without Sam

[Gunny Fishcake]

We definitely played better than Saturday, but we’re clearly struggling up front, no confidence and nobody able to hold the ball and create anything . Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say well played for I thought their winning goal was fantastic football, you won’t see a much better goal on the break. Thought Gunter played well and shut his critics up . Respect to the Leeds fans clapping at 19 mins for the young lad who so sadly passed away . Shame more Readings fans never turned up.

[windermereROYAL]

8 league goals combined from the strikers in 17 games its easy to see where the problem is, Ejaria is a breath of fresh air in this team, Swift was ok, but Christ a needs to work on his set pieces, I think we need a bit of backbone in the middle too, maybe Rino needs a rest on Saturday.

[leon]

No width and no decent strikers who can hold the ball up. What did we spend our money on FFS?

Puscas has got to be better than what we saw last night although he had zero service. Meite tried but isn’t a starter in my opinion.

Should have switched to 4 at the back in the second half and brought on width.

[Coppells Lost Coat]

Richards and Gunter just didn't get forward enough in the 2nd half. I couldn't tell if it was due to being occupied by Leeds or a tactical decision.....
The lines between attack and midfield were too great. A isolated Puscas just meant he wasted possession every time + Meite was never close enough to link up with anyone. The both of them lots of effort but lack of guile. Missed Baldock dropping in and linking up play.
Very frustrating performance but not crying that we lost to one of the best teams in the league.

[Millsy]

Mods merge threads please, I'll post in the one that went up earlier.

[Stranded]

Thought we did OK and looked an evenly matched game where one goal was going to nick it. Morrison probably should have given us the lead with 25 or so to go and would have been a different ending as a result.

Losing 1-0 in both the last 2 is about right for where we are, which is a team that will move away from relegation trouble but unlikely look like pushing higher than 12th to 14th.

Our next 5 games are against the sides currently in 21st, 16th, 24th, 23rd and 13th (Wigan could be bottom 3 if Boro beat Barnsley tonight) If we really are just one of the midtable pack this year we need to go W3 D1 L1 in that little run, which will mean winning an away game for a change.

[Millsy]

Another good game against a very good team.

Draw would'nt have been unfair but at the end of the day they scored a great goal.

I'm not too concerned by this.

+1 for Gunter's performance, welcome back to the squad!

[NewCorkSeth]

I was really impressed with Leeds. Their fans are saying that was their worst performance and a lot are being quite complimentary to us which is nice. Anyway if that was their worst performance I'm glad they saved it for us!

Bielsa makes Leeds a lot harder to hate. He has them playing very nice football. Very expansive and quick. It's a good thing they dont have a good striker. Imagine someone like Mitrovic at the front of that.

I think the width they manage to play with is very exciting to watch. If Richard's had been on form though I think we would have squeezed a draw out. Not that the goal was his fault mind. Just they found a lot of joy down his flank and obviously looked to exploit that.

I thought Swift and Ejaria looked great again. I know there was some poor passes from Swift in important positions and some ambling about from Ejaria but for the most part they were solid. They made the best midfield in the league look average by comparison.

How do we solve a problem like Puşcaş? I'm really hoping he works out. I really like him and he has lots of positive attributes but his first touch is the worst in the team. Our CBs are better at trapping a ball. He simply cant play with his back to goal as every pass made to his feet bounces off him 10 yards backwards. Joao coming back and pairing with Baldock could save our season. At least he can hold up a ball and pick a pass.

Gunter did well. For once I have no complaints. Good on him.

Overall I still hate Leeds but at least now I respect them.

[paddy20]

Predictable scoreline, could sense that although Leeds weren't creating anything, they were gonna get one chance and one goal. Just like last season, it's only against us they score their chance

Feel Bowen, whilst set us up well, is at fault. Possession of the ball was sloppy other than Ejaria and they were increasingly getting behind the lines. Boye for Puscas should have been done 10 minutes before with Pele for Swift also

Rafael 6 - didn't have anything to do apart from one Dallas shot and pick the ball out of his goal

Gunter 8 - nicely played, maintained a decent pressure on Harrison and kept the ball well. No doubt some flids will blame him for the goal
Miazga 8- solid
Morrison 8
Moore 8
Richards 5 - could have been sent off, some really poor decisions on the ball but defended OK

Rino 7 - as usual, the engine of the game, but his positioning as the holding midfielder is too suspect for me against a team like Leeds and I think he could have done better with the goal. Will have to watch again though
Swift 5 - off night for Swift but tried throughout. Some awful set pieces
Ejaria 7 - as usual some silky play but once again some poor choices in the final third which is really holding him back from developing as a player

Meite 6 - he isn't the required standard but doing the work for two people never helps. Held it up well at times, some woeful plays at times, but as usual seems better drifting out to the right where his touches can be heavier
Puscas 3 - hopeless. Didn't show for the ball, put no pressure on the Leeds defence, couldn't control the ball when he got it and on the rare occasion he found himself in space, he took thirty years to move it on. He has to be dropped for Wigan now

Boye 6 - lively and should have come on at least 10 minutes earlier for Puscas. Sloppy for the goal but when the ball is all the way on the other side of the pitch, you can't just blame him
Loader N/A - touched the ball five times. Lost the ball five times. Stop thinking you're better than you are you arrogant waster and start to actually look interested in the game

Bowen 5 - set the team up well in the first half but should have gone for it more in the second and some terrible timing/choice of subs. Pele for the tiring Swift and possibly Blackett for Richards who was on a tightrope red card probably could have been better calls
Leeds 6- Ben White is a cracking young player, oozes control back there and you can see why they don't concede many. Offensively, they lacked a killer instinct but you could always sense a winner coming from them. Good use of subs from Bielsa, Alioski changed the game while we changed nothing

Next six games are winnable. Wigan, Barnsley and Stoke away. Birmingham, Derby, QPR at home. Got to be looking at minimum 10 points there IMO

One more thing, I thought Club1871 was very good tonight and I could hear them more than I could hear the Leeds fans at most points during the game

Edit: People on Twitter are criticising Gunter for the winner. Dear me

Pretty much agree with all of that except thought we should have closed the game down with about 10 mins to go. When Boye lost the ball we had far too many players forward. A draw would have been a great result and would have re-bolstered our confidence.

[URZZZZ]

It’s quite ironic that Leeds fans complaining about us sitting back and defending were the same ones who lauded Monk for doing the exact same thing a couple of years ago against us where they ended up with 23% possession at home. Double standards and all that...