I was full of anticipation for this one - My wife asked if they have moved ER even further away from Manchester since I left home at 1.30 for a 7.45 kick off !The pub (West Ridings) was packed when I got there at 3.20 and the lad being served in front of me got 5 jaeger bombs to go with the 5 lagers him and his mates were having, upstairs in the toilets was to quote my lad 'like a snowstorm' as the Cambridge whites took their own pre match entertainment (makes my morphine and oramorph look tame) Sporadic singing / chanting filled the air as fans, who have come back in their droves, were full of alcohol drugs and more importantly optimism and belief in the new look Leeds United. So we set off for the buses full of hope - despite being in Leeds over 4 hours before kick off, we managed to still be queueing up outside when the game started, in fact when we got to our seats we were stunned to learn that we were one down (not at all stunned to find out it was Billy Sharp) - from then on in the night got worse and worse as we were outthought, outmuscled, outplayed and yes, outclassed for much of the game - indeed for 70 of the 90 minutes, having one 20minute spell when the brilliant Saiz ran the show. He is brilliant but at this level no one man can do it without ten others helping him. For Saiz, Longeran was the only one who really helped, making a couple of brilliant saves, one of them world class. Most of the other players decided that they would join Pontus in the 'I am playing shit' camp. Ayling had his worst game for us, Vieira showed why he is not the first name on the team sheet, O'Kane and Phillips (apart from his wonderful strike for the goal) showed why some fans do not rate them - ditto Cooper, and Pennington showed why Everton have let him come here. Add to that Anita not being a left back and Alioski probably not being good enough, and you can see why we were pretty much taken to the cleaners by an excellent Sheffield side. They showed pace and purpose and if it were not for Longeran and some poor finishing this could have been an embarrassing score-line. OK if Saiz had scored instead of hitting the post, maybe, just maybe we could have gone on and won - but we did not deserve itWe really need to beat Derby at home on Tuesday - the crowd figures for that one and upcoming games (I think we only play Boro at home in November?) will be interesting. Will the returning fans 'keep the faith' or will they drift away again ?Pre Millwall we looked like a team that could win the league, now with 4 defeats from our last 5 league games, we are starting to look like a side who could be facing a relegation battle (thankfully the early points on the board should stop that becoming a reality)What to do with TC ? It is too soon to think seriously about sacking him (plus who would we get ?) but he needs to have a re-think about everything. He got the job because he turned up with an in-depth dossier on the Monk squad and went through all of the players indicating what they were doing right and wrong and how the team as a whole was doing, however up until Bristol he followed the Monk 4 2 3 1 system, and although he changed that to bring Vieira back in, he still insists on only 1 up front. That can work with the correct number 9 (it did well with Wood there) but Lassogga clearly cannot do it on his own (Grot is not good enought either) so he needs to get him some support. Perhaps going 3 at the back with Ayling and Dallas / Alioski as wing backs could help? Something needs to be done. I get why he dropped Wiedweld but at the same time the whole system was built around him. Now we have Longeran in goals and he cannot play that way - equally he cannot be dropped after being man of the match yesterday and doing well in his other games - another problem of TCs own making. Same with Cooper - despite a good start to the season , he just is not good enough, so why make him captain (even if the other players wanted him - what kind of manager lets the players pick the captain ? He needs someone who is his eyes and ears and mouth on the pitch - let the players pick a 'club captain' if they want a 'go-between'Then again, how much is TCs fault ? IT was Orta who brought these players in and apart from Saiz there are question marks about all of them, Lassogga, Wiedwald, Alioski,Pennington and -- Anita have all done some good things but have all messed up too. Grot, Klitch, Borthwick-Jackson and Cibiski are not even getting in the team or even the squad at times.
TC needs to come up with some answers / solutions and quickly. I set off yesterday full of hope and came home full of pessimism and gloom DaveI will still be there on Tuesday :-) _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] FLAME WARS 'R US
