Leeds Utd v Man City - MATCH THREAD

[Aussieleeds]

Just watched the City goal again. Cooper slightly off balance when trying to make the initial clearance - would have struggled to do much else. In my view far worse was his poor effort in basically going to ground as Sterling looks to set up for the shot.

[LUFC_BOS]

What a game. Our lads are full of heart, they do not give up. Thought Dallas was superb today and Poveda, who I thought was
a little lightweight when we were in the championship was immense. Maybe Poveda's game is suited to th PL. Dave was fantastic, real class. Klich ran himself into the ground. This game was like a heavyweight fight with both teams puffed out at the end, I am sure the pitch was sapping given it was sodden. Koch is a great pickup for us, becoming the player we needed.
Slightly dissapointing to see Mesler's distribution today as I think he has set a real good high bar in our other games. Thought also KP got caught out a couple of times with Debruyne picking his pocket but was great second half. Cooper played tough today , a couple of key poke aways.
Cannot get over our fitness, think we will grab some late winners this year.
Great team performance.

ALAW

[rab_rant]

I have to admit that Koch was immense today.

with no rush of blood to the head

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[Leeds1000]

Just watched the City goal again. Cooper slightly off balance when trying to make the initial clearance - would have struggled to do much else. In my view far worse was his poor effort in basically going to ground as Sterling looks to set up for the shot.

I'm not sure if he slipped pal? When he gets hold of the ball in the box Sterling, its hold your breath time. He will win City a lot of penalties this season because he certainly looks for them. Poveda reminds me a bit of sterling with his trickery and close control. I am really looking forward to watching him develop now he's settled in.

[SG90]

Seeing how shot Man City have looked over the last year or so, it makes me wonder how much longer our players can keep up at their current level. Especially the likes of Klich, Ayling, Dallas and Cooper, who've been playing at an intense level for 2 years with barely a break. All 4 will be in their 30s next summer too. I think we'll need to slowly phase them out of the side towards the end of the season.

[lufc1304]

Like everyone else has said, the feeling over the first 20 mins or so was that we were going to be on the wrong end of a hiding. But the Alioski chance (should have done better, imo) made our lads realise that we could get at them and from that point on, it was a very even game. Draw was a fair result, even though we might have nicked it at the end had Paddy shown a little more composure. What it tells me is that this group of players will not be found wanting for effort, belief or fitness and that the Bielsaball we play will trouble every team in this division. I just hope that our performances so far haven't convinced MB or the management that the squad as is is good enough. We do still need some creativity, despite how well Rodders did when he came on. Loving the Poveda cameos; if he can gain a little upper body strength without compromsing his pace, he's going to be a real handful for defenders. My only gripe was, again, Roberts. He just doesn't convince me that he has what it takes at this level. If we get a new 10, I think he might be loaned or sold. There's talent there, but perhaps not enough for the Prem. Anyway, another fine performance, I love this club!!

[The Subhuman]

Citehs starting 11 cost £570.4M in transfer fees.

Well 10 of them..Foden didn't cost anything

[Irish Ian]

Seeing how shot Man City have looked over the last year or so, it makes me wonder how much longer our players can keep up at their current level. Especially the likes of Klich, Ayling, Dallas and Cooper, who've been playing at an intense level for 2 years with barely a break. All 4 will be in their 30s next summer too. I think we'll need to slowly phase them out of the side towards the end of the season.

Until now and January we only have one game a week, so if the coaches can keep them on the right side of fatigued we should be ok. Regarding slowly phasing out those players, well the good news is that we have their replacements already in the squad.

We are in great shape at the minute.

[92champs]

Brilliant performance and a well deserved point, as opposed to other Prem teams parking the bus against City or accepting defeat before a ball is kicked (looking at you Burnley).

Europe is more difficult to get know, as England only has one Europa League place from next season onwards, so hopefully Bielsa is targeting the FA Cup if we're fairly safe by January (it looks like this will be the case.)

[Boo Radley]

Just watched the City goal again. Cooper slightly off balance when trying to make the initial clearance - would have struggled to do much else. In my view far worse was his poor effort in basically going to ground as Sterling looks to set up for the shot.

Thought the same, he should have stayed on his feet for the shot. He was also lucky going to ground in front of Sterling late in the second half as Sterling saw it as a chance to play for the penalty. Also some of Coopers passing was off and put us under unnecessary pressure. It’s hard to be too critical though. He played well besides.

Koch was steadier in the centre. He’s improving every game. His tackling is strong and passing was excellent. He even managed to get back into a key position against Sterling, who had a head start on him in the second half attack that ended up with Meslier catching the ball at Sterling’s feet. It would have been so easy to trip him or pull him down but he kept the head and helped squeeze him up against Meslier. Super defending.

[SG90]

Brilliant performance and a well deserved point, as opposed to other Prem teams parking the bus against City or accepting defeat before a ball is kicked (looking at you Burnley).

Europe is more difficult to get know, as England only has one Europa League place from next season onwards, so hopefully Bielsa is targeting the FA Cup if we're fairly safe by January (it looks like this will be the case.)

Now we threw away the Carabao Cup, we should be having a proper go in the FA Cup.

[1964white]

Now we threw away the Carabao Cup, we should be having a proper go in the FA Cup.

We would serious contenders for that trophy SG as long as we play our best X1

I remember Revie playing his best/strong 11's v the likes of Sutton Utd, Mansfield, Swansea, etc, plus Colchester who claimed one of the biggest FA Cup shocks beating us 3-2 in 1971

[Denman]

We would serious contenders for that trophy SG as long as we play our best X1

I remember Revie playing his best/strong 11's v the likes of Sutton Utd, Mansfield, Swansea, etc, plus Colchester who claimed one of the biggest FA Cup shocks beating us 3-2 in 1971

That still gives me the shivers 64, given I live just down the road from the old ground.

[1964white]

That still gives me the shivers 64, given I live just down the road from the old ground.

Ray Crawford had a day to remember Denman

[1964white]

[mothbanquet]

Mostly mid-table Championship players by the way...

[rab_rant]

the abiding image that I have is of Bielsa crouching down at the end of the game in the rain thinking about what he has just seen, and in the post-match interview Pep is asked what did Bielsa ask you at the end of the game?

he replied that he was bewildered by what he had just seen and would need time to process it.

for both teams the game seemed to ebb and flow between chaos and order, and this made it difficult for both managers to make any coherent analysis.

you only have to look at Mendy who was imperious against Costa, yet when Proveda came on he was run ragged and had to be substituted... order descended into chaos.

The game at this point resembled a game of chess and Bielsa made a stunning move by switching Costa to the left and putting Proveda on the right, and from that point onwards in chess terms Leeds were threatening checkmate, and chaos had swung to order.

But like in all great chess games when under attack you have to improve your defense and this is what happened with the introduction of Fernandinho. Pep had become Boris Spassky against Bielsa's lunatic Bobby Fischer in the classic Icelandic chess game to become The Grandmaster of the world.

Fischer played the Sozin Attack against Spassky's Sicilian Defense, and near the end Spassky developed a strong kingside attack, but failed to convert it into a win, the game ending in a draw.

Fisher went on to win the tournament and the maverick became the grand master. it would not surprise me in the least if El Loco did something similar in the premier League. This game was only a taster of the games that are about to come and the amazing checkmates that Bielsa will perform.

[mothbanquet]

the abiding image that I have is of Bielsa crouching down at the end of the game in the rain thinking about what he has just seen, and in the post-match interview Pep is asked what did Bielsa ask you at the end of the game?

he replied that he was bewildered by what he had just seen and would need time to process it.

for both teams the game seemed to ebb and flow between chaos and order, and this made it difficult for both managers to make any coherent analysis.

you only have to look at Mendy who was imperious against Costa, yet when Proveda came on he was run ragged and had to be substituted... order descended into chaos.

The game at this point resembled a game of chess and Bielsa made a stunning move by switching Costa to the left and putting Proveda on the right, and from that point onwards in chess terms Leeds were threatening checkmate, and chaos had swung to order.

But like in all great chess games when under attack you have to improve your defense and this is what happened with the introduction of Fernandinho. Pep had become Boris Spassky against Bielsa's lunatic Bobby Fischer in the classic Icelandic chess game to become The Grandmaster of the world.

Fischer played the Sozin Attack against Spassky's Sicilian Defense, and near the end Spassky developed a strong kingside attack, but failed to convert it into a win, the game ending in a draw.

Fisher went on to win the tournament and the maverick became the grand master. it would not surprise me in the least if El Loco did something similar in the premier League. This game was only a taster of the games that are about to come and the amazing checkmates that Bielsa will perform.

Aye

[Byebyegeegee]

Loving the Chess analogy Rab, I followed the Fischer v Spassky match very closely at the time. Chess is a great game and was very popular at that time and that match grabbed people’s attention due to the Cold War parallel, USA v Russia. Unfortunately Chess is not as popular now in the UK - shame!

[Leeds1000]

Loving the Chess analogy Rab, I followed the Fischer v Spassky match very closely at the time. Chess is a great game and was very popular at that time and that match grabbed people’s attention due to the Cold War parallel, USA v Russia. Unfortunately Chess is not as popular now in the UK - shame!

Love a game a chess. Finding someone at a similar level can be difficult. I once played a lad who told me he was 56 in the UK rankings and when he beat me in around 20 moves without thinking. I took his word for it.

Used to love it at school. I was always a bit of a nuisance at school to put it mildly, never got engaged. But when it came to a game of Chess none of the brainboxes in the class could beat me. I can still remember the look of disbelief to this day,