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When a defender is given time and yet still tries to clear from near his goal to the middle instead of to either sideline, then I worry. Gregan did it several times. Maybe that's why Blackwell was throwing his hands up in the air the whole game.
-------Original Message-------
Date: 05/22/06 08:38:05
Subject: RE: [LU] What next
Even being pedantic about league position doesnt alter the facts.. positions 3 to 6 were only 6pts apart and then there was a big gap to 7th. Given a normal last few games of the season (ie playoff positions werent completely set) then we would have finished 3rd, and Watford 4th. That still leaves 20 teams below them. The point was that their brand of football is statistically proven and hard to play against, Im not saying Leeds Utd couldnt have played against it, they clearly did twice throughout the season.. I said that playing against such a statistically effective system is difficult at the best of times, ie had our players all performed as well as they could, but as they didnt it was no surprise we lost to it.
Look, you and others are using this result, and Leeds inability to beat it, as a reason that Blackwell should go. His team took 4 from 6 points off that side and that system, so what is your point?
My point is that it doesnt matter who is manager of a football side, if the players either ignore direct instructions, or have a collective off day, you cannot blame the manager for that. If we had played to the best of our ability and been outclassed, then you may have had a point because that would point to fundamentally flawed systems and inferior players.
You also must have been watching a different game to me, Derry was probably our best player.. was effective all over the pitch. Gregan also had a decent game. Do you really expect the bloke to pull the ball down and play a nice simple pass when on the end of a long throw/long punt forward? He made some timely blocks/interceptions, was good in the air etc. Have you never heard the adage that if in doubt, get it out? Row Z is better than a poncy infield pass that gets intercepted or leaves the midfield isolated. His clearances, generally, went upfield before going out, in other words he tried to get as much distance on the ball as possible.
I just wonder what you lot would have reckoned on McKay had he been on our side all season. He is the same sort of player as Gregan and Butler.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Sykes
Sent: 22 May 2006 16:12
To: [email protected]
Subject: [LU] What next
Its not always easy playing against teams like Watford, if it was they
Wouldn't have finished 3rd. Its almost impossible if half your players
Freeze/panic on the big day.
Watford moved into third place almost as the season ended......Leeds was in third place almost to the end...so that argument doesn't cut it. As some of you have argued for weeks about Gregan, I saw him yesterday at his worst.....and Derry wasn't much better. Seemingly playing only one striker until virtually the game was over, just didn't cut it either.
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