Not the usual Saturday buzz in town before the game (ruined by Sky) but still lots of anticipation in the air. You couldn't help think that we just wouldn't be good enough and the step up would be too much for the championship players. Well, the first half answered that. Everton were missing a couple of players but they still had a decent team out and they never got a kick in that first half. Dewsbury-Hall who played so well for Leicester against us was marked out of the game by the excellent Ampadu and Beto never got a sniff due to Srujik and Rodon, although on that performance I think Beto is pretty shit. The best parts of an excellent first half performance for me were: 1) Booing the Premier League anthem - it's awful 2) Gudmonssen / Stach / Gnonto combinations down our left wing. 3) Tanaka / Stach / Ampadu completey bossing midfield. Stach is the player we need in that midfield. 4) Everton fans' girly chant - WTF 5) Our confidence on the ball and how every player passed it around with style. We didn't create a lot of chances and that's our main problem at the moment in that we've got Piroe, who didn't play badly at all, but he's not going to trouble defenders too much in the box. I'd start with Lukas next match if DCL is not fit yet. Our wingers tried hard but didn't produce much. Dan James in particular looked off it whereas Gnonto looked lively. Second half, Everton came into it and took a bit of control between 50-65 minutes without really troubling us too much and once we made our subs I think we competed better. Not seen the penalty back but in real time from the East Stand it did look like the Everton player had dived like a keeper to stop the ball. Great penalty from Lukas under massive pressure. After the penalty I thought we would sit back but credit to us we didn't and we looked more likely to get a second than Everton getting an equaliser and as we got to the 7 minutes of injury time, I wasn't worried at all. Good win and definitely something to build on. Perri - 7. His kicking was off but he showed great presence in his 6 yard box second half , which is something we have missed for a while. Bogle - 7. Not his best game but I thought he battled well. The James / Bogle combinations didn't come off last night. Gudmonssen - 8 or as one fan on the P2 back into town called him (Razmonssen). Never gave the ball away and looked to get forward at every opportunity. Dare I say that's the best I've seen since Dorigo ? Strujik - 8. Everyone was thinking that he was going to be the weak link. He wasn't and he won most balls and distributed well. Rodon - 8. Solid defending against poor opposition. Stach - 8. Big lad, looks a bit lumbersome but he's not and when he ups the gear he is frightening. Going to massive for us this season. Good shot on him as well. Amapadu - 8. Sat behind Stach and Takata and did all the dirty work very well. Looked worrying 2nd half when he went down under a heavy challenge - hope he's ok Tanaka - 9. Sensational and my MOTM. He was everywhere andran his socks off. Everton didn't have a second on the ball as he was at them throughout and when he got the ball he showed composure and skill. I think he's answered the question as to whether he can step up a level. Gonna be hard for Longstaff to break into this team. James - 5. Not his night. Gnonto - 6. Lively but not much end product. Piroe - 6. Played some nice link up play as he dropped deep in the first half but I can't see where he's going to fit in this season other than coming off the bench at times. Subs: the great thing for me is that all the subs came on and made a difference Lukas - looked very lively and converted the pen Harrison - booed by a few wankers but gave his all and did well Aaronsson - didn't do much but got invovled. Longstaff - actually I can't remember anything he did but he wasn't on long. Bring on Arsenal. As one guy said in the bus queue - not sure I'd be happy with just a point after that :)
_______________________________________________ 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/ The Rev, John Lee. Now spinning the platters in the holy discotheque of the real man. Yorkshireman. May that lucky pizza and a bottle of Grolsch be waiting for you with the Celestial Lards R.I.P.
