The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Monday 12th August) Wasteful Leeds squander opportunities for opening win

[Ellandback1]

Good Morning. It's Monday 12th August, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Wasteful Leeds squander opportunities for opening win

Leeds squandered multiple opportunities to start their 24/25 campaign in style, settling for a draw against newly promoted Portsmouth at the weekend. Leeds bullied the Championship new boys in the opening minutes, rocking the woodwork three times in quick succession, before Ogilvie dragged Dan James down in the box on the 10-minute mark. When Struijk duly obliged from 12 yards out, few would have expected the game to end in stalemate, but as we have learnt in recent times, if you don't take your chances, you're gonna get punished.

Whether Leeds took their foot off the gas, or Portsmouth worked their way back into the game is up for debate, but the Whites found themselves 2-1 down at the break. Sorensen beat Meslier at his near post (23mins), followed just before the interval with a Lang piledriver from the edge of the box.

Gnonto restored order shortly after the break, and it stayed that way until injury time, when Jayden Bogle grabbed Saydee around the neck from within the penalty area. The man in black had little choice but to point to the spot, and once again Meslier managed to dive out of the way of the ball, handing Lane his brace.

Leeds response was instantaneous. Arronson showed poise and skill to work an opportunity before wrong-footing the keeper, but then fluffed his lines two minutes later dragging his effort agonisingly wide with the last kick of the game.





More Casio than Rolex

The cogs may be turning, but we're certainly not seeing the well-oiled machine necessary to take the Championship by storm. Farke's side worked 22 openings at the weekend, scoring just three. Their wastefulness in the final third, whether it be bad decision-making (shooting at an angle where the player hasn't got a hope in hell of scoring at) or lack of poise (or skill) in front of goal, continues to haunt the Whites.

You look at the bench. There is not a single player that wouldn't make the starting line-up for the majority of Championship sides - so where is it going wrong? Leeds may have a £60m bench, but why haven't they got a first team player capable of taking a decent free-kick or corner? The Whites had twelve corners (to Portsmouth's zero) and only looked like scoring once.

Rothwell was bought to ER as a squad player, but is probably the best at set-pieces. If this is the case, we surely need to bring in an upgrade - someone capable of delivering good balls en masse. Gruev was unlucky not to register against Portsmouth; a few inches lower, and we could have been looking at an early contender for goal of the month; but he doesn't do it consistently.





Rak-Sakyi bid puts Rowe deal on ice

Leeds have launched an official bid of £15m for Crystal Palace starlet Jesurun Rak-Sakyi according to respected journalist Alan Nixon. The 21yo was expected to have signed for the Blades last week on a season-long loan, only for the deal to have stalled at the last hurdle. Southampton tried their luck with a £7m bid earlier this Summer, only for the Eagles to insist that they would only consider a loan move. Money talks, and if Leeds throw enough money their way, perhaps it will make a difference?

Where does this leave the Jonathan Rowe deal? The Norwich winger refused to play at the weekend, in a desperate bid to fly the coup; but is his destination Elland Road or the French Riviera? Marseilles too, are strongly linked with the England U21 star, and are the only side to have registered a formal offer thus far!

[Sean_Nile]

Leeds United, like many clubs, have made mistakes in their transfer dealings. Here are some notable cases

Rodrigo (2020)
High Transfer Fee: Leeds paid around £27 million for Rodrigo, a significant outlay for a player who struggled to make a consistent impact, and was prone to injury.

Injury Concerns: His time at Leeds has been marred by injuries, affecting his contribution to the team.

Jean-Kévin Augustin (2020)
Fitness and Commitment: Augustin joined on loan with a view to a permanent move, but his fitness and commitment levels were questioned, leading to an unsuccessful stint.

Contract Dispute: The transfer ended in a legal dispute over the obligation to buy clause, costing the club financially and legally.

Kiko Casilla (2019)
Disciplinary Issues: Casilla’s time at Leeds was overshadowed by a racism ban, which disrupted the squad and led to a loss of trust.

Inconsistency: His performances were often inconsistent, leading to costly mistakes in crucial matches. He had a nightmare game in the playoffs against Derby.

Helder Costa (2019)
Performance vs. Cost: Signed initially on loan and then permanently for around £15 million, Costa has struggled to justify his transfer fee with consistent performances.

Squad Fit: He often found himself out of favor, unable to adapt to the team's requirements under different managers.

Player’s ability and fit for the team... where should he play.

His physical and mental attributes... has he had discipline issues.

His age and potential... well that rules out Sammy.

Cost and value... do we really want to be paying over the top for Rowe.

Fitness and health... the medical has helped us to dodge a few bullets.

The transfer market has many perils and dangers... managers and owners have an unbelievably difficult job, and the fans are unforgiving of any mistakes made, so hard to satisfy.

[mentalcase]

Morning all.
What a frustrating game that was, we really need to get our finishing boots on to have any hope of promotion, we create alright, but again lack that cutting edge where it really matters, the big worry for me is conceding 3 from a team that had 3 attempts, good job they did'nt have 4 or 5 attemps, we'd now be discussing a heavy and embarrassing defeat.
I said to the lads at HT, I'd put Rothwell on for Gruev who was very poor.
As we all know, DF is clueless at making early substitutions and has us all waiting, the biggest joke of the day (and we all knew it was coming) was bringing bamford on for Joseph, why on earth did he do that, Joseph was unlucky not to score but his workrate was second to non, too many players had off days to me but Joseph wasn't one of them, fuming at that decision.
Bogle, well, how bad was he, we won't see many debuts as poor as that again....hopefully, at fault for the penalty and their first goal, meslier was left flapping and even Rodon had his worst game for us.
I'm trying to put it down to first game jitters, on the back of an untested pre-season against piss poor sides, valencia apart, plus bedding a few new players in.
I see ud getting wallopped agaist wba.

[ruttermania]

What does 'doesn't do it consistently' mean with regard to Gruev . He was brought into the side last year when Ampadu moved to play at the back and essentially took on that role which was the defensive cog where Kamara had more of a licence to get forward but did little or nothing in offensive terms . Since Ampadu has moved back into midfield it has given Gruev more freedom and from the little that we have seen he clearly has the potential to make a much greater contribution there than Kamara . His two shots from free kicks have produced a goal and hitting the post so he has a shot on him. He got a goal from play in pre season and a couple of near misses and has been involved quite actively in a lot of attacking movements . To me he has the skills and a willingness to do whatever job he is asked by the Manager so why are you so quick to write him off ? Rodrigo was the main man in our relegation season and if he had been fit might very well have just about kept us up in which case the money spent on him would have been repaid in spades . It wasn't his fault that he got injured in a pointless Marsch gesture of subbing him on in an FA Cup game that had already been won with the result that he was injured at a crucial point in our season. That was the first season when from the star he was the regular No.9 and that gave him the impetus which if it had been sustained could have been our salvation.

[Chilli D]

If Rak-Sakyi is as good as Palace say he is, they won't be letting him leave for 15m, I don't care what Alan Nixon says.
Or maybe they have bigged him up to get an inflated price for him and he's not as good as they make out?
I've never seen him play so can't comment but personally I'd rather we went for Rowe who is proven at championship level.

[Tom the Cat]

Morning all.
What a frustrating game that was, we really need to get our finishing boots on to have any hope of promotion, we create alright, but again lack that cutting edge where it really matters, the big worry for me is conceding 3 from a team that had 3 attempts, good job they did'nt have 4 or 5 attemps, we'd now be discussing a heavy and embarrassing defeat.
I said to the lads at HT, I'd put Rothwell on for Gruev who was very poor.
As we all know, DF is clueless at making early substitutions and has us all waiting, the biggest joke of the day (and we all knew it was coming) was bringing bamford on for Joseph, why on earth did he do that, Joseph was unlucky not to score but his workrate was second to non, too many players had off days to me but Joseph wasn't one of them, fuming at that decision.
Bogle, well, how bad was he, we won't see many debuts as poor as that again....hopefully, at fault for the penalty and their first goal, meslier was left flapping and even Rodon had his worst game for us.
I'm trying to put it down to first game jitters, on the back of an untested pre-season against piss poor sides, valencia apart, plus bedding a few new players in.
I see ud getting wallopped agaist wba.

I couldn't agree more with your comments especially taking Joseph off for Bamford. I cannot fathom out what successive manages see in Bamford - I reckon he would struggle to get a game for Harrogate Town.

[Kennyb41]

The sale of Jimmy goes a long way to making up for the squandered £25m on Costa and his wages.

Getting 2 better players than Jimmy in Rowe and Sakhi would be like BOGOF, although the name Sakhi is far far too close to Sacko, which worries the life outta me.

If it happens to be true about £15m to be paid - Then Gnonto will also be on his way out before window end.
Which is another good thing.

Swapping 2 for a better 2 and banking some, is the way forward, and minus 2 prima donnas, individuals, not team players.

I notice DF getting Willy in the shop window, on his only outlet - cutting in from the right, and shooting.
We will be better off bart him anorl.

I believe DF is in talks with 'shooting boot suppliers' as we speak - Genuine source.

[WhiteRose]

We limited Portsmouth to very little, on another day they have one goal and you can argue Mes should have saved that one. It’s a long old season to start with the worry and recriminations already.

I’d say szmodics is the only player I am confident would offer us something we currently don’t have which is a clinical finisher, rak saki and rowe would just bolster the options we already have here

[Sean_Nile]

Just like to mention that the pass from Piroe to Aaronson left him with a lot to do to score the goal, I think it went through a crowd of defenders. Whereas the pass from Bogle sent him clean through with an open goal.

So that pass redeemed his penalty mistake, cos it could have won the game for us.

[Jammy 07]

In theory selling Gray & Summerville and getting the fees paid upfront allows us now to sign a player in the £15M bracket, just as we did last season with Piroe by selling Adams to Bournemouth.

On a five year contract it would work out at £3M per season so hey who knows we might even be able to sign two.

[Kennyb41]

Just like to mention that the pass from Piroe to Aaronson left him with a lot to do to score the goal, I think it went through a crowd of defenders. Whereas the pass from Bogle sent him clean through with an open goal.

So that pass redeemed his penalty mistake, cos it could have won the game for us.

Oh Bogles attacking flare far outweighs any GD worries, but some won't see it, and will be begging for 'clean sheets'

At both ends.

[Kennyb41]

I couldn't agree more with your comments especially taking Joseph off for Bamford. I cannot fathom out what successive manages see in Bamford - I reckon he would struggle to get a game for Harrogate Town.

In a roundabout way, you've just answered yourself.

'successive managers'

You're a fan.

[Richard]

As we all know, DF is clueless at making early substitutions and has us all waiting, the biggest joke of the day (and we all knew it was coming) was bringing bamford on for Joseph, why on earth did he do that

Because no matter how the game is going, he is just like Jesse, it is premeditated. It was always going to be Willy and Joseph no matter what.

Farke still have the best squad in the Championship, he underperformed last season, we need 3 points against WBA or he will be 2-3 results away from the chop.

[Ellandback1]

What does 'doesn't do it consistently' mean with regard to Gruev .

He was the designated free kick and corner taker on Saturday. We shouldn't jump up and down cos he nearly got one on target.

We had 12 corners and god knows how many free kicks - It's safe to say that Gruev is not a 'specialist' set piece taker.

Yes, he scored a free kick against Norwich when Gunn wasn't ready and barely reacted (far worse than any Mes blunder may I add). It's not aimed at Gruev, I'm talking about the squad. We need a SPECIALIST set piece taker in our starting line up, and Gruev isn't it.

[Ellandback1]

In a roundabout way, you've just answered yourself.

'successive managers'

You're a fan.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN......

We've been worried sick!!!!!!!!

[Ellandback1]

In theory selling Gray & Summerville and getting the fees paid upfront allows us now to sign a player in the £15M bracket, just as we did last season with Piroe by selling Adams to Bournemouth.

On a five year contract it would work out at £3M per season so hey who knows we might even be able to sign two.

We've seen 16 players go, including Ayling, Cooper and Dallas. That will clear £75k a week straight away.

[Ellandback1]

GUw-F4sXMAA-JRw.jpeg (29.6 KiB) Viewed 2221 times

[Sean_Nile]

Because no matter how the game is going, he is just like Jesse, it is premeditated. It was always going to be Willy and Joseph no matter what.

Farke still have the best squad in the Championship, he underperformed last season, we need 3 points against WBA or he will be 2-3 results away from the chop.

Just like last season when in the first 5 games we had 3 draws 1 loss and 1 win... didn't happen then won't happen now.

[Jammy 07]

GUw-F4sXMAA-JRw.jpeg

Elland is there a source where you can get the figures for ball in play for each half ?

Cheers.

[mentalcase]

GUw-F4sXMAA-JRw.jpeg

Shocking amount of time for ball in play, the ref was so poor he harldy added time on, also never warned their players for constant time wasting, we have to have a contingency plan for things like that, yes right.