The Super(ish) Leeds United Thread

Started by Rufus T Firefly, January 25, 2007, 08:14:53 PM

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Bronco

I agree. Best side to watch in England last season along with Man Utd. Hopefully they liven up what was a drab top-flight last season.

Mourne Rover

Leeds produced an outstanding display at Liverpool yesterday and were hugely unlucky not to get a point. Most Leeds fans wanted the new signings Koch and Rodrigo to be introduced immediately so it was ironic that they were responsible for three of the four Liverpool goals. However, they will improve when they settle in and the rest of the team was brilliant. If that standard can be maintained, we are in for quite a season.

Bronco

Leeds were a joy to watch,as they have been throughout Bielsa's time in charge. Wouldn't be surprised to see them go straight back down but whatever happens they're guaranteed to be entertaining.

Quote from: Mourne Rover on September 13, 2020, 01:12:34 PM
Leeds produced an outstanding display at Liverpool yesterday and were hugely unlucky not to get a point. Most Leeds fans wanted the new signings Koch and Rodrigo to be introduced immediately so it was ironic that they were responsible for three of the four Liverpool goals. However, they will improve when they settle in and the rest of the team was brilliant. If that standard can be maintained, we are in for quite a season.

From the Bunker

Quote from: Bronco on September 12, 2020, 03:31:41 PM
I agree. Best side to watch in England last season along with Man Utd. Hopefully they liven up what was a drab top-flight last season.

Bad defenses make for open high scoring games. Teams that play that way all season won't win titles. Liverpool yesterday reminded me of Klopps early days at Liverpool.

J70

Quote from: From the Bunker on September 13, 2020, 02:00:35 PM
Quote from: Bronco on September 12, 2020, 03:31:41 PM
I agree. Best side to watch in England last season along with Man Utd. Hopefully they liven up what was a drab top-flight last season.

Bad defenses make for open high scoring games. Teams that play that way all season won't win titles. Liverpool yesterday reminded me of Klopps early days at Liverpool.

Same defense had the best record last year, despite basically switching off after the title was won.

Leeds look like a side who will score a lot of goals.

seafoid

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/09/12/even-defeat-marcelo-bielsa-proved-leeds-box-office-premier/

Sitting on an upturned bucket, sipping coffee from a disposable cup: perhaps this was always how Marcelo Bielsa envisaged toasting Leeds' first top-flight goal for 16 years. After all, it is at the Costa beside the River Wharfe in Wetherby, just around the corner from his flat, that he likes to map out his team's tactics in painstaking detail. His dress-down chic has become his trademark, cemented when he turned up to a black-tie dinner at Elland Road in his club tracksuit.

"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

Rufus T Firefly

First opportunity to comment on the game. What a roller coaster ride that was! I was torn between a sense of pride in the performance and devastation that we didn't get a point from the game.

I don't mind saying that when the third goal went in before half time, I feared an absolute hammering. Lot of positives to take from the game and hopefully the return of Cooper will add a wee bit of solidity at the back. Will be interested to see how devastating Rodrigo is at the other end of the pitch as opposed to our end. I wonder if there is now a case for Pablo to start on the bench and come on in the second half when things have slowed up a wee bit?

Definitely hope for the future!  :) 

Hound

Before Leeds first game back in the Premier League, Eamon Dunphy interviewed Johnny Giles about his time at Leeds, which might be of interest to Leeds fans (or football fans in general):

https://thestandwitheamondunphy.com/episode/862/

(there is a much more detailed interview with Giles about his career in the archives)

Rufus T Firefly

Thanks Hound - looking forward to that.

seafoid

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/09/24/murderball-explained-keys-marcelo-bielsas-tactical-revolution/

'Murderball' explained: The keys to Marcelo Bielsa's tactical revolution at Leeds
Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds have caught the eye in the Premier League so far, what are the principles that underpin their footballing philosophy?
ByMike McGrath24 September 2020 • 8:27am

Two Premier League matches into the season yielding 14 goals, Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds have been the team to watch this season. What's behind their tactics and who are the key players charged with enacting it?
Perpetual Motion
When Marcelo Bielsa steps away from his office onto the practice pitches at Leeds' Thorp Arch training ground, it is time for his patented drill of an 11-a-side match with the ball constantly in play for 45 minutes - 'murderball', as it has become known in this corner of west Yorkshire.
Their victory against Fulham was the first real glimpse of Bielsa imposing his style on a match, having met the 'Heavy Metal' football of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool on the opening weekend of the season. Bielsa's team has constant movement and takes risks, which has resulted in seven-goal thrillers in consecutive weekends.
Pep Guardiola reveres Bielsa but the Argentinian is nothing like the tiki-taka possession of the Manchester City manager. Bielsa's team is actually very direct, with the ball moving swiftly into midfield or sometimes from centre-back to centre-forward - Robin Koch's 50-yard pass to Patrick Bamford was an example against Fulham. 
Leeds' attacking relies on forward players making runs beyond their marker and their playmakers taking risks to find them with difficult passes. Helder Costa's decisive goal at the weekend saw Illan Meslier's pass to the left wing and a flick on set Bamford away to provide the assist. Kalvin Phillips and Mateusz Klich regularly ignored easy options to move their team forward but it meant they could lose the ball in dangerous areas.
When the opposition has the ball Leeds' 4-1-4-1 system can resemble a 5-2-3. Jack Harrison drops back from midfield into a wing-back position and gives his team five defenders in the back-line, with Phillips and Klich sitting in front. It gives them good protection when they are out of possession.   
It means Harrison, on loan from Manchester City for a third season, has a lung-bursting shift every time he takes to the field. Bielsa once remarked that Harrison plays as a "full-back, a midfielder and a winger", and that is no exaggeration: he is expected to contribute as much going forward as in defence.
Other forwards are constantly moving and pressing opposition when they try to play out from the back. Bamford was their most effective forward against Fulham although he had to be substituted after 70 minutes after his constant running. 
One of England's debutants this month has the most important functional role in Bielsa's team, and admits the Argentine has been a huge influence in shaping how he plays.
"I felt like I could have played anywhere in midfield, but he knew what position was best for me and he knew where he wanted me to play," he has said. "He makes us train 100 per cent every day. He makes us watch videos on games, goes back and tells us what we've done wrong and what we've done right - mostly focusing on the stuff we've done wrong!"
Phillips has earned the nickname 'the Yorkshire Pirlo', and for good reason because his passing from defensive midfield takes risks and he is always keen to go forward more than sideways or backwards. With one 40-yard pass Leeds can go from defence to attack.
Off the ball, he instinctively drops back when his defenders move upfield. On one occasion against Fulham last Saturday, Liam Cooper followed Aleksandar Mitrovic into a deep position and Phillips was found in the centre-back role. Similarly, Ayling often carries the ball and can pop up in central midfield as an "inverted full-back", knowing he has Phillips covering.
Bielsa admitted he was worried about the seven goals conceded in their first two Premier League games and his squad still looks like it would welcome a centre-back which, following the arrival of Robin Koch, they are also close to landing Diego Llorente from Real Sociedad, who is having a medical ahead of a £20m move and could solve their defensive issues.
He also wants a central midfielder and Rodrigo De Paul from Udinese has not proved a straightforward deal. Pablo Hernandez will add quality when he returns from injury. He ruled himself out of the Fulham win after taking a knock to the groin in the warm-up.
Illan Meslier has impressed team-mates with his quality since arriving a year ago but he could benefit from genuine competition. In attack, Bielsa could balance his forwards with a right-footer.

"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

Rufus T Firefly

Three matches in and six points. Not to be sneezed at!   :)

Today was a match where I felt we would get an understanding of where Leeds might be at this season, as I felt we would get beat at Liverpool and win at home to Fulham. In both matches, the results could have been different, and the Fulham game in particular pointed to some alarming defending, although the result was everything.

Today we came up against  top ten team from last year and I thought we were worth the win, albeit it came late. And yet despite that, Meslier was man of the match, with two outstanding saves. Still an element that we can get caught on the break when we push up, but the team continues to attack and press the opposition up the field.

Great to see Bamford playing well and Costa and Harrison are actually playing better that they did in the Championship. Koch had his best game yet and there are still talk of reinforcements to come in. And it was good to get one over on Chris Wilder!!   

Dougal Maguire

Careful now

Rufus T Firefly

Quote from: Dougal Maguire on September 27, 2020, 08:51:44 PM
Has Bamford given up on Ireland?

I hear this mentioned now and again Dougal but it never seems to gain any serious traction!

brokencrossbar1

A realistic expectation for Leeds would be around 10th/11th. They have the ability to beat most teams but it's the consistency and the work rate that will be involved to maintain their style of football. It will bounce them through the first 10-12 games and they should pick up round 20 points. Another 35 points for the rest of the season would have them comfortably in that ball park of 10th place. Build on that year on year. They're a good side and will definitely take points off top 6 teams

Mourne Rover

Today was probably the biggest result for Leeds so far in the Premiership. We could have had a draw at Anfield but it was the first match and we were too open at the back. Fulham was an entertaining but patchy performance and the Sheffield United win showed huge grit. However, Man City are still one of the best teams in Europe and they could easily have been three up after 15 minutes this evening. Leeds dug in, worked harder than they did, scrambled in an equaliser and could even have edged it in the end. City were obviously the better side and taking a point off them was quite a performance.