Re: [LU] Post-mortem

[SeanScribe]

In a message dated 5/23/2006 5:32:58 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: We were undone by firstly an almost perfect corner coupled with a forward not taking his player out (by blocking the run), then by them somehow not conceding from Derry's shot, then by not being given a stonewalled pen on Gregan (or was it Butler) and then Hulse, and finally by their total fluke of a second goal. Mark,   You keep apologizing for Blackwell, but it won't wash. We were hopeless on Sunday, and everyone saw it. I think it's amusing that some people think that Watford's ability to get players in front of their goal to block our otherwise goal-bound shots is an example of their "luck." It's not. It's a combination of training, motivation and awareness on the part of the players. In the same way, our inability to defend a simple whipped-in corner wasn't bad luck. Watford had presumably rehearsed that corner again and again. That's down to the manager. They had the players to execute it perfectly. Again, that's down to the manager selecting the right players, and then being able to impose his will upon them. Our keeper didn't cut it out; our center-forward who, rather than being sat upfield waiting for a clearance, was in our area, lost his man, and we didn't have a player on the line to block DeMerit's header. You can say that maybe Blackwell had a perfect plan for them to defend corners like that, but the players didn't do their jobs, but ultimately it's the manager's responsibility to make sure his team defends set pieces properly. Set piece plays - attacking and defending - are one of the few things in a football game that CAN be rehearsed again and again. We had several corners and free kicks during the game, and yet we never looked as dangerous from them as Watford did from theirs. That's down to the manager. He's had longer to build his team than Boothroyd has had to build his. There can be no excuses (especially when Boothroyd's built his team in part around Blackwell's rejects).   It's all very well to say that the team weren't doing what Blackwell told them to do, but it's his responsibility to make them do what he tells them. That's called "man-management." It is not Blackwell's strong point, as far as I can tell (witness the number of Blackwell's "forgotten men" - Carlisle, Spring, Walton, Pugh, Harding, etc). It was clear from everything the Watford players were saying BEFORE the game how well prepared they were, and how highly they held their manager in regard. You rarely if ever hear Leeds players speaking that way about their preparations or their manager. As has already been noted, when the cameras focused on the players in the tunnel, we already looked beaten.   Cheers!   Sean   P.S. You're right about the penalty we should have been given, though. I just don't think it would have won us the game. My prediction in the pub before the match was 2-1 to Watford, which I think would would have been the scoreline had the penalty been given.