Leeds v Blackburn - Team/Reports/Ratings

Post by **1964white** » Mon Oct 26, 2015 5:30 pm

Big test for Steve Evans to see if he can wave the magic wand & produce our first win at ER since March. Blackburn are no great shakes as long as we don't gift Rhodes an opportunity to score. Take the game to Rovers from the first whistle in a positive attacking fashion, cut out the silly mistakes & three points is very much achievable....job done !

Would love to be going into this game with a new on-loan keeper signing, if not i'd be tempted to start with Horton although i don't know if he is ready for first team football, surely he knows the basics of goalkeeping like catching the ball & commanding his area ??

Hopefully Botaka has got over his bug as this lad will frighten defenders

??

Byram Cooper Bamba Berardi

Buckley Cook Adeyemi Botaka

Antenucci Wood

rich_leeds64 · Post by **rich_leeds64** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:51 am

Couldn't agree more re goalkeeping situation,a change would surely instill some much needed confidence into the back four. Silvestri never knows when to come off his line and usually leaves it too late and this leads to mix ups with defenders trying to shepherd the ball back to him. What I have noticed in the last couple of games is the opposite in that he now comes flying out so that he's close to or actually out of his area and then has to take evasive action to clear the ball. A great shot stopper,yes, but that said its really all he's got. Everyone sat near me in the East stand call him Dracula as he's frightened of crosses!
I'm not sure if Buckley is ready to start yet Leon, he still looks a bit short on fitness although he did show glimpses at Bolton so I'd probably stick with Dallas for the first 60 or so and see how it was going.
A win would be huge to try and end the Elland Road curse.

Post by **1964white** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:01 am

rich_leeds64 wrote:Couldn't agree more re goalkeeping situation,a change would surely instill some much needed confidence into the back four. Silvestri never knows when to come off his line and usually leaves it too late and this leads to mix ups with defenders trying to shepherd the ball back to him. What I have noticed in the last couple of games is the opposite in that he now comes flying out so that he's close to or actually out of his area and then has to take evasive action to clear the ball. A great shot stopper,yes, but that said its really all he's got. Everyone sat near me in the East stand call him Dracula as he's frightened of crosses!
I'm not sure if Buckley is ready to start yet Leon, he still looks a bit short on fitness although he did show glimpses at Bolton so I'd probably stick with Dallas for the first 60 or so and see how it was going.
A win would be huge to try and end the Elland Road curse.

You are probably correct on the Dallas/Buckley scenario Rich. I'm just so frustrated with Dallas, he works hard perhaps i expected more from him !

Ratscoot · Post by **Ratscoot** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:17 am

Hoping for a big crowd but think the numbers maybe cut back due to it been on Sky, but still hopeful it will be over 24,000

I think Blackburn are there for the taking and it's about time we won at home so a hard fought 2-0 Come on Leeeeds!!!

Genghers · Post by **Genghers** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:10 am

Not sure dropping Horton in is the answer really. We need an experienced keeper, and I can't see Horton being an improvement on Silvestri due to his lack of match experience...

------------Silvestri-------------
Byram-Bamba-Cooper-Berardi
-----Adeyemi-----Cook---------
Dallas--------Ant-------Botaka
--------------Wood--------------

If Botaka is still ill then I'd start Buckley and have Mowatt come on once he tires.
If Botaka is fit, then I'd be tempted to start Mowatt in the 'number 10' role and use Ant as an impact sub. That way Mowatt could drop back to support the midfield when needed, effectively creating a 4-5-1 when defending.

Gurj · Post by **Gurj** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:25 pm

Ratscoot wrote:Hoping for a big crowd but think the numbers maybe cut back due to it been on Sky, but still hopeful it will be over 24,000

I think Blackburn are there for the taking and it's about time we won at home so a hard fought 2-0 Come on Leeeeds!!!

No chance of it being that high mate. Not on Thurs night and on Sky. I will be amazed if it reaches 20k.

Hope your score line prediction is bang on tho

lufc1304 · Post by **lufc1304** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:43 pm

No mention of Turnbull as a replacement for Silvestri. Have I missed something? Isn't he available? Shot-stopping aside, Silvestri is a liability, and his inability to command his area, collect crosses etc must scare the sh*t out of the defenders in front of him.

Gandalf · Post by **Gandalf** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:06 pm

lufc1304 wrote:No mention of Turnbull as a replacement for Silvestri. Have I missed something? Isn't he available? Shot-stopping aside, Silvestri is a liability, and his inability to command his area, collect crosses etc must scare the sh*t out of the defenders in front of him.

Turnbull broke his ankle in a development squad game a couple of weeks ago.

paddy parrott · Post by **paddy parrott** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:09 pm

Ross is injured mate unfortunately just recently too.
Would have been a more than capable replacement as well.
I hate knock in' individuals but it seems Silvestre is not quite the answer.
So I am informed however so this position is vital and a change is probably and definitely needed.

rab_rant · Post by **rab_rant** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 5:18 pm

Been reading that Sloth had a cracker for the U21. Scored a couple of goals
I hope Evans has him on the bench for Thursday and I would play him as a
substitute instead of Mowatt. He needs to claim a playmakers sport.

The Subhuman · Post by **The Subhuman** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:34 pm

Don't like switching out goalkeepers and Silvestri is the incumbent with a lot of potential

Post by **1964white** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:02 pm

faaip wrote:Don't like switching out goalkeepers and Silvestri is the incumbent with a lot of potential

One way of describing Marco, liability comes to mind mate

Oscar · Post by **Oscar** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:14 pm

1964white wrote:
You are probably correct on the Dallas/Buckley scenario Rich. I'm just so frustrated with Dallas, he works hard perhaps i expected more from him !

I expected a lot lot more from Dallas as well, Buckley has to start ahead of him in my opinion. Dallas has been one of our worst players of the season so far in my opinion.

Oscar · Post by **Oscar** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:43 pm

In my opinion:
As far as I am concerned the team needs goals so we may as well go with an attacking line up, as no matter what team we put out we always look like we are going to concede goals as well.
GK Silvestri (although he is running out of chances in my opinion, I don't think we should drop him to the bench yet.)
RB Byram (assuming Taylor is still injured.)
CB Bamba
CB Cooper
LB Berardi
RM Buckley (switching sides with Botaka throughout the game
CM Cook
CM Mowatt
LM Botaka
STR Antenucci
STR Wood
The team I think Evans will pick (4-4-2): Silvestri, Byram, Bamba, Cooper, Berardi, Botaka, Cook, Adeyemi, Dallas, Wood, Antenucci.

The Subhuman · Post by **The Subhuman** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 10:58 pm

1964white wrote:
One way of describing Marco, liability comes to mind mate

You're quick to judge mate...I prefer to give players time, especially young ones with that much potential. But we've run a few good keepers out of dodge though so I don't see why Silvestri should be any different

Dr.Leeds · Post by **Dr.Leeds** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:30 pm

faaip wrote:Don't like switching out goalkeepers and Silvestri is the incumbent with a lot of potential

He's the best fit goalkeeper at the club but teams are exploiting his weaknesses now. He is still young for a goalkeeper. He's got the stuff you can't coach: he's a fine shot stopper with amazing reflexes. The stuff he lacks is stuff that could be coached into him given enough time.

Sadly Marco seems to be going backwards at present. Our goalkeeping coach needs to pull his finger out and work hard on his weak areas before they cost us more points and his confidence is completely shot. Do that and we have a fine keeper for many years yet. Fail to do that and we really need a strong back up who can push for a first team place.

The Subhuman · Post by **The Subhuman** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 10:40 am

It's a confidence position and even the best look poor at times for stretches. IIRC correctly he won a number of MOTM awards last season and was credited with sevaral game saving performances.

Give him time and he'll be fine

Post by **1964white** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 11:23 am

faaip wrote:It's a confidence position and even the best look poor at times for stretches. IIRC correctly he won a number of MOTM awards last season and was credited with sevaral game saving performances.

Give him time and he'll be fine

You maybe right Faaip as goalies tend to improve with maturity. Last season he was saving us in many games with the odd blunder here & there, his form has totally reversed this term as Silvestri is costing us far too many points. We'd probably have 7 to 10 more points on the board had it not been for Marco's errors. I personally think he need much more coaching work before he becomes a decent keeper. If we had a good back-up I would take him out of the first eleven & make him fight for the No.1 spot, maybe he would place more emphasis on learning required basic goal-keeping skills without the pressure of games. His confidence is probably shot right now !

Genghers · Post by **Genghers** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 11:31 am

Gary Shaw wrote:I expected a lot lot more from Dallas as well, Buckley has to start ahead of him in my opinion. Dallas has been one of our worst players of the season so far in my opinion.

From the games I've watched/listened to Dallas has always seemed to be one of our more consistent performers... He's got a couple of assists to his name, and has had a few decent cracks at goal. From what Brader said at the Bolton game, Buckley doesn't look fit enough to start at the moment, which Evans clearly thinks too as he's started Cook out of position there instead in the last two games...

I don't doubt Buckley has the quality for the Championship, I just think he's best suited to sub appearances at the moment.

gessa · Post by **gessa** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 1:42 pm

faaip wrote:Don't like switching out goalkeepers and Silvestri is the incumbent with a lot of potential

I think this and how you described him on the Bolton thread, as him to a tee, he's a reserve keeper with potential, we need better right now.