It has been bothering me since the preseason games and thought i would air it in a discussion.
Is our current midfield formation correct for the players we have? Is it the players not completing their assigned Tasks correctly? Is it the age of the players not allowing them to meet the requirements in terms of fitness after contacting covid?
Take Klich for example. Prior to his 2 bouts of Covid his fitness levels allowed him to constantly move both in attack and in defence causing oppositions to be dragged out of position for a 90 minutes each game. Since he has returned from his 2 bouts of Covid he look a shell of the player fitness wise he once was. Going by the games thus far this season he looks a 55 minute player. Does this put pressure on the remaining central midfield 2? In my eyes yes.
Dallas also seems to be down on his fitness which has seen him start to resort to the much hated fall over at the slightest contact approach (i hate it). Is this also causing our central midfield trio to not function correctly?
Phillips, has playing for England in a less rigid position in that midfield seen him forget that that Leeds united operate at the best when he is screening in front of the centre backs thus allowing the two Fullback to bomb forward with ease of mind instead of holding to cover the central defender who drawn forward into that number 10 position that other teams forwards are dropping into (where Phillips sat over the past 3 seasons). Is this causing our midfield 3 dynamics to fall apart?
My answer is that all of the above is causing the issues. Not to mention the ball movement has been extremely slow this year and each player taking to many touchs before passing. Take Shackleton's play of a example of our previous 3 seasons touch & ball movement speed was and should be again.
Me, i would play Klich 60 minutes a game and have him replaced by one of our under 23's midfielders (Jenkins or Bates - if McCalmont & Boguez were here they fit nicely into the pairing role for 30 minutes a game) or is Ayling is fit then maybe Shackleton starts there and Klich replaces him at the 70 minute mark. I would have Phillips watch his positioning so far this season and have watch his past 3 seasons and ask him to explain the difference. His strongest ability is to read the game when it is infront of him thus allowing him to either spray passes all over or act as a front sweeper...
What are others thoughts and comments on this?
I think Bielsa is well aware of the midfield challenges. In the last 2 games he's played a 2 man CM and 3 at the back to push the fullbacks in alongside the 2 in CM - it's helped, but does then stifle the attacking side of things, which is impacting on Harrison (now chasing back more than he did with Alioski).
The result at Norwich wasn't a vintage Bielsa performance, but Klich didn't start, Dallas played LB and we still won because of the system adjustment.
manpoo dismantled our midfield not once but twice, that should tell everyone that we've got problems there.
Kalvin was very poor i thought against Norwich done a job on smith rowe when we played arsenal but that meant he couldn't offer anything to our attack.
I love Klich but the guy has dropped back in terms of performance and yes it could be covid related but it also could be the fact that this guy has been going box to box since Marcelo arrived, that's extremely demanding on the body and eventually a time comes when the body just cant do it anymore, but the sad reality is Klich days of being a 90min box to box machine are over and a younger rolls royce is needed to take his place. MB must know this and i feel like most fans now is the time to start introducing / blooding a few of the young lads into the team gradually and that if the cylinder head gasket blows in Klich's engine we wont be expecting a raw 20-21 year old to takeover seamlessly and provide stability from the off ..
the majority of our 1st team a playing with injuries imo they don’t have the lung power they had last season and imo some of them are just worn out physically having a small squad leaving our academy to fill the gaps ain’t working
Unlike Raphina I've not seen anything for the Philips camp saying he wants to go (unlike Raphina). Like the rest of the team his performances have not been at the same high level we've come to expect. We must not forget he played a lot at the Euro's, which has taken a lot out of him. Frankly, our midfield area (bar the wingers) is pretty average. To me, in some games he's been trying too much (on his own trying to make. Agree that after his injury, over the last couple of games he has been rather poor.
For sure if he wants to go, he will. Not doubting his place will be filled, but with what/who exactly. Results without him in the side speak volumes.
I still remember that when the of Batts, Speedo & Mac left us, we would find able replacements. Did we? Nah.
If Phillips wants to go then he should go. His place will be filled.
Phillips performance since he came back from the Euros has been extremely poor. It looks like his attitude has change from a working class fight for everything to i am to good for this now that i have a England shirt. He is a 6 and the sooner he remembers the better.
Roberts and Rodrigo are a waste of a shirt, tired of defending them.
Dallas at LB does not work. He needs to sort his mind out.
Put Baby Shacks in as a No 8, Bate as the No6 and Drameh as the RB and leave Gelhadt up top as the 9 v Wolves. McCarron in at LB.
I just want us to show some effort.
Pretty much agree to all the above. Midfield is our single biggest problem. Slow in movement, slow in thought, and so frustratingly powerless shooting efforts.
The formation that works the best for us is 4-1-4-1. Klich, Dallas, Ayling, Cooper are good, experienced squad players, but I think Bielsa should show some O’Leary attitude and trust the youngsters:
Meslier
Drameh/Shackleton-Llorente-Cresswell-Firpo
Phillips
Raphinha-Bate-Greenwood-James
Bamford/Gelhardt
I don’t at all buy into the saying that young players should be protected and not be started too early. Look at Harvey Elliott, Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford and many more. Rather play the optimistic talented youth than the disillusioned tired ‘oldies’.
Rodrigo and Roberts need to be off-loaded asap. Bogusz and McCalmont should be taken home to the club. A Gordon Strachan or Gary McCallister midfielder leader type should be acquired at any cost to (1) stabilize the admittedly unexperienced midfield in the above 4-1-4-1 and (2) to lead which no-one does at the moment.
Rant over. MOT.
KP is suffering from the school teacher thinking he is a No.8. KP has made his name as a No.6.
No surprise we win the last game when he has reverted to his best position but in the first 5 when he plays further forward we do not win!
No surprise when Engaarland fail to beat Hungary without KP in a dire perfomance.
Southgate is lucky he has a great crop of players that bail out his tactical ineptitude! Proven at Boro.
You do need to take into consideration that Phillips played in the world cup over the summer and missed pre season, and is by default, out of sync with the rest of the teams preparations. Klich also was playing in the world cup and didn't get much of a break. Dallas wasnt, but he was captaining Northern Ireland. Now you could argue that's the same for every team, but pre-season is more important to Bieslas Leeds than it is for any other team.
I would also add that Phillips was deployed in a different type of midfield position for England - one, I suspect he prefers, and that has its own challenges for the coaches to deal with.
Personally, I think it's time to make Shackleton our first choice end to end midfielder. And I think it's only a matter of time before Bate makes his first team debut - in what position, I don't know, as he looks capable of playing any central role.
It's a good discussion Daniel.
Phillips - may be suffering a hangover from the Summer, which is understandable but temporary
Klich - may be suffering from 2 bouts of COVID but again temporary
Dallas - suffering from personal issues so far this season but also returning to normal now
The real issue about our midfield is more the support and link they need with the fullbacks pushing up to thrive. Bill has been well off the pace and Junior is settling in - that's left the midfield exposed - at a time when as mentioned above they've had other distractions
We also have to accept everybody knows what we're about now, which makes the prep harder.
Daniel, you've certainly made some more than valid points.
Regarding Klich, I do feel that over the last games his performances and fitness levels are somewhat back.
He's a good footballer, puts himself about and does get himself in some very good positions, however rather often he just lacks the power & energy to put away the chance.
In a fair number of games, even in the Championship, I always had the feeling Klich ran out of steam a bit after a good 60 or 70min.
Other games he kept going, but with the number and intentisity of games his effectiveness dwindled.
Dallas to me, per usual has his better & best performances come when he's deployed at left-right fullback or as a wing back.
No doubt he can do a job in center of midfield, but it's just not where his strengths lie.
Philips is a difficult one to judge, to me this far this season he's done well.
However I do get your point he's not protecting the back four as much and ventures forward more.
Think he just wants to prove/show a bit more how good a footballer he really is.
Perhaps in this/his case and for the sake of Leeds, a bit less would mean more. (jeez that's deep).
Firmly agree with you that the pace/movement of the ball has gone down.
Especially when passing out from the back (amongst the back 4 & Meslier).
Obviously makes it easy to close us down.
Hopefully Llorente's incisive passing can help.
Finally, in several games we've not been as compact and/or played as a unit.
Perhaps a lot of these issue are just down to a lack of intensity or fitness.
Good news is that in the last few games the intensity again seems to be improving.