Leeds v Sheffield Wed - Team/Reports/Ratings

[dezzy]

Ross for you too Dezzy ?

Emm I'd guess so pelts if he could cross the ball!

[gessa]

Drab game, the feel of a friendly, especially 1st half, SW very physical and got away with the penalty in the first half.
Ross MotM
Lees should have done much better for their goal.

[Gandalf]

Not much to add from my Leicester write-up, as our problems are obvious. We were better with Poleon on from the start. The midfield has no width (not even any options on the bench), and we lack a natural goalscorer. Our defence is reasonably solid, and Peltier put in a much improved performance in the attacking third, so he gets my mom. McCormack, frustrating as he can be, is the only one who offers a real goal threat, and if he goes, I can't see where goals would come from.

Still, we are unbeaten, and can only hope that GFH find some cash from somewhere (we don't need much), and we can get Norris, Diouf, etc off the wage bill. Diouf looks even slower than last season (which I wouldn't have thought possible).

[Dr.Leeds]

Disappointing game. I expected us to win before the game and I expected us to go on to win after the equaliser.

Kenny 7 Couple of good saves.

Peltier 7 A much better game from Pelts. Got forward well and linked up with McCormack a few times but woeful crosses cost us several good opportunities.

Lees 6 Had the giant Nihiu to deal with and actually won the majority of the ball in the air.

Pearce 6 I still get worried every time Pearce has work to do but he has improved markedly from last season. Still our weakest link in defence though.

Warnock 6 Also noticeably getting forward more. Should have been able to cut out the corner before it got to Antonio to head back across goal.

Austin 7 Very solid and covered ground well making several crucial challenges. With Murphy in the team Rudy maybe needs to leave the long passing to him though.

Green 4 Started the season well against Brighton but not been great since. Lost the ball and went down a lot in the first half.

Murphy 6 Few more passes went astray than usual today but I'm sure the windy conditions didn't help.

McCormack 8 Sharp, mobile and committed . Peach of a goal. Two goals in three starts for our overrated striker playing in midfield. MOTM.

Varney 5 Did nothing first half. Did marginally more second half. I half expected that when McDermott decided to start Poleon he'd play ahead of Varney rather than Hunt.

Poleon 6 Looked threatening early on but with his every run being halted by shirt holding, obstructions and with the ref giving everything against him he had no chance to affect the game. Still works best as a sub for me.

Subs

Tonge 7 A calmer and more assured presence than Green when he came on. A few dangerous runs into the box. I expect him to keep his place whether Green is injured or not.

Smith 6 It wasn't the weather to lump long balls up to the big man but defended well from the front. Definitely more of a presence than Varney.

Diouf Didn't get long enough. Clearly not fit yet.

[joelufc20]

I also thought we looked better when tonge on

[markolufc]

Category B for a local derby is giving tickets away.

So it's better to have a half empty stadium for a local derby than to "give tickets away"?

Looks like the logic fairy skipped over you at birth.

[markolufc]

Same starting 11, probably the same subs deployed as the game goes on. Like the fact that BMD uses subs wisely from round about the hour mark, unlike Colin who either threw all three on at the start of the second half, or one in the 90th minute!

Btw, if you can't make this game, you can watch it on Skys Sports 2 on Saturday, for FREE!!! Some promo thing Sky are doing, non-sports subscribers will get the six sports channels free for the weekend (presumably in the hope that you'll be so impressed, you'll rush out and subscribe!). Result!!

Unfortunately this wasn't correct. They just stuck the Sky Sports 1 programming onto Sky 2. I was trying to get the match on Sky Sports 1 HD and it wasn't having any of it, so had to watch it in rubbish standard def. Was not impressed -_-

[markolufc]

Truly uninspiring.

I know Sheffield Wednesday have a lot of big players, but we were outmuscled in every part of the pitch. Every time they put the ball in our area we looked shaky. Lees played well but he can't do it on his own - at half time I had to check the team sheet to see if Pearce was playing, so ineffectual was he.

Peltier had a good game, Poleon had a good first half and should have won a penalty.

McCormack definitely MOTM, Peltier second.

Murphy tidy, I like the look of him.

We desperately need a CB, at least one winger and a striker - Varney isn't it.

I felt the opposite, Lees looked out of his depth and Pearce was picking up the slack.

[HarryofOz]

On the plus side, we are still unbeaten

Pretty poor much but a fair bit better than the Leicester game.

Early in the season but I've not been that impressed by Leeds, Leicester or Sheff Wed.

Ross' goal the stand-out moment from out point of view. Otherwise there were some good bits of play by each of the players but no-one who performed well throughout the match. No MoTM for me.

[MeeTa]

I felt the opposite, Lees looked out of his depth and Pearce was picking up the slack.

Pearce was brilliant today, as far as i could tell he didnt put a foot wrong. Lees makes to many Jr mistakes, which if it continues will cost us points

[theleedsmango]

Individually, no one played really poor - although Green had a bad game. As a team however, we just didn't click.

The problem is we don't have a style. Poleon and McCormack are happy to run through the defence with the ball at their feet, yet most of the balls are (poor) crosses from the half way line. This would be a legitimate tactic if Smith was on but the size of our team compared to their players meant these efforts were all futile.

Whereas Warnock was composed when clearing the ball, Pearce and Lees, would just boot it at first touch. It's fine to clear your lines, but if you've an extra bit of time, it's good to try and work the ball out and retain possession. What happened way too often was we just tried to pass the ball out of defence, a midfield player would come under pressure, pass it back to a CB who would panic and knock it on to Kenny for a hoofball.

Kenny - not a lot too fault as he chased the ball when needed and made some good saves. Not at fault for set-piece goal
Peltier - got forward well, needs to work on crosses
Lees - needs to gain composure: always looks like he's one man against wave after wave of attacking movement.
Pearce - improving under Brian - again needs to compose himself when under a bit of pressure.
Warnock - got forward well (was on right wing at one point) and worked the ball out of defence. Was partly at fault for goal.
Green - poor game, couldn't make the tackles and passes were wayward.
Austin - brilliant interceptions all over the pitch. Needs to work on his crosses.
Murphy - a neat player but I don't think he got involved as much as a midfielder should. Should be on corner duties.
Poleon - brilliant to see someone take on defenders, like a little pitbull. Problem was he kept his head down and never had any intention of looking for another player to pass too. More games / confidence will improve him drastically.
McCormack - was way too quiet for parts of the game. Took his goal brilliantly.
Varney - worked very hard the first half to try and control some of the hoofs. Just wasn't effective in creating any threat up front.

Next game, i'd start McCormack and Smith up front, with Poleon on the wing. Drop Varney. Bring Tonge on for Green. We need that culture where your starting place isn't guaranteed and you need to fight for it. Brian looks like he's going to honour this, choosing Poleon over one of his signings Hunt.

[Kyle_5351]

In all honesty I think we defended quite well. Yes, we conceded an easy goal, but for most of the game I think we did alright.

Austin is doing really well as a DM player. Filling the hole in front of the two CB is definitely making life easier for Pearce and Lees. I personally thought Pearce was reasonably solid. I still don't understand a lot of the long wide crosses from Austin though. Seems to be quite wasteful.

Murphy needs to get on the ball more. Simple.

Poleon looked to give us some run and was unlucky to not have something fall his way. I am happy for him to take on defenders and give it a go. Would rather that, opposed to nothing happening at all. Give him some more game time and I think he will come good.

Peltier. My word. I think he is playing awesome at the moment imo. Getting forward well (needs to cross better) and is defending the right side very well. If Sam is only a few weeks away, then I would definitely expect Pelts to keep his spot and Byram to play right wing. Would be a great right side.

I would like to see Poleon and Smith start imo. I think Poleon could cut in and provide a decent cross in the box to Smith, who is obviously great with his head.

I know people may be disappointed with only a draw at home, but it was good to see the boys get the goal back and also look threatening at times. You will go goals down at times, but to get one back isn't always easy. I think Murphy, Austin and Ross will start to click soon with more game time. I actually like the look of things.

MOTM - Actually too hard to pick this week. Austin and Pelts defensively. Ross nicely taken goal.

[1964white]

Kenny 8 - the Sullivan coaching produces a change in Paddy's keeping as he is actually dominating his six yard box by coming off his line to punch the majority of crosses to good effect generally
Peltier 8 - MOTM for me, defensively very solid since he has returned to his natural position
Pearce 8 - some tremendous & brave blocks from JP
Lees 6 - i do wonder about young Tom as he was caught napping again, looked solid at Leicester last Sunday, yesterday he was caught out of position on three occasions & so nervy on the ball. How he is in the England set up god only knows
Warnock 8 one of our few players who has natural/composed ability on the ball...another contender for MOTM
Green 4 - went off injured apparently which was probably a blessing in disguise after a woeful first half
Austin 7 - gives us power/strength/running in midfield, unfortunately he can't pass a ball for toffee. Needs to win the ball, keep it simple & bring the young lad alongside him into the game who is good on the ball & is a good passer !
Murphy 6 - some nice touches but not in the game enough unfortunately
McCormack 7 - hardly in the game during the first half, blossomed for a 15 minute period after the break which produced one of the few quality moments of the game attacking-wise with a superb goal
Varney 5 - lots of running the channels from Reg that came to nothing
Poleon 6 - some good running with the ball although he lost possession far too often, has to learn to offload the ball quicker. Needs to stay on his feet....Has he been watching Becchio DVD's

Subs :

Tonge 7 - had a lovely 45 minutes, brought some composure to our game with his neat play
Smith - never given a chance as our delivery of crosses were extremely poor whilst the big lad was on
Diouf - hardly got a touch in the ten minutes he was on the pitch

Referee - was it me...did he favour the Owls with some of his decisions

Leeds fans - may i ask what Kirkland has done wrong.....he is not the criminal

Conclusion : require a top centre-back, pacy winger who can deliver a perfect cross & a prolific striker who frightens defenders.......tough job Brian !

[Charity Shield 69]

Based on TV watching, was an interesting match in the sense that all three results were possible right to the end with neither side quite having the attacking quality to take the game when half chances came.
Was good to see Poleon given a league start - he regularly provided a spark in his own individualistic way. Thought he deserved better from the referee who seemed to consistently give benefit of doubt to the defender - had the penalty been given to Leeds when Poleon was blatantly pulled back in the box the match might have taken a different path.
Unfortunately the Wed goal gave them something to fight for. It was disappointing to see that corner defended so poorly. It appeared that Warnock made a half arsed effort to pressure the first header then as it floated back across the goal mouth he made no effort to return to the post he was previously defending. Had he done so he probably would have cleared the eventual goal shot.
I was reasonable impressed with Pearce and Peltier, the latter showing a good all-round game except for some erratic delivery when in good positions behind the Wed defence - nevertheless his attacking intent was welcome.
Austin plays with authority, power and surprising precision given how sloppy his possession play was at times last season.
It would have been interesting to swap him and Green in order to return Green to the DM role he occupied earlier and give Austin the chance to get forward and threaten through the IR channel.
Murphy obviously has a good all round game but was just down a little on touch and precision in this match. I'm hoping he becomes increasingly influential as he adapts to this league.
Perhaps the system being played is asking him to operate a big too wide to the left to really have a controlling effect on a match.
Ross obviously had an effective and influential game - I was undecided as to whether he was MOTM and eventually have gone for Kenny who made some vital plays and ensured we were still in a position to win the game right till the end.
I wondered about the wisdom of having both Smith and Diouf on together at the end with the much pacier Varney & Poleon on the bench.  How is Hunt's mobility?

Cheers,
CS69

[eastyorkshirewhite]

A poor game which showed how bad we need about 3 players.On this performance a top ten finish would be a bonus.
Kenny 7 Made a couple of good saves but seems to let his concentration wander
Peltier 5 Shows how bad we need Byram back no pace getting forward
Lees 5 Has not shown much form this season so far
Pearce 7 Quite solid but distrubution lets him down
Warnock 7 His best game so far this season
Green 3 Oh dear
Austin 7 A powerhouse display
Murphy 5 Not in the game
Varney 5 made little impression
Poleon 5 Still raw
McCormack 8 A poor 1st half but deserve MOTM for his goal nobody else could have done that
Subs
Tonge 5 Struggled
Smith 4 a 2nd Morison!
Diouf 2 No time to make any impact maybe McDermot should have used him sooner

[lufc1304]

Unfortunately this wasn't correct. They just stuck the Sky Sports 1 programming onto Sky 2. I was trying to get the match on Sky Sports 1 HD and it wasn't having any of it, so had to watch it in rubbish standard def. Was not impressed -_-

Similarly unimpressed Marko. Apart from getting our game, there were very scant offerings. Won't be buying the sports package any time soon

[WakeyWhite]

Firstly welcome back Wakey

So is Ross your Man of the Match ?

Thanks, no I wouldn't say that. He obviously did well with the goal but had too many quite periods. I wonder whether. When or if we get some width will he be better off playing upfront and looking to get on the end of some crosses. My mom probably on balance was pelts although I was well impressed with Warnock

I have a season ticket this year so I will be at all the home games so I look forward to. Being able to being able to contribute to the forum even more

[andywatson]

Well thanks to sky, I got to see this one.

Initial thoughts weren't that positive. Leeds didn't really seem to have an embedded plan or style. It reminded me of watching one of those games where a load of guys just turn up and play. BM hasn't established how he wants us to play yet- or he doesn't have the players to make it work yet. Anyway:

Kenny - 7. A mixed afternoon. Couldn't be blamed for the goal, and some impressive keeping- but also a few flappy "punches".
Peltier - 7 Got better and better as the game went on. By the end he looked like he was only player on that wing! However, the end product wasn't the best. Then again their defence was so huge it would have taken a pretty good cross to get through.
Lees - 6. Good enough. No better, no worse.
Pearce - 6. Again good enough. I am starting to think the partnership with Lees will be enough though.
Warnock - 6 The most inconsistent of the defenders- some excellent work- and some errors.
Green - 5. The "injury" saved BM a difficult conversation.
Austin - 8 MOTM I loved watching him play. I was reminded of Batty- break up the attack and he should then just pass square!!
Murphy - 6 Flashes of quality, but a bit anonymous. He should have worked harder to get involved in the game.
Poleon - 7 Lots of effort and invention- but also a lack of experience showing through in places. To often he was blocked out by defenders standing their ground or moving into space. He needs to keep working hard and he will improve- great potential.
McCormack - 7 I have to give him a 7 with the sheer quality of the goal, but much of the rest of the game (certainly before the goal) was very quiet.
Varney - 7 Kind of the opposite to Ross- worked incredibly hard, but didn't manage to really create very much.

Subs:
Tonge 7 Thought he did well- put himself about a bit.
Hunt 6 Think it was a mistake bringing him on. Lets be honest- he's a big lump- exactly what the Wendies defenders are comforable with. He tried hard though, and did ok- no better.
Diouf. 5 Barely touched the ball- was this because he was brought on so late? Not fit? Didn't try? Not sure.

I am going to point a finger at BM here. First half performance was disjointed without any real sense of a team which is sure of itself and each other yet. I also think the Varney substitution was wrong- Diouf shoulf have been brought on instead of Hunt. I think we all saw the Wendies were struggling to keep hold of Poleon all game, I think Dom, Ross and Diouf might have played to their weaknesses.

Finally the ref. Ok, he didn't do us any favours- but he didn't stitch us up either! Actually I thought he was excellent- allowing some "derby" tackles and the game to be played.

[Gurj]

I have to say I amazed how so many Leeds fans, not just on this forum but across the likes of twitter and Facebook seem to continue to slate Lee Peltier when for me he has been very solid and reliable thus far this season.

Certainly on Saturday, other than a couple of wayward crosses (name me a another LUFC outfield player not guilty of the same) he was very good throughout. Guess each team has a ' whipping boy ' and Peltier is ours.
Like Leon says, he was playing out of position for the vast majority of last years campaign and now he is back in he's true spot fans should be judging him on he's actual performance in this seasons games rather than letting last seasons affect their critique of him now.

As good as Ross McCormack's goal was and I pray he stays, there was no way he was MOTM as such, Peltier had to have that accolade for me.

[Dr.Leeds]

Hunt 6 Think it was a mistake bringing him on.

So did McDermott clearly...