Good Morning. It's Monday 24th January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Toon win after calamity of errors
Tyler Roberts giving the ball away followed by a Llorente foul and an uncharacteristic blunder from Illan Meslier lifted the Magpies to within a point of safety, and dented Leeds aspirations of climbing the table in the process. During a dire encounter, where both sides were as bad as each other, Raphinha's wizardry was evident for all to see. The Brazilian unselfishly carved out three or four opportunities for others, but without a goalscoring striker on the pitch, his efforts were in vain.
Leeds could have gone ahead early on in the first half. Rodrigo carved open the Toon defence with a diagonal ball deep inside the Newcastle penalty area. Raphinha cut the ball back to James, whose effort was well saved by Dúbravka at his near post. Newcastle looked dangerous from set pieces, and should have gone ahead before the break. Leeds failed to clear a corner, but Shelvey's volley was miraculously tipped around the post by Meslier.
The game looked like it was heading for a goalless draw until fifteen minutes from time. Llorente clattered Manquillo on the left edge of the area, gifting Newcastle a chance to deliver a dangerous ball into the box. Instead, Shelvey went for goal. His low curling effort bounced aver the despairing dive of Meslier before nestling in the far corner of the net. Clearly rattled, the Frenchman spilled a cross at his near post just minutes later which Llorente had to clear off the line. Even the introduction of Joe Gelhardt did nothing to lift Leeds spirits, but having already gone a goal down, and the clock ticking on, it was too little too late. 27% of Newcastle’s points won in the Premier League this season have come against Leeds.
It's not clicking for Roberts
Phil Hay has suggested that sending Tyler Roberts out on loan may reduce the pressure he is under to perform! The former Chief Football Writer for the YEP, also stated that the 23 yeaer old needs regular game time, something which he has never had at Elland Road.
Saturday isn’t a defeat we can hang around his neck (Roberts) but it is another game in which his impact has been mediocre/disappointing and I don’t feel as if his situation is doing anyone any good. You need consistent impact from players and while it does come from Roberts from time to time, it doesn’t come often enough. He must sense public opinion and to an extent, that must be in his head. It just doesn’t feel like this one is going to work.
I can’t argue with the potential value of a loan for Roberts. It takes him out of the firing line, it reduces the pressure on him and it potentially gets him regularly starts (which he doesn’t look like getting at Leeds). He’s had 100+ games for Leeds now and it’s not clicking.
Would you send Roberts out on loan, or with their injury crisis, still in full effect, do they need him at Elland Road. Is this his last chance?
Kinnear keeping close eye on the purse strings
In his latest program notes, Leeds Managing Director Angus Kinnear made it clear that any transfers in January would have a knock-on effect with how much business they would do in the Summer. He also claimed that big money signings do not guarantee that they would be that much better than our current stock of Under 23's, but could block their development.
We are confident we are building a long-term competitive advantage in the recruitment and development of world-class young talent. Central to this strategy is our ability to promise and deliver to young players a fast track to first-team football, as well as a culture where there is a belief in the process and where the players, irrespective of age, are trusted to deliver on the Premier League stage.
This strategy clearly impacts our evaluation of transfer targets, where our analysis indicates that many January options, requiring an eight-figure investment, would not be a material improvement on the current performances of emerging players such as Bate, Hjelde and Joe Gelhardt. Moreover, signing other options would block such youngsters’ development and would offer nowhere near the long-term potential.
Simultaneously, any January activity has an opportunity cost on more optimal moves in the summer window. As a board, we have always tried to be transparent with supporters in the belief it is better if our recruitment strategy is disagreed with by some fans, rather than misunderstood by many.
