The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 15th December) - Should Marcelo Bielsa make changes for the Newcastle game?

[YorkshireSquare]

Good Morning. It's Tuesday 15th December, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Would you make changes for Wednesday?

Things are starting to look a bit nervy towards the bottom end of the Premier League table and defeat to Newcastle on Wednesday night could see the gap to thirteenth open up to six points. A victory however could see Leeds climb back above the Magpies. It’s not so much a must win game but a win would certainly settle the nerves following back to back defeats to West Ham and Chelsea. With the vulnerability at set pieces highlighted with ease by West Ham on Friday night and a lack of penetrating final ball up the other end of the pitch would you make any changes for Wednesday?

Luke Ayling has filled in well at centre back, but we lose his attacking threat when played in the middle. Could Pascal Struijk come into the defence instead, giving the team some much needed height at the back. Is Dallas better at left back than Alioski? Jamie Shackleton did little wrong in the second half on Friday, could he be in for a start? With a lack of final ball against the Hammers, Klich looking particularly out of sorts, would Pablo Hernandez make a difference? El Mago can create chances out of nothing after all!

Then again it was probably our strongest available eleven who started on Friday night.





Is Amazon Prime good for the game?

Wednesday nights game will be the first time this season Leeds United have appeared live on Amazon Prime. It’s one of two Leeds games on Prime this month, the second coming on 29th December against West Brom. Amazon’s coverage is different from the other broadcasters in that there are multiple live matches at once with fans able to select which match to watch. There is also options to view live stats and select highlights within moments of the action happening live. Is this more interactive way of watching football the future?

The ability to choose which game to watch also opens up future licencing models. The most popular teams could in future see an increase in broadcast revenues based on how many fans watch their games. This could be good for teams such as Leeds with large worldwide audiences. But is Amazon helping to usher in the future of live football or is it just another burned on the already overstretched wallets of football fans. With three subscriptions now required to watch all of your teams live games at nearly £60 a month is it all just getting a bit too much?





How many points from our next five games?

With the pressure on Leeds needs to start picking up points, but how many points do you think we will win from our next five games. It’s a mixed bag, starting with mid-table Newcastle United and Manchester United followed by two bottom of the table teams in Burnley and West Brom followed by current leaders Spurs. Victories against West Brom and Burnley are looking pretty vital given our position in the table but would 6 from 15 be enough? Are Newcastle and Manchester United there from the taking? Is 8 from 15 more achievable or can we dream of more?

16/12/2020 - Newcastle United (Pos 12, Pts 17)
20/12/2020 - Manchester United (Pos 8, Pts 20)
27/12/2020 - Burnley (Pos 17, Pts 9)
29/12/2020 - West Brom (Pos 19, Pts 6)
02/01/2021 - Tottenham (Pos 1, Pts 25)

[danhirons]

drop harrison and alio

not entirely sure who for though! both have been weak links recently though

[Irish Ian]

Morning Folks,

While Ayling did well at CB I feel it unbalanced the whole side.

Dallas/ Raphinha struggled to combine.
Alli/ Harrison were overrun.
KP was dropping too deep to help out leaving Klich with miles of grass to cover and he was overrun by two DFms.

So if Bielsa can draft in Struijk for Ayling and allow Ayling and Dallas to play in their more familiar roles the balance may be restored.

I emailed MB last night with this idea but he hasnt answered

Points haul? 7 would be good.

[HarryofOz]

Changes for Wednesday night?

Tough one, no-one has been bad or ineffective enough on a regular basis to say that they deserve being dropped.

However you cannot understate the value that a quality footballer like Pablo Hernandez brings to the team.

Ayling was probably our best on the field v West Ham so would moving him to back to the flank, switching Dallas to the left and playing Struijk in the middle make us stronger? If Koch was available then yes make the positional changes. But has Struijk been any better than Alioski who he'd be replacing in such a series of changes.

Not knocking Struik who has played well when called on, but so has Alioski.

Amazon Prime sounds like our Optus Sport through which you can choose to watch any game you like. Of course so far with no time clashes that I can think of, there hasn't been an issue with choosing one over the other, but you do get all the games. Also there are currently two live channels available so I assume it is set up for potential clashes.

[Chilli D]

Morning Folks,

While Ayling did well at CB I feel it unbalanced the whole side.

Dallas/ Raphinha struggled to combine.
Alli/ Harrison were overrun.
KP was dropping too deep to help out leaving Klich with miles of grass to cover and he was overrun by two DFms.

So if Bielsa can draft in Struijk for Ayling and allow Ayling and Dallas to play in their more familiar roles the balance may be restored.

I emailed MB last night with this idea but he hasnt answered

Points haul? 7 would be good.

I agree, I would happily take 7 points from those games. Any more than that would be exceptional. Less than 6 would be worrying.

[Chilli D]

Amazon have just given me a free 30 day trial of Prime so I will be making full use of it before cancelling at the end of the 30 days.

[Smudge3920]

IMO time for a big shake up...

If Pablo fit...

................Meslier
Dallas...Ayling...Cooper...Alioski
.. ......Phillips... Struijk
Raphina......................Rodrigo
....................Hernandez
...........Bamford

Pablo not fit...

............Meslier
Dallas...Ayling...Struijk...Alioski
...............Phillips
Raphina...Rodrigo...Shackleton...Poveda
....................Bamford

[The Subhuman]

Amazon have just given me a free 30 day trial of Prime so I will be making full use of it before cancelling at the end of the 30 days.

oohh that's interesting, are you sure it includes the football?

[1964white]

Changes for the Barcodes game

Play our available quality players (that doesn't include the likes of the very inconsistent Harrison, Costa, Alioski & Roberts, at times it's like playing with 8 or 9 men)

Rodrigo & Raphinha need to give us more from here on after their lightweight performance v the Hammers, they were outshone by a ex-Brentford player FFS!

Newcastle are a big unit, we need height at the back. Pascal did very well at Anfield against the best three man attack in the PL, on the day I thought he was marginally better than our debutant CB Koch .

Ayling Struijk Cooper Dallas

Play two defensive DM's

Phillips & Klich

Three flair players interchanging in midfield area

Hernandez Rodrigo Raphinha

Our main man No.9 & only goalscorer up top

Bamford

[1964white]

Amazon Prime

I asked advice from a couple of my best friends (Ges one of them) a couple of weeks ago.

I was already on Amazon's monthly trail (as I was in the summer) because Amazon is my favourite music store, also buy other items from them apart my regular CD purchases.

Advantage with Prime

No postage on every item
Exclusive special offers
Next day delivery
Quality picture/coverage than the streams I use
Can now watch matches on the big screen as oppose to my laptops
Loads of films/series/documentaries to view (Jill has already got three films in mind she wants to watch)

Sod the free trial I've gone for the annual option for £79 once my free trial concludes next week

Great value, I'll get my money back purely on my Amazon purchases & there is so much more to their deal

[1964white]

How many points from our next five games?

7 points

Must not lose the WBA/Burnley games, at least 4 points from those two fixtures preferably 6

[White Riot]

Would you make changes for Wednesday?

Definitely, plenty of options to choose from: Shacks, Struijk, Pablo, Poveda, etc.

The more important question is whether MB will make any changes? He's shown many times that he prefers a settled team, even when individuals are not performing. So we may see the same team as started on Friday, which imo will not be good for our chances of winning this match.

Is Amazon Prime good for the game?

In an open market the more competition the better, otherwise Sky end up with a monopoly on all sports and can, and will charge whatever they like.

How many points from our next five games?

Newcastle = 3
Scum = 1
Burnleh = 3
WBA = 3
Spurs = 0

So I'm feeling optimistic today = 10 points out of 15

However, if we lose tomorrow then the ball's in the beck

[1964white]

oohh that's interesting, are you sure it includes the football?

All the premier league games are live on Amazon Prime, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday this week

[Irish Ian]

oohh that's interesting, are you sure it includes the football?

Yep.

[The Subhuman]

All the premier league games live on Amazon Prime, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday this week

Cheers ...doing it now

[1964white]

Cheers ...doing it now

Good man, loads of Leeds fans signing up

[Chilli D]

oohh that's interesting, are you sure it includes the football?

I'm not sure faaip but I'll test it tonight and try and watch the Chelsea game

[Chilli D]

Cheers ...doing it now

Just seen Ian's response so apparently it does include the football

[Byebyegeegee]

I’m with you 64, Ayling back to right back and Dallas back to left back with Struijk coming in to partner Cooper. Struijk is not very experienced at this level but I think he is capable and at least he’s got a bit of presence and height about him (as opposed to Alioski) to try and defend set pieces.

[Byebyegeegee]

I would be delighted with 3 wins and 9 points out of the next 5. But perhaps 2 wins and a draw would be more likely and just about acceptable. Anything less than that and we’ll definitely be looking over our shoulder!