Stoke 2 down at one stage today against Palace (finished 2-2) would have secured promotion to Group 1 status and in with the big boys. But that point keeps the title celebrations on hold for another few days.
We have Villa up next on the 16th win that and we cant be caught promotion for this squad shows the Club as a whole is moving in the right direction.
Pity covid restrictions are still in place as im sure ye lads over there in Leeds would be out in force cheering them on.
MOT
Jack Jenkins - what are other thoughts on him. Is he worth a chance off the bench in the middle of the park?
100% effort, high engine, good game I.Q. and decent passing range and defense.
Sadly not enough, despite a good performance
Leeds 1 - 3 Man City
City win the title with 2 games to spare - we need snookers with Chelsea behind us but with 3 games left to play and we only have 1 game in hand it looks a bit dodgy now.
Crowd of 21,000 is just ridiculous for the U23's. Well done all who went.
Amazing crowd, by not as amazing as Joseph's goal.
20 thousand crowd tonight
That's a strong xi Dan2
But i would prefer to see Shacks playing on Monday night, for me i thought he was ready especially towards the end of last season he was really flying on the first team but is he struggling to get over his injury? has his confidence taken a knock? i dont know but he seems to have stalled in his development.
18000 for an U23's game is just nuts ffs some Championship teams dont get that on a Saturday, brilliant and bright future for LUFC now lets hope Jesse can push us away from the bottom half of the PL table up into mid to top 8 in the coming years, and all the while developing & improving our underage teams.
MOT
To be honest i am hoping to finally see a full strength under23's for this game. Imagine...
Klaesson
Sutcliffe, Cresswell, Hjelde, McCarron
Shackleton, Bates
Summerville, Greenwood, McKinstry
Gelthart
Dean comes on for Gelthart
Millar for Summerville
Allen or McGurk for Greenwood
Can't see Gelhardt, Greenwood or Summerville playing, they're part of the first team now and will be needed for Monday. Unlike Biesla, Marsch seems to have separated the squads and it remains to be seen whether he will follow El Loco's approach of playing recovering senior players in the u23s. Even without them we've a strong team - Klaesson, Sutcliffe, Hjelde, Cresswell, McCarron, Kenneh, Bate, McKinstry Dean, Joseph, Miller. Bench - Van den Heuvel, Moore, Jenkins, Allen, McGurk.
Over a record attendance 18,000 tickets sold for the u23s v Citeh tomorrow evening at Elland Road .... 👏👏👏👏
Just hope we can put out a decent team with our first team playing Palace on Monday.... obviously that is more important but don't want our youngsters to be stuffed in front of a crowd that big!
The likes of Klaesen, Cresswell, Hjelde, Strujik, Firpo, Shacks, Bate, Forshaw, Geldhart, Greenwood, Summerville could play as they are only likely to be on the first team bench at best.... maybe Hattrick may even play some part if he's supposedly available for the last few games?
Good luck Leeds u23s!!
All over finished 2-2 Joe Snowdon in the 92min to grab a point.
Needed to win todays game imho, but look at least we didnt lose, a point is better than nothing.
U18s in action versus blunderland 75mins gone 1-1
Luca Thomas scored the equaliser after 26mins
We really need to beat them to open up a gap between us in the table
over 13,000 tickets sold now for the City game
Is Ryan Edmondson still injured I know he came back
Beaten by Brighton. That said they were very good and solid team. Big too. We were dcent and had some good chances, particularly one from McGurk which just didn't want to go in. But it just wasn't our day. Some positives - Joseph looks to be fitting in and has a touch of class, Bate can play anywhere in midfield and has that extra creativity. Sutcliffe was good attacking down the right.
It's also clear Gelhardt, Greenwood and Summerville are now first squad players. I don't think we will see them again playing for the u23s.
Hopefully we can put out a good side with the first team not playing til Monday v Palace.... still a bit tight I suppose with Cresswell, Hjelde, Geldhart, Greenwood, Summerville and maybe Bate on the bench.
And still 8 days to go to sell more tickets....!! 👏👏👏👏
Me too!
Oh crap.
I thought it was 7:00pm - so I log in late and there's 5 mins left..... and we're losing 5-1 😣
Yes Soopa, a bit harsh on Harrison and I didn't realise that he had 8 league goals this season and is actually our 2nd top scorer....
I love Jack but he's so inconsistent and either has a great game or crap game with no middle ground....
I still think that he'd make a brilliant left wing back as his defensive workrate is unbelievable and he can obviously get forward and is a great crosser.... we won't go to 3 at the back though and Alioski did that job but not quite able to defend enough.
Think if we had a proper replacement striker for Hattrick who had 15 goals and we'd be in the same position as last season.... fkn simple!!
Have said that we need cover for Hattrick for 2yrs now stating that we need a replacement /cover/partner/competition for injuries, suspension or loss of form.... not exactly rocket science but when we've got replacements like Roberts, James and Rodrigo up front we'll never be lacking goals! 🤔😜🙈😲🤬⚽🤣
The problem as i see JM has is that we aren't safe compared to last April (end) when we were and MB didn't give the young lads a decent run to see if they were upto it, a missed opportunity in my eyes and this isn't something we can look back on and say isn't 20/20 vision great, a few of us on here had made that call but it never happened. Shacks, Cody, joffy, etc could have really gained massive experience in last years run in.
OK MB got us to 9th and a tidy sum that came with such a finish in the table, but here we are again 12 months later but in a far more precarious position than this time last year.
This season at this present moment in time we aren't safe and we probably wont be mathematically safe until into May so JM cant take the risk in coughing up valuable points until were are safe. So there lies the problem do we carry on with our tried and trusted players to keep us up or do we experiment with one or two of the young lads to blood them for next season? Tough call and who would be a manager but for me PL survival is paramount.
We however must increase the qty of players in our squad to avoid what happened this seasons issues but any signing must be an improvement and a proven improvement. Firpo wasn't a definite upgrade, for me, and going forward we cant afford to get next summers TF window wrong both financially or overall squad improvement. But we must take things step by step and not get distracted by looking too far down the road when a job still needs to done this season.
I think Raphinha needs to be shifted to the left wing and Summerville to start games now on the right wing.... we're going to lose Raphinha anyway and if we're not careful we'll lose Summerville due to lack of game time.
How good would it be to get 60m for Raphinha and know that we don't have to spend anything on his replacement!!
The Rapha 60m can go on Toney and Aaronson and still have 50-100 to spend!!
Anyone hear anything on Joffy's injury this morning?
Bottom 2 go down
Next up Brighton away for this group on the 15th Apr. and we must really win this to have any chance in staying up. After seagulls its City & arsenal (1st & 3rd in the league) so a win is a must in the next game realistically to avoid the drop.
Mind you Everton u23s have to play the top two (city & wet spam) plus a real scrap against also relegation threatened Chelski, so if we "match" that result in Brighton our superior goal difference could save us. Derby are gone more than likely albeit they have 4 games to play so win all those (highly unlikely as they have only won 4 all season) all Rams can reach is 27 points total. Table after last night
10th leeds 23Played 26points
11th Blackburn 22Played 26points
12th Everton 23Played 26points
------------------------------------------------------
13th Chelski 21Played 22points
Bottom 14th Derby 22Played 15points
Just seen the highlights.which were about 5 mins in total, but that said, Gray looked pretty good. McKinstry's goal was a peach, and Summerville's third is hilarious, comedy gold by Palace.
Great result and another hat trick for Small-town Boy. Still fuming that LUTV didn't show it and wondering what I'm paying the money for.
Really hope Gelhardt remains fit as he should be in the first team starting XI.
Bit surreal tonight - as our U23's are doing a proper number on Palace U23's, I'm watching the main Palace team taking Arsenal apart on TV.....
Good stuff - McKinstry makes it 3-0
Fernandez gets a run out to replace Greenwood - that'll keep him safe for the weekend if Joffy is hurt
2 - 0 Jimmy yet again......
That will do the lads in the relegation scrap the power of good
That we didn't need :-(
At least Jimmy has us in the lead early
Why is this not on LUTV - is it because it clashes with a PL fixture?
Joffy has gone off injured
Play tonight v palace not on tv audio prop
4 games for the U23s (palace, city, arsenal & brighton)
realistically Brighton is the only one we will get anything out of especially if the first team need a few of the u23s to fill in for some of the injuries they have picked up.
If they are the only leeds team to be relegated this season i'll take it tbh.
However derby looked doomed and although Blackburn have 2 games in hand on the u23s side they are still 3 points behind us and with a worse goal difference so a win at Brighton will mean Blackburn will need 7 points from their last 6 games.
Blackburn play derby today but must also play Chelsea (last game) so alot still to play for.
Not on tv as same day as a premiership game not sure if high lights will be on lutv
Sorry to have missed this one. That will put us under pressure at the bottom again - Chelski were below us.
Lost at Chelski today 1-0 was at the bridge as well pity the were not allowed tickets
The U23's have put on some good shows this season, admittedly some indifferent stuff too. Last night we seemed to have a better solidity and we picked a proper U23 team which was strong and could compete - and boy didn't they? 😀
I would definitely recommend people tune in again (Chelsea next) to see for themselves, will save the blisters on my typing finger!!! 😂
Thanks Soopa. I watched the highlights on LUTV after reading your excellent report and will take more interest in the youngsters now. As we are not going to spend mega £s on a first team this is where the future lies. What a cool goal Gray scored; such composure for his age! Cheers MOT.
Missed the first 20 mins but another great performance by an LUFC team
almost 9,900 jezz there are clubs in the football league that dont get those attendances on a Saturday for their first team!!!!!
Great result and much like the leeds senior team opens a gap on those below us. Anyone know how the Chelski u23s will fair out now that the money from RA is dried up?
Cheers Soopa and sounds like a great performance.... great report 👏👏👏👏
My pleasure, good if somebody read them! 😁
Thanks for the updates and the write-up, Soopa. Truly appreciated.
Klaesson - 9 Almost faultless today, every save made.
McCarron - 8 Solid defensive work on a tough matchup
Cresswell - 8 Solid again
Kenneh - 9 Absolutely brilliant positioning and strength all game
Shackleton - 8 Great delivery for the first goal, marshalled the defence well in the first half
Jenkins - 8 Great defensive cover all game
Bate - 8 Everywhere, lots of energy but more disciplined than earlier games
McKinstry - 9 He was excellent, from the way he took the opening goal to the influence in the middle later on
Summerville - 8 His usual pacey troublemaking self, but could have scored a couple too
Greenwood - 8.5 Worked very hard, did a great job of laying up 2 of the goals
Dean - 9 Would have been 10 if he'd scored the chance Jimmy set up for him, was brilliant leading the press.
Subs
Moore - 6 Good half
Miller - 6 Not much involvement, one nice run and attempt
Gray - 8 His press for the second goal and the way he took the third - this lad can play!!
All Over. What an absolutely brilliant performance
Leeds 3 - 0 Manure
The shape, the press, the energy levels all top drawer.
Klaesson yet again makes a good save
into 5 mins of injury time - now Manure piling on pressure again
85 mins Leeds direct free kick just outside the box - Jimmy brought down, Manure lad gets a yellow.
Dean skies it....
Manure really going at us now - still holding out. 83 mins gone.
3rd change from Manure - some chump on for another?
Lovely effort from Miller this time, wins a corner after keeper saves
3 - 0
Archie Gray (70 mins)
Beautiful!!! Max Dean chases down the keeper, forces him way outside his box and to clear out by the sideline - Archie Gray picks up in the middle of the park and passes it into the net from about 30 yards.
Miller on for Greenwood - that's all 3 subs already.....
McKinstry into the middle, Miller to the left
Double sub for Manure - 2 bang average kids coming on for a couple of wasters
2 - 0 Max Dean (60 mins)
Great pressing - Archie Gray wins it - Greenwood very composed into Dean
Dean clean through, brought down, ref is again a tw*t waves it away
Bate takes a knock - looks like he'll need replacing.
Giving it a go to be fair, but it'll be Archie Gray to replace him
Another point blank Klaesson save
Start of second half - Moore on for Shackleton
Manure been very strong for the last 5 mins, Klaesson has taken a knock but at HT it's still 1 - 0.
Been a cracking first half, only worry is whether our lot have the energy to keep this going. Like the new style and formation - Leeds been solid under pressure in defence and quick on the break - could be further ahead.
Crowd just over 9,800
Sideshow Bob and Max Dean both get yellow cards - Dean niggling, Sideshow Bob dangerously close to a headbutt.....
Summerville brought down in the box - ref is a tw8t, waves it away
Klaesson makes a brilliant save from Sideshow Bob
Max Dean breaks with Jimmy - misses a great chance
Man Utd have a no 10 free roaming, looks a dead ringer for Sideshow Bob.
We've booted him in sequence and Jenkins eventually gets the yellow
Summerville breaks but lobs the keeper just wide.
Leeds very organised, dominating so far.
1 - 0
McKinstry (12 mins)
Leeds playing nicely, Summerville caught in the build up but OK
Klaesson
Shackleton Kenneh Cresswell McCarron
Summerville Bate Jenkins McKinstry
Greenwood Dean
Strong side and a great crowd
Definitely watching that.
LUFC membership never feels like great value, but this season I've got my money's worth with the U23 coverage.
Good luck to the lads - 4th bottom with 2 relegation spots - let's hope both our men's sides can avoid the drop.
Will be interesting to see how the new U23 gaffer plays.
On lutv tonight v Manchester U
On lutv at 7pm gmt b spurs
Jackson it looks like will be the guy in charge next senior game
wonder if he will change anything style wise
Over 8.6k last nights which must have given our boys a huge lift.
Jimmy ripped their defenders apart and Mullen looks different class.
Just a question of how we integrate them in the first team squad. Young boys (and their agents) tend not to be too patient.
Next couple of u23 games will be at ER one being Manu
Important win jumped up a couple of places in the table too, hopefully it will give the 1st team a bit of a lift for tomorrow night.
That was well worth £3.49. Summerville was the star performer and glad he's still with us, though the entire back line looked good, particularly Sutcliffe.
Given the importance Leeds places on the u23 team, this was a highly significant result against one of the top teams. Think Joseph is going to have to cut his cloth in the u18s for now.
Great performance and very entertaining game. Well done boys💛💙
Really enjoyed that! Great effort to do the double on that Liverpool side.
KK has looked more secure & made one very good save, but was lucky he got away with dwelling on the ball.
Great pace being showed by Summerville.
Mullen seems to have made some real progress.
Not sure what to make of MB's talk about up to 10 players asking for a (loan) move. Does sound like something in his relationship with Summerville has been broken/disrupted. Sounded like MB was ok with Jimmy leaving but that the club didn't want him to go. Today's news regarding PB didn't sound good either.
I would guess the 10 were Drameh and Summerville with possibly Rodrigo too as he wants to get into the Spain Squad for the WC.
The rest would likely be kids - McCarron, McKinstry, Kenneh, Jenkins which takes it to 7 and perhaps Dean, Greenwood and Miller too but as no real takers it says something.
These guys are 20/21 so it is understandable.
I heard on SKY today (interview with Bielsa) that 10 players asked for loans out this January!!
Scary if true - nobody wants to hang around.... we've held on to the rest after Drameh did one and today the U23 setup looks very good.
By the way, KK has looked more secure in goal
A great first half but expect us to tire in the second.
Jimmy has looked great and am impressed with Mullen too.
Come to this a tad late and we're winning!!!
Is it me or is there a big crowd there? East and West Stands look to have an amazing umber of fans?
Jenkins 1-0! Made by Jimmy!
99p per week is my payment
Jimmy looks good and young Archie is doing OK.
Lino in their half has clearly been paid off. The most obvious corner is given as a goal kick.
Perhaps Jurgen the German is refereeing?
Updates and /or links needed please.... hopefully be able to stream
The last time we played them at U23 level it was a classic - hope for more of the same, but looking forward to watching Fernandez regardless, not seen him before.
Liverpool tonight 7pm.
Feels like an eternity since we've had a Leeds match.
Just hope we can put out a good team in front of a big crowd and not get embarrassed....
If we haven't signed any more players and injuries etc have not healed then our best u23s will be in the first team squad and not available for the Liverpool u23s game!
Come on Orta and Radz and sort some fkn signings out BEFORE the last couple of hours of deadline day..
U23s play Liverpool in feb tickets available on the OS sold out the west stand and now opening up east lower
The youth teams are taking some battering these days, its hardly surprising when you think of the injuries the first team have, this is one of the problems any club would suffer if they use a small squad.
Glad I did not watch the game!
This was a bit of a downer. Thankfully there was no audio.
4-0 them puts leeds in the relegation zone I think
Definitely not a good performance tonight