The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 17th September) - Does Kinnear need to re-evaluate his B+ transfer window grade

[Ellandback1]

Good Morning. It's Tuesday 17th September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Does Kinnear need to re-evaluate his B+ transfer window grade

During his well rehearsed Summer transfer evaluation on the Square Ball earlier this month, Angus Kinnear awarded the Whites an impressive B+, a game later, we ask whether the ER Chief Executive needs to re-evaluate his grades?

We may have better strength in depth compared to our squad twelve months ago, but failure to replace the game changers, could very well come back to haunt us! Saturdays performance showcased this point brilliantly. The Whites dominated all the stats that mattered bar two - shots on target and goals!

Parking the bus, last minute blocks and goal-line clearances continue to frustrate Farke's men. Failure to land a Emiliano Buendía, Gustavo Hamer or player of that ilk, who can unlock defences could mean they miss out on a top two finish in what looks to be a very average Championship this season.





Most things right about the Burnley performance - Popey

BBC Radio Leeds journalist Adam Pope believes the fans negative reaction to the one-nil defeat to Burnley was not warranted. Speaking on his 'Don’t Go to Bed Just Yet' podcast Popey stated that Leeds performance deserved more, insinuating that the Whites were unlucky not to get anything from Saturday's game. Unfortunately for us long suffering supporters, dominating games, and not winning is nothing new. Whilst we were undoubtedly the better team, we lacked that killer pass or clinical finish. According to Popey.

The meltdown – don’t think is deserved in proportion to the performance, which people are going to hate to hear. “Most things right about that performance. “Things could have changed on a penalty or a missed chance early on and another chance for Gnonto was good too.

[WhiteRose]

We have the best squad in the league despite losing 3 class players so a B+ isn’t far off for me. And pope is right, after a loss it’s always a meltdown due to the results needed for an auto place and the pressure it brings but on another day we win that game it’s not like we were dominated and Farke looked as frustrated as anyone by the missed chances - we will be in the auto mix at the end of the season.

[1964white]

We were the better team overall.

Capitalise on those two easy chances & been given a stonewall penalty, we'd win the game.

The international weeks with players away & injuries on the pitch to Rodon & Ampadu didn't help Farke cause, with his substitutions.

If Burnley plays like that every week, I hate to be a fan watching that type of football, haven't been too impressed when I've watched them a couple of times this season. I have no doubt the clarets will be challenging at the top, though.

[The Subhuman]

This squad, last season....maybe 6th-10th. The rider is if Ramazani/Solomon (though how you get them one the pitch together is another thing) together can score/assist 30 of each that would change

This does look a weaker division though

[Ellandback1]

We were better team overall.

Capitalise on those two easy chances & been given a stonewall penalty, we'd win the game.

The international weeks with players away & injuries on the pitch to Rodon & Ampadu didn't help Farke cause, with his substitutions.

If Burnley plays like that every week, I hate to be a fan watching that type of football, haven't been too impressed when I've watched them a couple of times this season. I have no doubt the clarets will be challenging at the top, though.

This is exactly the same scenario whenever we drop points though. When was the last time we lost in the Championship, and deserved to lose?

[ruttermania]

After 2 games we are a disaster and everyone should be sacked .
After 4 games things are fine and what was all the fuss.
After 5 games we are a disaster and everyone should be sacked .
After 8 games ?
After 10 games ? and so on these tidal waves of optimism v pessimism and yet we all know that the table after 5 games last season did not reflect the final outcome apart from the outliers of Leicester and Ipswich. West Brom are top despite not having a brass farthing and does anybody believe they will be in the automatics next March ?I thought there was an element of post international break tiredness that probably counted more against us than Burnley but there were some flashes of good play and if the breaks had gone our way it could easily have been a win . The attacking unit will need a bit of time to gel as Solomon , Ramazzani and Tanaka have had very little time to adjust and consequently the interplay with some of the rest of the team is still a bit laboured . Last year the complaint was that the substitutions came too late but the reality was that often the bench lacked balance. On Saturday the loss of the spine of the team in Ampadu and Rodon was the main factor which contributed to some of the lack of focus and cohesion towards the end of the game . I think in that context, and despite my own feelings on Saturday ,that there has been an overreaction to the Burnley result. By the way Aaronsons pass to Gnonto in the box was top class Number 10 play and there will be lots of that this season in my view.

[1964white]

After 2 games we are a disaster and everyone should be sacked .
After 4 games things are fine and what was all the fuss.
After 5 games we are a disaster and everyone should be sacked .
After 8 games ?
After 10 games ? and so on these tidal waves of optimism v pessimism and yet we all know that the table after 5 games last season did not reflect the final outcome apart from the outliers of Leicester and Ipswich. West Brom are top despite not having a brass farthing and does anybody believe they will be in the automatics next March ?I thought there was an element of post international break tiredness that probably counted more against us than Burnley but there were some flashes of good play and if the breaks had gone our way it could easily have been a win . The attacking unit will need a bit of time to gel as Solomon , Ramazzani and Tanaka have had very little time to adjust and consequently the interplay with some of the rest of the team is still a bit laboured . Last year the complaint was that the substitutions came too late but the reality was that often the bench lacked balance. On Saturday the loss of the spine of the team in Ampadu and Rodon was the main factor which contributed to some of the lack of focus and cohesion towards the end of the game I think in that context, and despite my own feelings on Saturday ,that there has been an overreaction to the Burnley result. By the way Aaronsons pass to Gnonto in the box was top class Number 10 play and there will be lots of that this season in my view.

I mentioned both these factors of the game on other threads.

Spot on Rutter.

Some fans thought Ampadu & Rodon had a poor game, not the case in my opinion, yes they made a couple of sloppy errors, but didn't the rest of them. Joseph & Gnonto's inabilty to put the ball in the net cost us the game.

Our two wing-backs Bogle & Firpo made the most mistakes, double-figures in Firpo's case

That Aaronson pass was gorgeous!

[Clitheroe White]

After 2 games we are a disaster and everyone should be sacked .
After 4 games things are fine and what was all the fuss.
After 5 games we are a disaster and everyone should be sacked .
After 8 games ?
After 10 games ? and so on these tidal waves of optimism v pessimism and yet we all know that the table after 5 games last season did not reflect the final outcome apart from the outliers of Leicester and Ipswich. West Brom are top despite not having a brass farthing and does anybody believe they will be in the automatics next March ?I thought there was an element of post international break tiredness that probably counted more against us than Burnley but there were some flashes of good play and if the breaks had gone our way it could easily have been a win . The attacking unit will need a bit of time to gel as Solomon , Ramazzani and Tanaka have had very little time to adjust and consequently the interplay with some of the rest of the team is still a bit laboured . Last year the complaint was that the substitutions came too late but the reality was that often the bench lacked balance. On Saturday the loss of the spine of the team in Ampadu and Rodon was the main factor which contributed to some of the lack of focus and cohesion towards the end of the game . I think in that context, and despite my own feelings on Saturday ,that there has been an overreaction to the Burnley result. By the way Aaronsons pass to Gnonto in the box was top class Number 10 play and there will be lots of that this season in my view.

REACTIONARY MERRY GO ROUND - DON"T PANIC!!!

[weasel]

I mentioned both these factors of the game on other threads.

Spot on Rutter.

Some fans thought Ampadu & Rodon had a poor game, not the case in my opinion, yes they made a couple of sloppy errors, but didn't the rest of them. Joseph & Gnonto's inabilty to put the ball in the net cost us the game.

Our two wing-backs Bogle & Firpo made the most mistakes, double-figures in Firpo's case

That Aaronson pass was gorgeous!

It seems to be almost the bandwagon to jump on this season to say that Rodon is struggling. Have't notcied it myslef I think for the main part he has been just as good as last season.

I think if we scored at any point on Saturday then we probably win the game. I felt Solomon looked most likely to be the one to create or score especially when he was dancing inside but similar to times last year with Summerville it was impossible to get a clear shot away simply because of how many players Burnley had back - as such you shimmy past another and another and the angle is gone.

It wasn't a terrible performance, it wasn't great either. Did we deserve to lose, probably not, did we deserve to win, again probably not. I think a draw would have been a fair result. As it was it was one slip that changed the game rather than any team doing something special to get the win.

[BlackHillsPaul]

I was actually surprised at how dominating our performance was against Burnley. Coming off an international break with as many players that had traveled I really thought we would struggle. But the fact is we dominated them completely. An untimely slip led to their goal. And we missed a couple of clear cut chances and the referee missed an obvious penalty. Win the next two matches and we maintain our two points per game results. Which in my view will be plenty to get promoted this season. Bottom line it's WAY too early to be concerned.

[pjm2019]

I was actually surprised at how dominating our performance was against Burnley. Coming off an international break with as many players that had traveled I really thought we would struggle. But the fact is we dominated them completely. An untimely slip led to their goal. And we missed a couple of clear cut chances and the referee missed an obvious penalty. Win the next two matches and we maintain our two points per game results. Which in my view will be plenty to get promoted this season. Bottom line it's WAY too early to be concerned.

But we lost at Home against Burnley and DF had no plan B

[Jammy 07]

I was actually surprised at how dominating our performance was against Burnley. Coming off an international break with as many players that had traveled I really thought we would struggle. But the fact is we dominated them completely. An untimely slip led to their goal. And we missed a couple of clear cut chances and the referee missed an obvious penalty. Win the next two matches and we maintain our two points per game results. Which in my view will be plenty to get promoted this season. Bottom line it's WAY too early to be concerned.

Have to admit Paul that I am concerned and that's mainly because we've made so mnay changes to the squad and if Solomon for example was injured we'd start to look very light in the wide areas with Dan James currently out. However as you say if we can bounce back with a win this weekend I'l start to feel contented again. The odd defeat here and there is absolutely fine but we've yet to see if we're capable of winning consistently.

[BlackHillsPaul]

But we lost at Home against Burnley and DF had no plan B

What would your Plan B look like?

[BlackHillsPaul]

Have to admit Paul that I am concerned and that's mainly because we've made so mnay changes to the squad and if Solomon for example was injured we'd start to look very light in the wide areas with Dan James currently out. However as you say if we can bounce back with a win this weekend I'l start to feel contented again. The odd defeat here and there is absolutely fine but we've yet to see if we're capable of winning consistently.

And that's kind of my point jammy. We just don't know how this team will develop yet. But the first month was a hell of a lot better than last season. And we just manhandled one of our biggest competitors for promotion. We were unfortunate to lose the match. But I'm not unhappy with the way we played.

[weasel]

Have to admit Paul that I am concerned and that's mainly because we've made so mnay changes to the squad and if Solomon for example was injured we'd start to look very light in the wide areas with Dan James currently out. However as you say if we can bounce back with a win this weekend I'l start to feel contented again. The odd defeat here and there is absolutely fine but we've yet to see if we're capable of winning consistently.

If Solomon got injured I would imagine Largie would come into the team and then when James is back it might be him. If not then the option would likely be Aaronsen with one of Piroe, AO or Rothwell coming in as the 10. Sometimes results paper over the cracks and other times results aren't earnt from reasonable performances - I made a comparison elsewhere to our performance v Leicester last year at ER where after Leicester scored they really should have scored 2 or 3 more. We then had a magic few minutes and were on cloud 9. That could easily have happened if we'd got an equaliser against Burnley and Burnley were almost non-existent as a threat in the second half in contrast to Leicester.

Like BHP says results like that happen especially in this division. The important thing is to bounce back and win the next couple. Maintain a 2 point per game average and we won't be far away at the end of the season. I don't see any team doing what Leicester and Ipswich did in terms of establishing a big lead in the table - although if anyone was to do so I feel it would be us or Sheff U.

[Jammy 07]

And that's kind of my point jammy. We just don't know how this team will develop yet. But the first month was a hell of a lot better than last season. And we just manhandled one of our biggest competitors for promotion. We were unfortunate to lose the match. But I'm not unhappy with the way we played.

Once we get into October there's a couple of midweek games coming up as well as having to face Sheff Utd on the Friday evening after the international break so we'll get to see quite quickly how robust or otherwise our squad is.

[Jammy 07]

If Solomon got injured I would imagine Largie would come into the team and then when James is back it might be him. If not then the option would likely be Aaronsen with one of Piroe, AO or Rothwell coming in as the 10. Sometimes results paper over the cracks and other times results aren't earnt from reasonable performances - I made a comparison elsewhere to our performance v Leicester last year at ER where after Leicester scored they really should have scored 2 or 3 more. We then had a magic few minutes and were on cloud 9. That could easily have happened if we'd got an equaliser against Burnley and Burnley were almost non-existent as a threat in the second half in contrast to Leicester.

Like BHP says results like that happen especially in this division. The important thing is to bounce back and win the next couple. Maintain a 2 point per game average and we won't be far away at the end of the season. I don't see any team doing what Leicester and Ipswich did in terms of establishing a big lead in the table - although if anyone was to do so I feel it would be us or Sheff U.

Keeping all, or nearly all our attacking players fit is key for me. In midfield and defensively we can probably get away with having a few missing but we'll need all out talent up top as refreshing the team from the bench in the latter stages of games will be crucial in some of the tighter games.

[John in Louisiana]

I was actually surprised at how dominating our performance was against Burnley. Coming off an international break with as many players that had traveled I really thought we would struggle. But the fact is we dominated them completely. An untimely slip led to their goal. And we missed a couple of clear cut chances and the referee missed an obvious penalty. Win the next two matches and we maintain our two points per game results. Which in my view will be plenty to get promoted this season. Bottom line it's WAY too early to be concerned.

This.

[pjm2019]

What would your Plan B look like?

Against Burnley who had 3-4 forwards pressing leeds defence we needed to have both full backs 100% defencing and not to pass the half way line. This should of happened with 10 mins of the start. This may sound like a small change BUT it would of made a big difference in how we played and allow us to pick our passes much better. Lost count of how many misplaced passes we made