Leeds Utd v Birmingham City Match Thread

[1964white]

I'm not convinced by Roberts even though he scored 2 against Preston.
I feel he is likely to fall down the pecking order once Roofe and Brown are both fully fit.
I think MB bringing Edmondson on shows his intention to start him at some point soon, could it be on Friday?

I personally don't think Edmondson is ready Chilli, I maybe wrong

[1964white]

Roberts showed some great footwork yesterday, on 2 occasions putting our players in great positions, Alioski crossing one straight to the keeper when he had loads of time to do better, the other Saiz, running into trouble when he had 3 players to pass it to in good positions with space. Tried really hard but not much came off for him in the box.

I also thought Roberts put in a decent shift mate, never given an opportunity on goal but his footwork & movement was good.

Saiz was like Saiz of old yesterday, tried hard no end product

Alioski turned up far too late, his goal, a lovely cross into the box & made a great effort to receive a cross all in the last few minutes. The reason he got a rating of 6 from me as oppose to a 5

[gessa]

Saiz was like Saiz of old yesterday, tried hard no end product

I said the same yesterday, it was like watching last seasons team.

[1964white]

We could do with mixing it up a bit. Ali and Klich haven't had a rest yet as they've played every game and the two internationals, Phillips and Saiz have played every game. 11/13 games in a month and a half is a lot. Tiredness must come in as a factor at some point. We have some decent options we've yet to see Baker, Forshaw, Dallas, Pearce, Clarke we should use them.

Agree to a certain extent although :

Baker hasn't set the world alight yet
Forshaw still looks unfit
Dallas put in a decent shift yesterday but he is a bit player imo!
Pearce maybe although Douglas hasn't been overstretched yet
Clarke is an unknown quality at championship level although I'm not doubting his ability, didn't make the bench yesterday which suggests Bielsa doesn't think he is ready yet

Once we can call upon Hernandez, Roofe & Berardi again & a fit Izzy Brown we'll be alright

[The Subhuman]

My point is they were all positions we could have scored from, last season you'd struggle to think of 2/3 moments where we came close to scoring in some games..We played poorly by comparison to our top form but still better than most teams in this division and we still dominated the game...

There were a couple of Saiz through passes that only just missed, Two nice over the top passes Dallas couldn't coral. The Cooper all alone in the box chance, Klich got in the box once with the ball. Two or three nice crosses/corners which caused problems but didn't fall to our guys ...

Another day Brum don't score on the two mis-hit shots and we bag 3/4 of ours and we're raving about how good we were again...We never gave up, the opposition were fortunate and the Ref poor.

We're not win every game good, we're not even go through the season unbeaten good. But we're good.

[1964white]

I said the same yesterday, it was like watching last seasons team.

Yes mate,

No cohesion, far too many passes going astray & real sloppy defending for both Brum goals & a total lack of fluency in our play to create clear-cut opportunities

Believe it not we were still better yesterday than at our worst of last season

[The Subhuman]

I said the same yesterday, it was like watching last seasons team.

I really can't agree with this Ges, sorry, last season we gave up on games early, were dominated, out classed frequently. Created nothing at all hardly any shots on or off target ( We had 8 off target shots by half time yesterday) and the possession percentages looked awful for us.

[1964white]

My point is they were all positions we could have scored from, last season you'd struggle to think of 2/3 moments where we came close to scoring in some games..We played poorly by comparison to our top form but still better than most teams in this division and we still dominated the game...

There were a couple of Saiz through passes that only just missed, Two nice over the top passes Dallas couldn't coral. The Cooper all alone in the box chance, Klich got in the box once with the ball. Two or three nice crosses/corners which caused problems but didn't fall to our guys ...

Another day Brum don't score on the two mis-hit shots and we bag 3/4 of ours and we're raving about how good we were again...We never gave up, the opposition were fortunate and the Ref poor.

We're not win every game good, we're not even go through the season unbeaten good. But we're good.

We are still decent as you say Faaip

I'd forgot about the ball that fell to Cooper in acres of space, unlucky there as he would be the last player you'd want on the ball to fall to for a shot on goal. I did think Brum had the rub of the green with the ball

One of those balls over the top at the kop end, Dallas had no chance with as it was unfortunately just overhit

[Chilli D]

I personally don't think Edmondson is ready Chilli, I maybe wrong

Hi '64,

He is still very young it's true but physically he looks as though he can handle the rigours of the championship and Bielsa obviously thinks so by giving him a run.
I think he's likely to remain with the squad at least until Roofe is back but once Brown is fully fit as well, he should return to the U23's to continue his development.
If Bielsa has the confidence to include him now imagine how good he could be in 2-3 years?

[gessa]

I really can't agree with this Ges, sorry, last season we gave up on games early, were dominated, out classed frequently. Created nothing at all hardly any shots on or off target ( We had 8 off target shots by half time yesterday) and the possession percentages looked awful for us.

I thought our passing yesterday was woeful, the number of times we tried long balls in to the corners, that just went out for goal kicks, giving them more chanc to waste time, or throw ins. I think stats are misleading, we had 17 shots yesterday barring the goal and the Camp save I can't remember any thinking they were good opportunities. We lost out physically all over the park yesterday barring Cooper and Jansson. I think it was a poor performance, we tried but lacked any real quality.

[The Subhuman]

Alio for me is the natural Roofe replacement, certainly a good finisher.

[leic white 63]

I thought our passing yesterday was woeful, the number of times we tried long balls in to the corners, that just went out for goal kicks, giving them more chanc to waste time, or throw ins. I think stats are misleading, we had 17 shots yesterday barring the goal and the Camp save I can't remember any thinking they were good opportunities. We lost out physically all over the park yesterday barring Cooper and Jansson. I think it was a poor performance, we tried but lacked any real quality.

spot on fella. frustrated the hell out of me.

[1964white]

I thought our passing yesterday was woeful, the number of times we tried long balls in to the corners, that just went out for goal kicks, giving them more chanc to waste time, or throw ins. I think stats are misleading, we had 17 shots yesterday barring the goal and the Camp save I can't remember any thinking they were good opportunities. We lost out physically all over the park yesterday barring Cooper and Jansson. I think it was a poor performance, we tried but lacked any real quality.

Indeed

[SG90]

Agree to a certain extent although :

Baker hasn't set the world alight yet
Forshaw still looks unfit
Dallas put in a decent shift yesterday but he is a bit player imo!
Pearce maybe although Douglas hasn't been overstretched yet
Clarke is an unknown quality at championship level although I'm not doubting his ability, didn't make the bench yesterday which suggests Bielsa doesn't think he is ready yet

Once we can call upon Hernandez, Roofe & Berardi again & a fit Izzy Brown we'll be alright

I don't rate Dallas tbh and don't think he offers much, but when is Alioski going to get a rest because he'll be playing for Macedonia in the international break. Dallas can fill in for a game or two.
Forshaw will play his way into fitness like Jansson did.
Baker, albeit only in the cup, hasn't had a chance to stamp his foot on a game from the off yet. He gets a run out when we're behind.
Douglas looks tired to me, but that said we can always nick a goal from a corner if he's on the pitch.

I'd rest Alioski, Phillips and Saiz on Friday for Dallas, Forshaw and Baker. If we're struggling at HT against the Wendies, bring on Saiz and Alioski, if not happy days and they get a much needed rest.

[leic white 63]

I don't rate Dallas tbh and don't think he offers much, but when is Alioski going to get a rest because he'll be playing for Macedonia in the international break. Dallas can fill in for a game or two.
Forshaw will play his way into fitness like Jansson did.
Baker, albeit only in the cup, hasn't had a chance to stamp his foot on a game from the off yet. He gets a run out when we're behind.
Douglas looks tired to me, but that said we can always nick a goal from a corner if he's on the pitch.

I'd rest Alioski, Phillips and Saiz on Friday for Dallas, Forshaw and Baker. If we're struggling at HT against the Wendies, bring on Saiz and Alioski, if not happy days and they get a much needed rest.

they dont need a rest.! they need to be on the training ground practising there passing and technique ! i dont go for this tied bolloxs excuses meself footballers are fit pampered athletes today.

[Cjay]

I don't rate Dallas tbh and don't think he offers much, but when is Alioski going to get a rest because he'll be playing for Macedonia in the international break. Dallas can fill in for a game or two.
Forshaw will play his way into fitness like Jansson did.
Baker, albeit only in the cup, hasn't had a chance to stamp his foot on a game from the off yet. He gets a run out when we're behind.
Douglas looks tired to me, but that said we can always nick a goal from a corner if he's on the pitch.

I'd rest Alioski, Phillips and Saiz on Friday for Dallas, Forshaw and Baker. If we're struggling at HT against the Wendies, bring on Saiz and Alioski, if not happy days and they get a much needed rest.

I agree to an extent, Alioski already has played more minutes then anyone else and probably could do with a rest. Dallas isnt the answer though, at least Ali offers a goal threat, Dallas rarely does. Clarke is the obvious choice imo, think its bizarre that he hasnt been given a chance tbh.

Dont think Baker can replace Saiz, we need some pace vs Wendies, Carke and Saiz would provide that. I would play Forshaw over Philips though.

Think Bielsa needs to mix it up a bit.

[danhirons]

going to be a repeat of last season I'm afraid

fewer points than last season at this stage, just lost at home to a team in the bottom three, and no strength in depth throughout the squad, only 2 wins in last five is not promotion form.

same has just happened as last year, new manager comes in with new ideas - new manager boost - tactics get found out and we gain fewer points

klich will be found out as the average player he is
roofe's purple patch will end
saiz will disappear back into the player you saw at the end of last season

[weasel]

Roberts showed some great footwork yesterday, on 2 occasions putting our players in great positions, Alioski crossing one straight to the keeper when he had loads of time to do better, the other Saiz, running into trouble when he had 3 players to pass it to in good positions with space. Tried really hard but not much came off for him in the box.

People again are far too quick to judge Roberts - first match and they were writing him off as not being good enough, second match he was a world beater and then now he is back to being poor again. Fans need to give the lad at least a meaningful run of matches before judging.

[gessa]

People again are far too quick to judge Roberts - first match and they were writing him off as not being good enough, second match he was a world beater and then now he is back to being poor again. Fans need to give the lad at least a meaningful run of matches before judging.

I think he showed a lot of maturity for his age and has some great attrbutes, we really could have a player on our hands in a few years time.

[leic white 63]

going to be a repeat of last season I'm afraid

fewer points than last season at this stage, just lost at home to a team in the bottom three, and no strength in depth throughout the squad, only 2 wins in last five is not promotion form.

same has just happened as last year, new manager comes in with new ideas - new manager boost - tactics get found out and we gain fewer points

klich will be found out as the average player he is
roofe's purple patch will end
saiz will disappear back into the player you saw at the end of last season

just a temporarily hiccup fella. bielsa will cure it !