Charlton Athletic v Leeds Utd Match Thread - Costa to make first league start

[60sUnited]

The problem is that we need a win and soon, otherwise the biggest influencing factor 'loss of confidence' will kick in. Unfortunately we are up against the eventual, imo, league winners on Tuesday at Elland Rd......say no more.

[The Subhuman]

We're missing Roofe badly, and I think it's Bielsa's biggest mistake while he's been here. In this system you need the quick forward to be in position for the fast break and counter attack. Kind of a shame it wasn't a straight red for Bamford as that would have forced the change for 2/3 games and I think we need to see Eddie get a run now..4 goals from about 25 good chances for Paddy is very poor

Bamford does bring hard work and the ability to hold up play well but do we really need to slow us down playing fast break football?

[BGwhite]

Bumford is there as our main scorer which isn't happening so MB doesn't really have any choice but to bench him now not that i think it'll make much difference against WBA, that game is over before we kick off imo.

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[Cjay]

Bumford is there as our main scorer which isn't happening so MB doesn't really have any choice but to bench him now not that i think it'll make much difference against WBA, that game is over before we kick off imo.

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Its difficult though.

Eddie also failed to even hit the target with 2 decent chances, Paddy would be slaughtered if it was him.

After giving Costa the big build up he didnt do enough for me, 1 or 2 decent moments but not enough, should keep his place though.

[Mick Jones shoulder]

Harrison puts a shift in every week but in reality produces nothing where it matters up top. Can't shoot can't cross, tracks back and helps out defensively that sums him up

[Irish Ian]

We're missing Roofe badly, and I think it's Bielsa's biggest mistake while he's been here. In this system you need the quick forward to be in position for the fast break and counter attack. Kind of a shame it wasn't a straight red for Bamford as that would have forced the change for 2/3 games and I think we need to see Eddie get a run now..4 goals from about 25 good chances for Paddy is very poor

Bamford does bring hard work and the ability to hold up play well but do we really need to slow us down playing fast break football?

Good money was made for a player with so little time left on his contract.... pity most of it was apparently not available to spend..

Roofe may be an decent player but he is far too injury prone. Four times inside the same calendar year he has been sidelined. But you may have got your wish faaip, MB looked annoyed at Bamford today over rash tackle, so dont be surprised if Ed will start on Tuesday and we will see if Harrison has the wrong striker playing with him as you suggest.

[White Riot]

The club are pretenders. They continue to talk about promotion this and promotion that but to get up from this league a consistent goalscorer is required and just as last season we do not have one. The rest of the team will most certainly not contribute enough where goals are concerned and the defence are susceptible to the most softest of goals. Overall the quality is not there regardless of how much possession we have it means nothing without a finishing product. I don't believe the players will improve anymore than they have since MB took charge so once again we will all look back and think about what might have been had AR and MB decided to invest in a centre forward who can actually score 1 in 2 games over 46 to give us a fighting chance.

Eloquently put BG and very true.

Let's not kid ourselves, a large part of this squad is composed of the same guys who bottled it during the run in for the last 3 seasons = mentally weak. Other than Phillips we don't have any real battlers like Bowyer, Vinnie Jones, Bremner, Batty, Hunter, which all wining sides contain. That's gpoing to manifest itself when the going gets tough again.

We've picked up a real gem in White, but I still feel quality cebtral defensive cover has not been acquired and that will also bit us.

As other's have rightly said, Bamford is a one in fout striker, great when he's on it, but that's not often enough with a team that aspires to be promoted. We sold Roofe who showed flashes of being the striker we need, but suffered injuries and couldn't get anywhere near a regular start when we had a productive striker in Chris Wood.

So we've got to hope that Nketiah, an unproven kid, and Costa, who has hardly played and looked rusty to me will complete our goal-scoring puzzle.

Bielsa said at the end of last season that he had got all he could out of these players, i.e. they will not improve.

Got to say that I haven't posted for ages as I was so fed up with the way we capitulated last season. Dallas was the guy who turned up against Derby and tried to win us that match, the rest didn't want it enough.

It's the same old stuff for me, a coupld of good performances in August don't mean we're getting promoted.

[rab_rant]

When I saw Costa turn on a sixpence on the touch line and get past the opposition
I thought it was a bewildering bit of skill. When I saw him slot in a few slide rule passes
to Dallas and Shackelton in the box I thought here we have a maestro in the making.
But sometimes I just wanted to scream go on yourself son. In preseason we saw how
he could jink and weave in the box and score goals from incredibly tight angles.
THat's what was missing today.

I think of this team as a kettle on a stove there is just enough heat to keep it at a simmer
We never seem to get to the boil.

Undone again with a goal worthy of a pinball wizard. You can not legislate for luck like that.
Even the commentators were utterly confused as to who had scored the goal. It was just
one ricochet after another

[The Subhuman]

I'd have paid Roofe for what it's worth, but i think MB said to Kemar he would be Bamfords back up this season and if that's true then no sense in paying Kemar starters wages at around 25 grand. Think we could have shaved that a little in negotiations though.

If I had the talent to spice out you tube clips and they were available to start with I could show mant reasons why Harrison is a good player for us. I'd be able to stop the film and show that the box is often empty when Harrison is in a crossing position, we all say Pablo plays passes that no one second guesses and it's similar with Harrison. I'm not buying this theory that teams allow Harrison space and time because they're not scared of him...he's making that space and time and I don't think for a second that an opposing manager would allow Harrison free pot shots. They try to close him down quickly enough as it is...

And we don't often consider his defensive work..which is quality. We look solid left side when he's playing.

[1964white]

Phillips overhits a freekick and that's that (watch him be named MOTM on the coach).

No he won't KP had a shocker

[1964white]

1 own goal scored in 2 games says it all. We aren't good enough or clever enough up front. Stats mean nothing except to say that every team only needs 1 chance against us and its game over because Leeds will never score enough goals. We keep saying "luck" but if thats whats needed they may as well jack it in now.

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No we wont score enough goals because we haven't got a 25 a season goalscorer & our players are woeful at the art of shooting.

[1964white]

Outclassed Charlton but come away with a defeat by a fluke goal FT - 1-0

Casilla - 6 - Hardly anything to do but partially at fault for the goal
Dallas - 6 - Off his game today
White 8.5 - So cultured and barely a foot wrong
Cooper 8 - Couple of cracking balls and solid in defence
Alioski - 6 - Better game came off too early
Phillips - 6 - Not at his best, suffered with diving at his feet, lost possession a couple of times and some meh dead ball work
Costa - 7.5 - Started well, was less of a factor as the game went on
Klich - 8.5 - Masterful, his vision wasted by Bamford and Dallas. Couple of off target shots lose him a point though
Shackleton - 7 - Not sure he's there yet, some very heavy footed touches in good positions killed promising attacks
Bamford - 4 - Poor, couple of poor missed chances, too slow and then a nasty late challenge he could have gotten a red for
Harrison - 8 - Some lovely touch passes, some great crossing which went unchallenged and is able to find space when tightly marked. Showed great feet today. Shooting wayward so loses a point and a half. Defensive work outstanding too

Forshaw - 4 - Rusty
Nketiah - 7 Live wire ..unlucky not to score
Roberts - 5 - Very rusty

I sorry Faaip no player deserved more than a 5 today, we were shocking.

Cant defend for the 25% of the time we don't have the ball.
Can't shoot or head accurately in front of goal.
Choose the wrong options far too many times as we tried to walk the ball in the net.
19 shots on goal, only three on target including a daisy-cutter from your man Klich plus the two shots not on target that he skied over the bar.
Passing was dreadful at times.
No composure as we around like headless chickens.

That performance is a painful reminder of our feeble defeats of last season.

God help us v WBA & Millwall next week

[The Subhuman]

Going to have to disagree with you again 64, I stand by my rankings and have watched the game twice...

[1964white]

Harrison puts a shift in every week but in reality produces nothing where it matters up top. Can't shoot can't cross, tracks back and helps out defensively that sums him up

A trier MJ but not good enough

[1964white]

Going to have to disagree with you again 64, I stand by my rankings and have watched the game twice...

Fair enough mate however I reckon you'll be on your own in the main

[The Subhuman]

I always am 64, ever since I was an 8 yr old walking out of the Rec disagreeing with everyone around me bar my uncle ..who was a very very good footballer himself

[Cjay]

Going to leave Harrison alone after this last comment.

Few years back Jamie Carragher said "full backs are either failed wingers or failed centre backs".

Clearly a bit of banter with Neville who himself was indeed a failed cb.

But their is truth to that, many full backs were indeed deemed not good enough in other positions, even legendary ones.

Roberto Carlos was a forward, Cafu was a midfielder, Jordi Alba was a winger, David Alaba was also a winger, Evra was a winger, Bellarin was a winger etc.

It was a tongue in cheek comment from Carragher but truthful in many ways.

Lots of average wingers become full backs, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, and our own Stuart Dallas who while now reborn as a full back spent many years being a very average winger.

I think Jack Harrison will end up as a full back.

He has a great first touch, great attitude, works hard, follows tactical instructions, gives his all, puts in the occasional great cross, defensively ok.

I can see him following Stuart Dallas and becoming a full back.

[1964white]

No surprise for me today. I had Charlton 2-1 winners. We seem to have lost a spark.....I'm sure that we will be accused of being negative by some on here, but in my opinion it's called being realistic. Massive improvement required, if not we will be lucky to finish top six!

You're not being negative Swannie.

That 2nd half performance v Derby was the writing on the wall. Today without Pablo we were a shambles for all our possession/corners, etc. We wouldn't have scored v what is virtually a League One team if we had played all night

[1964white]

And Costa cant get a touch.

If we are looking to spend £15m on Costa our board must be off their heads

[The Subhuman]

And yet they would have been accused of being cheap if they didn't...Think Costa came highly recommended by a few on here..