How much of us being poor last night (absolutely abysmal at times - as bad as the worst last season) is down to the opposition, though? On the flip side, when we do well, how much is the other team playing poorly or not being able to keep up with (for us) a relatively high tempo?
Losing a centre half and height (and not having the guy a lot of people thing should be ahead of him, available) is a blow that late before kick-off. I've never really liked Phillips. He's an ambler and a pointer. I thought we were a bit crap in patches against Derby but they sat off a bit and we pulled 2 back. What do I know? We seemed a bit slow last night and even when we were playing well, a lot of aimless balls forward (which is par for the course) - but are these balls under Bielsa a bit different? Difficult to tell. Bamford looks well off the pace, which could be a fitness thing but even so... £7m? -----Original Message----- From: Leedslist <[email protected]> On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: 22 August 2018 07:35 To: Leeds List <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [LU] Swansea from the armchair I agree with most of what RW has said - I think that Douglas was very poor, Harrison was lacking and Ayling is not a centre back - twice he got us into trouble when he went rampaging forward and left us (even) more lightweight at the back Comparisons with last season are inevitable and at times we did look like the team that fell away and failed so badly then BUT with one massive difference - this time we came from behind not once but twice, and got a point in a game during which for the most part we were second best. We did show some glimpses and flashes of the way we have been playing but last night was a long way from the style and pizzazz of the other games Full marks to MB for his substitutions - when he brought Phillips off I argued with my lad who said it was stupid to make a sub so early if he wasn't injured, I said I hoped it was indeed tactical and if it was it showed both an understanding of the game and a desire to do something about it. Phillips was having a shocker and he had already been booked so was on a knife edge. I can recall DoL sitting on his hands when we lost 2 0 at Sunderland - he had £30m of talent on the bench but sat like a rabbit in headlights and did nothing even though we all knew we were going to lose if he did not change things. Also I recall George Graham saying that managers often knew after a few minutes that they had things wrong but did not want to personnel until at least half time (preferrably not till 60mins) because to do so early was an admission that they had picked the wrong team So full marks to MB to having the nous and ability to know we needed to change and the bottle /lack of fear to do so. To then make two more changes to try and win the game is also to be applauded One last point on the game - if Saiz (back to his moaning worse) was booked for dissent how come McBurnie who argued over every decision and got right in the lino and ref's faces on two occasions did not get sent off ? ALthough to be fair he was MOM and a real handful Anyway top of the league despite having what was reported in the press on fixture day as the 'hardest start' of anyone in the Division ? I would have been happy with 4 pts at this stage (draw and win v Stoke and Rotherham and two defeats) Norwich now takes on an extra importance - was yesterday a reverting to type for certain players and the team as a whole or is it just one (of many) to be expected blips in a long hard season. We need Cooper and /or Janson to be fit sooner rather than later Dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ RIP Jimmy WAC-COE _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ RIP Jimmy WAC-COE
