Leeds v Leicester - Team/Reports/Ratings

[Martyn]

Disappointed but not downhearted.

At last we saw some real spirit, almost as though the shirt meant something to them.

Really not sure about Kebe and Stewart, but very pleasantly surprised by both Brown and Varney. Good to see Byram getting back towards last season's performances.

[1964white]

A significant and much needed improvement. Nevertheless a change of system and personnel and it's going to take time. The league leaders were always going to be a stern test under these circumstances.

Kenny 6 Had very little to do. Mix up with Pearce at the end let Konchesky in.

Byram 7 Defensively solid. Very little in the way of runs forward today though (I suspect Kebe's lack of fitness has something to do with that. You need to have someone who can cover back if Byram goes a long way forward)

Lees 7 Controlled things well at the back. Limited a strong forward line to very few opportunities.

Pearce 6 More composed than he has been. Like Lees has to take credit for keeping the league leaders to very few chances but culpable for the goal.

Warnock 7.5 and MOTM Initially Pugh deserved to keep his place but for a while I've been wanting to see Warnock back in the side. Covered a lot of the pitch, got forward well. One or two (but not enough) of his corners looked dangerous.

Kebe 5 Clearly not match fit and should have been replaced after at most 65 minutes. He was a passenger after that. A few deft and intelligent touches in the first half I hope are a sign if things to come. Potentially a very exciting partnership with Byram down the right.

Austin 7 Much better from Rudi. Did the job we need of him. Ran their players down. Put his foot in and protected the defence. Our central midfield lacked quality in possession though. Against less tough opposition Murphy or Mowatt need to play ahead of one of Austin or Brown.

Brown 7 See Austin.

Stewart 4 There were a few flashes of what Stewart can do when in possession of the ball but was too easily brushed off. Needs to do a lot more when the opposition has the ball. I reckon he could be a good buy in time.

Varney 7 Ran and defended from the front. Quality cross for Ross's header. Did well to get up from several facial assaults. I'd still much rather see Smith in the side.

McCormack 6 Good running again but should have taken at least one of his chances. Hit the post, bought a couple of good saves out of Kasper and one cleared off the line but really should have hit the net.

Subs:

Peltier Not enough time. Change should have been made earlier to push Byram up into Kebe's position.

Diouf Covered every blade of grass without even moving. Lord only knows what he has been up to but he needs to get training.

A game we didn't really deserve to lose. A committed organised team performance against the league leaders where we made plenty of chances but ultimately failed to take them. Some if the faith lost over the Christmas period should have been restored and hopefully we can build on it.

More or less the same scores on the doors as mine Dr

[1964white]

Nigel Pearson 1 - Brian McD 0......the substitutions were the deciding factor for me, with this defeat

Agree......McDermott balls up yet again

[Twiggster]

Agree......McDermott balls up yet again

Don't get me wrong, Leon - McD got the team today pretty much spot on, but we wouldn't have lost had he not made the changes so bloody late. He put Pelts and Diouf on to hold the draw, which I feel would have happened anyway.
I was hoping he'd sub Stewart with Poleon around the hour mark, to go for the win - Dom's pace and aggression along with Varney's might just have grabbed a win for us.

[rab_rant]

Adam Le Fondre scored a first-half hat-trick for reading... who said he only lasts the last half hour of a match as a super-sub?
Is he an iron in the fire for MacciD?

[paddy parrott]

That`d be some self acclaimed expert Rab and you know we all think or believe ourselves a bit tooo much sometimes.
But it wasn`t me i`d have him any time mate.

[gessa]

We should of had him when he left Rothrtham

[Twiggster]

Reasons to be cheerful: still only 6 points behind sixth place after a shocking run.

[gessa]

Reasons to be cheerful: still only 6 points behind sixth place after a shocking run.

The shock icon is used far to frequently but justified on this occasion.

[paddy parrott]

A huge mountain to climb though for me and we dont` seem to have enough experience to reach the top [six] there again my glass is half emptu i` afraid .

[1964white]

Don't get me wrong, Leon - McD got the team today pretty much spot on, but we wouldn't have lost had he not made the changes so bloody late. He put Pelts and Diouf on to hold the draw, which I feel would have happened anyway.
I was hoping he'd sub Stewart with Poleon around the hour mark, to go for the win - Dom's pace and aggression along with Varney's might just have grabbed a win for us.

Correct Poleon on for either Kebe or Stewart & taking Varney off for Diouf was a costly error

[HarryofOz]

Fingers crossed that that was Stewart's worst performance in a Leeds shirt considering we have signed him up for three years.

[The Subhuman]

ignore

[Twiggster]

Correct Poleon on for either Kebe or Stewart & taking Varney off for Diouf was a costly error

AAGH! '64 agreeing with me again? Does not correlate! :mrgreen:

[trooper20]

If you look at Kebe's performance you will see how much of the game he spent covering Dyer with Byram. Dyer never got a look in. He is not yet match fit. Needs 3 full games as he hasn't played a full game since his injury in March last year. Have patience and you will see the real Kebe,

[trooper20]

excuse me again for commenting but you should have won that game easily. The terrible miss on the one to one and it looked like pretty poor defending from Lee to be turned by Nugent like that.

If you bear that in mind you should have won against top of the league and were the better side on the day. Luck plays a massive part in results and you had none yesterday.

Reading meanwhile played brilliantly - mainly due in my opinion to the fact we have our so called star player out injured ( Guthrie). 2 games without him and 2 good wins. Adkins seems at last reverted to the high tempo and closing down tactics

[1964white]

When the fit as a butchers dog Phillips entered the play Pat, Riot & I looked & rolled our eyes at each other, I said at the time of their goal :

"What a clever dummy"

We don't sign clever players thesedays, KP almost became a LUFC player three or four years ago. I feel we've also missed a trick in not signing Wells too

I wonder who our next average signing will be

[lufc1304]

For what it's worth, I thought we were much improved today. Matched, and should probably have beaten, the best team in the league, and I can take some positives from that. Especially given the money they've spent over the past few seasons and, crucially, the patience and faith they have kept in Pearson. Something we could perhaps learn from??

Interestingly, BMD said post match that this was the first time he'd been able to put out a side in the shape and style he believes will be competitive in this league. I would tend to agree with him, but think we lack a couple of quality additions before we'll be truly competitive. A striker and a creative midfielder a must, imo. Brown and Austin as a central midfield pairing worked today, and credit to both, but we were seriously lacking in creativity. Kebe had a good hour and, when fit, looks a useful player. Stewart, on the other hand, looks powder puff, hoping he proves me wrong. Warnock and Byram solid, Pearce and Lees did ok, but what was Lees doing for the goal? And the least said about his 50p-head header the better! Ross should have had a least one goal, dithered with the one-on-one. Unlike him. The much maligned Varney was my MOTM. Worked his socks off, and was a pain in the a**e to the crisps defence all day. Took a fair bit of punishment, too.

As others have said, the subs by both managers made the difference. They brought on Kevin Phillips, we bring on Diouf, who looked like he might have eaten Dominic Poleon! Got that one wrong, Brian

All in all, whilst it's never nice to lose, and the losing sequence continues, I saw enough positives today to suggest we will start moving in the right direction again. And, miraculously, we're still only 6 off the play-offs

[Gino 1959]

he much maligned Varney was my MOTM. Worked his socks off, and was a pain in the a**e to the crisps defence all day.

Took a fair bit of punishment, too.

[The Subhuman]

The problem with Brown and Austin as the loan central midfielders is that they're doing the job of one man...We paid a mill for Murphy, he must start if and when fit . Ross shouldn't be captain and 442 looks a little antiquated...

I've not seen previous performances so can grade this one on what I saw yesterday and not be influenced by previous poor results...we didn't look that good..

Hopefully though I'm wrong and this is the (I've lost count) "next" dawn on the horizon....Always happy to be proved wrong.