Well that was a chastening experience v Citeh! Best it is forgotten.
I did the League Cup MDT for the game v Arsenal earlier in the season, so no need to talk about them too much.
The Mighty Whites will be without Shackleton, Cooper, Koch, Firpo (suspended), Pascal, KP, Bamford, Rodrigo and James. Of the players who could play are Llorente, Roberts and Rafa who are one booking away from suspension. Tyler actually has 5 bookings but am sure 1 was in the League cup so does not count.
I fully understand why MB chooses to work with a small 18 man squad + the U23s. I do get it but this is now getting ridiculous! 9 first-team players out v Arsenal and that could be 11 players out v Liverpool.
Even worse, we do not know when any may return, apart from Firpo.
IMO It is time to stop putting square pegs in round holes. Ayling serves us better as a RB than CB so I would go with
Meslier
Ayling Cresswell Llorente Dallas
Forshaw Bate
Klitch
Rafa Roberts Harrison
Subs: KK, Drameh, McCarron, Hjelde, Jenkins, Sommerville, Greenwood, Geldhart, Dean,
Bate is in as part of a double pivot for his work rate, tenacity and passing. He can also run with the ball at pace helping the opposing team to start losing their defensive shape.
No prediction as all I hope for is a decent performance that restores pride in the Famous White shirt.
Yes Daniel, but Meslier in the first half was standing in a shooting gallery.
Don't know how many times this season we've hit the self-destruct button, it's not down to just one player. Glad I'm not alone to notice Klich effectiveness or rather the lack of when he's being asked to play deep(er).
Defending, tackling breaking up play is not his kind of thing.
Harrison has gone off the boil completely.
Stuol, better shape needed, getting players in their favoured position will settle us down. Still hope the upcoming games over the festive period will get postponed.
I think we can all definitely agree that too much was asked of the team against Man City and Arsenal... all being well we'll have a couple of bodies back for the Liverpool game which will give us a bit more organisation and a better shape,with a few players playing in their favoured positions.... 🙏
Anyone notice our young keeper giving Ayling a right mouth full a few times?
Forshaw was out of position for 2 goals. Also back passed into danger a couple of time.
Klich only start looking good when mover higher up into the 10 role.
Harrison playing way to deep.
Is it true Bamford and Struijk could be back against Liverpool?
Robertson red card and should be suspended unless the FA bail liverpoo
Apart from some wanker in west stand calling saka a racist slurs and an Arsenal fan in the kop that got a slap oh and that
ridiculous rashford and saka let the country down crap was a fantastic crowd performance
Don't gave a shxte about what commentators or the self declared experts say about us.
But I'm afraid we're clutching at straws when we think that the second half performance was something of a fightback.
Arsenal totaly took the foot off the gas, gave the ball away plenty and became to cocky/arrogant thinking they're better than what they actually are.
Did we forget that in the first half Meslier kept the score down, it could and should have been 6 or 7 by that time.
Plusses, yes Meslier (some great saves), Dallas who did put in a good shift and had to cope with a very good player and of course Joffy (not a lot of decent passes went his way), but still looks good player.
The mistakes we make have been there all season (even in preseason),
and are there for all to see in big numbers. Yesterday it was Forshaw & Roberts turn, on several other occasions Meslier saved the day.
Can't expect youngsters like Drameh & Summerville to take to Premiership in a heartbeat. That's a learning process, and to me it's rather unfair to them having to turn out for a team that's struggling.
Furthermore Drameh, as a defender makes the same sort of mistakes as he does with the U-23 (wrong side of his man, losing his man alltogether), only difference being in the Premiership it gets punishned more often.
Summerville, tries his best but he's so very lightweight, either runs into players (bounces yards of them), again difficult circumstances for the lad.
To me, both need to aquire much more gametime in lower leagues.
As for Greenwood, you can actually see he's got something about him.
Do agree that the combo of Ayling & Koch at CB looked very shaky, Harrison (before he got that knock) was again poor. Forshaw as Arsenal faded in the second half became more influential. Raph's trying a bit too much.
Klich had a very mixed game (the good, the bad & ugly), feel we used to get the best out of him when he played much higher up the pitch, which allowed him to get into the box more & get us some goals & assists. From deeper he's far less effective, runs out of steam and simply hasn't got the power to shoot from distance.
18 games played with 16pts on the board.
So we'll need to pick up at least 6-7 wins + a fair number of draws to get 40odd points.
For now, I somewhat hope that the Premiership gets suspended for a couple of weeks, allowing us to recoup some of the injured players and hopefully bring in a couple of signings (even loans would do) to raise the spirits and quality of the side.
Surely everyone can see it cannot be too difficult to improve on what we've got atm.
We simply can't afford to get relegated.
Plenty of players would go & at inflated prices.
Agreed 👍👍
Too many people are reading too much into our last 3 results.... We were unlucky not come away with a point against Chelsea with about half the 1st team missing,Were totally demolished by Man city with over half the 1st team missing and tonight we were beaten 4-1 by a team who only had 1 of their best players missing through bad discipline and we had almost a full team of senior players missing including almost our entire defence and of course our midfield general,one of our best wingers and our best striker...... and people expect us to compete,not even Bielsa can work wonders with that many influential players out ffs..... And as for Mr Neville and Mr Souness they should hang their heads in shame and make public apologies tomorrow..... They were totally out of line with what they were saying about us...... "Leeds are a shambles" " Leeds looked like they were playing in a school playground" ? That is total disrespect to Leeds Utd,Bielsa,the players on the pitch and the fans.... to be to the female presenter.... She was totally respectful of the fact we had so many players out injured and you see Beckford biting lip....but took it on the chin and told Souness "with all due respect,half of those players were makeshift players and it was men against boys" But that arrogant tw@t Souness still didn't back down... He has become public enemy number one with Leeds fans now 😐
There were some positives. We did ok in the second half, in fact we probably edged the second half. There were good performances by Meslier, Gelhardt and Dallas. Raphinha scored a beautiful penalty. Thought Summerville did well and doesn't look out of place in the first team. Also Greenwood, he wasn't on long but his temperament makes him look years older than he is, he comes across as very assured and has good technique. The more exposure the u23s get, the more they will grow. And we haven't seen Charlie Allen or Lewis Bate yet.
The disappointments - Koch was pretty dire, granted he shouldn't have been playing but I've yet to see a good game from him. The centre back partnership really didn't pay off. Roberts fluffed at least one shot on goal into the heavens and was guilty for the fourth goal, this was a game where he could/should have sparkled. Harrison - looks a shadow of the player we had on loan. Klich put some decent balls into the opposition box in the second half, but overall, he no longer performs over 90 mins.
We got beat, and the scoreline was emphatic, however the performance and fightback was a big improvement than against Man City. During the second half, I really thought we could get back into the game, and a lot of that was down to the energy of the u23s. I suspect we will also lose against Liverpool, but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
Never mind BB, at least it wasn't 7.
It will take another brave bloke to take on the next MDT.
Roberts had a bad day for Roberts which is saying something.
The only good thing about today is that Bielsa fully knows the fans are on his side.
Get the next game out of the way and hopefully things might pick up from there.
I'm quite optimistic after tonight. Yes. two experienced players made mistakes which turned into goals, but overall we put in some good performances for the whole 90 mins. How many teams in the PL would have kept battling away at 3-0 down? The new kids did well with Drameh, Somerville and Gelhardt showing potential for the PL.
I liked how MB gave 'pussy' Roberts a bollocking for whining about a knock and made him play the game out.
If we can get 2 or 3 regulars back, then Anfield is not a lost cause!
Congrats for the ref too, not even booking shxka for an assault on Raphina & then booking Joffy for far less???
How did Ben White not get booked for that pen offence?
Well done ref, be proud.
A quick few words about our youngsters, called upon in a very difficult time (it does not do them any favours).
But;
Joffy, he's got it all and is gonna be a star.
Summerville, (like others in our U-23 squad), not at all ready for the Premiership,
he's one that should go out on loan to a Championship club or abroad.
Drameh the same, looks decent enough going forward, but makes the same kind of mistakes that I've noticed with the U-23, loosing his man, marking the wrong side of his opponent.
As I've said before, not having a go the lad, but he's not ready.
Our recruitment departement needs to take a hard look at the positions and the type & qualities of the players it signs. Don't know how they select players, but why on earth do we seem to sign a majority of small & lightweight players?
Are we paying by weight?
Said it before, to me Roberts would probably make a decent futsal player, that's it. Can't blame him, but he's never gonna cut it at this level.
When MB's gone he'll never get into this side again, not even at Championship level.
Too much to ask. F*&^%&& Roberts again
Better half anyway and credit the fans - keeping on the chants.
Well done Joe - well done Raphinha
Please let's win a half at least 🤗
Hopefully the liverpool game will be called off for COVID, if not i dread to imagine what Salah the rest of the team might do!
Soopa, I for one have been worried for some time (pre-season to be honest).
But first & foremost we need our main players back and even then we'll need to gamble in the upcoming window to have something of a figthing chance.
Meslier keeping the score down, could already been 6 or 7.
This is dire guys. Defence at sixes, sevens and eight's (think we've broken the record), so much space given away.
Constantly covering the wrong side of their players so often.
Forshaw mistake handed them their first goal, but so much wrong that I don't know where to start.
Just terrible for any of our younger players to have to play in such games.
I respect those who have optimism left. I wish I had the same. There is real damage being done here, and not just losing matches, but season long goal difference, faith in Bielsa inside the club, and the youngsters everybody cried to be let loose are having their confidence smashed.
I cannot believe what I see from Klich - his fall from form and influence matches the team as a whole. We have 3 players worth keeping and they will ALL be reconsidering their futures - Meslier, Rapha and Phillips.
Oh dear! Didn’t think I’d agree with Neville but we are like an under 9s team chasing the ball.
a grim 1st half,Arsenal look like scoring everytime they have the ball,this could be another hammering...
our man for man marking is leaving gaps everywhere,its stupid Koch following Lacazette into midfield when Arsenal have the ball..
Archie Gray...... the youngest ever player to make a matchday squad for us and the only 15 year old since Lorimer in 1962. What are the chances he makes his bow???
team announced
Meslier
dremmah
Koch
ayling
Dallas
klich forshaw
rafa roberts Harrison
gelhardt
15 year old Alfie Gray on the bench...
Rumour on Twitter that Meslier & Llorente have covid
.
Good luck Bri, we’re going to need it with all these bloody injuries. MB will still probably have Joe on the bench.
I say bring them on.
The thing is... even if Arsenal had a few cases of Covid they wouldn't want to report it.... because they will see this as an easy 3pts against a seriously depleted side... 🙈🙈
Villa game now off. Only LU left for Saturday ko
Is at the mo
On the way from Norwich, still.on?
Am on the train 136 miles to go best tell me quickly
This is a bloody joke now. We are running out of time to get the game postponed. Can't we just say that a few of the backroom coaching staff have it. Shut Elland Road down for a month or two.
Come on Leeds do this for my old mucker Jethro
Can't see it though 3-0 to the Arse
In a way it may be a blessing that we have the injuries now instead of later when we have to play teams that matter. Of course that is if the injuries go away by the time we are playing the Norwich's and Burnley's of this world
BB, nice MDT, you've got the knack for them.
If we manage to get some sort of team out, we could/should even get something from this game.
And no I'm hinting at another roasting (certainly hope not).
Can't believe that over the last half day we seem to have lost Ayling (covid) and Cresswell (shoulder dislocation), + Raph rumoured to have an ankle injury?
Someone really doesn't like us, → so nothing ever really changes.
A good thing, that at least the fans (we) all love Leeds.
Cresswell out with dislocated shoulder, another long term injury!
You really could not make this up!
Looks like Koch in at CB with Drameh at RB and Dallas as the LB.
Our U23s need to step up and earn their corn
Changed my mind from 5mins ago as Koch is fit.... I think we'd all agree that we'd like Koch in.
Going with 3/5 at the back....
Meslier
Koch Cresswell Llorente
Drameh Bate Dallas
Raphinha Greenwood Harrison
Geldhart
Summerville on for first player to make a mistake....
Meslier
Drameh Cresswell Llorente Dallas
Bate
Summerville Greenwood Harrison Raphinha
Geldhart
I GUARANTEE that this will not happen.... don't know if Bate can play the holding role or needs to play a little further forward.
Greenwood would have something to prove against his former club, Summerville and Harrison will either be brilliant or crap....
What I will say YET AGAIN, unfortunately, is that Roberts is nowhere near good enough and had 2 games where he was maybe a 7 out of 10....everyone thought he was suddenly a wife beater because he had played MARGINALLY better than he usually does!!
Klich is totally lost and doesn't make the late runs into the area that he used to....
I KEEP saying that Forshaw was ridiculed by our fans after a long injury free run in the Championship of VERY average games. He then gets injured for 2 seasons and comes back in the Prem and everyone suddenly thinks it's a miracle and he's Hoddle, Gazza and Batty rolled into one!! He ran more than anyone else and is a superfit player.... that's all!
He gets in Kalvins way when he plays deep and not creative enough when further forward and should play Geldhart there!
But joffy still on the bench
We have Kenneh to play DCM with Forshaw or CB with Llorente and Drameh for RB.
Unleash the U23 beasts MB!!
I'm hearing ayling has covid and Cresswell has a shoulder injury,ffs if
good luck mate 1-0 Leeds win
Good man BB stepping up. Good luck.
Hope this game goes ahead, don't fancy going in to Christmas off the back of a 7-0 humiliation. Should be a cracking/drunk atmosphere at ER. Let's make it horrible for Arsenal.
And yes Cresswell must start, stop playing players out of position.
7c cloudy, no rain and dark again.
Perhaps we should not turn the flood lights on and just play them in the dark, might help our cause.
2-1 Rapha and Gelhardt
35762
Vile Posts all disappearing as I type. We can but hope 👍
Please do not grace us with your presence Deena. You can go now.
We are not worthy
I am triple-jabbed and have been brainwashed by the government.
I am also Black
You do not deserve to be humiliated by a board that hates you.
Why do you not join a Man U site. They would be more than willing to listen to you.
I'LL STAY FOR 1 FUCKING GAME UNLESS BANNED BEFORE.
1 FUCKING GAME AND THE PARTIES OVER LEEDS.
YOU'RE NOT WORTH ME.
TAKE THE VACCINE UR FU(KING SCUM.
I think BB has nailed the starting XI.
Go for it BB, great MDT - we need a run now!
I've tried the old Soopa curse, I've tried being optimistic - really can't say what's going to happen next....
so with respect to yourself and others I too will offer NO prediction.
Good luck BB
NO prediction here either.... just a better performance will do me if we lose by the odd goal,so be it....
Quality MDT BB and good luck for a prolonged run.... 👍⚽
Arsenal are SO inconsistent and when they are crap they really are CRAP.... the same could be said of us I suppose!!
God knows what team we will put out but we HAVE to put Cresswell in his natural position.... what is the point of him even being on the bench otherwise!?
I've written to the FA demanding that Roberts does indeed have 5 bookings and Geldhart to take his place....
I'm going for a positive 2-1 victory with Raphinha back on form with a brace....
AAI
Well stepped up BB and fingers crossed for ya in the hope that we will see a decent performance.
I still think Arsenal are flaky and have flattered to deceive in their games so far this season. At the start they were shocking to say the least and yes while they won their last two fixtures Southampton should have been 2 up and were well on top last Saturday but gave away the first goal quickly followed by a second and that was that. So this arsenal side is far from invincible despite having moved into 4th place recently.
Im hoping a bit of luck and would settle for a 0-0 draw but with MB we know he will want the you attack we attack approach which imho will only lead a victory to the gunners.
Then the big fat guy visits before liVARpool so after Chelski and City Saturday is our best chance in picking up some points, and we must stop the rot of picking up nothing, because the longer we go without points the quicker the games become MUST WIN.
As the saying goes winning is a habit, but sadly so too is losing, and we need to break that habit this time round.
Team selection is anyone's guess now (with so many out for one reason or another)
Meslier
Ayling
Drameh
Cresswell
Llorente
Klich
Forshaw
Dallas
Roberts
Rapha
Gelhardt
Im sticking with a 0-0 and hoping the fans will go home with an early Christmas present.
MOT