The Super(ish) Leeds United Thread

[Rufus T Firefly]

The EPL is about money.
Total value of West Ham players is £400m.
Total value of Nottingham Forest players is £640 million.
Total value of Leeds is £316.

Changing manager won't fix this. It's time in January to get the chequebook out. Parrott is avaiable at the right price.

https://www.transfermarkt.com/leeds-united/startseite/verein/399

You're right - changing the manager will not address the issue of the underlying quality, which is ultimately the primary issue. Leeds are not in a position to invest heavily, given Financial Fair Play (or whatever the term is now). So they are going to have to think on their feet in terms of outgoings and incomings in January.

However, as the team continues to spiral, and the supporters see (what they perceive to be) the same mistakes / misjudgements being made, the atmosphere is going to turn nasty and the mob will grow increasingly loud. A point will come where the owners will essentially need to consider their options - even where those options offer little hope - and make a change in the hope of rescuing the season. The only realistic change is the manager.   

[Rufus T Firefly]

Matt Hughes of The Guardian is reporting that Farke needs a positive result from tonight's match against Chelsea or Saturday's match against Liverpool if he hopes to save his job.

The nature of the article - relying on a range of unnamed sources from within the Club - would suggest that plans are already being made for a change.

[Rufus T Firefly]

One of THE great nights at Elland Road, as Chelsea were swept aside in a thoroughly deserved victory. You will always have a chance with guts, heart and determination, and those characteristics were on display in abundance last night, and was reflected in excellent performances across the pitch. It illustrated as well how much the players are playing for the manager, who is (was) clearly under pressure.

As a mate of mine said, Farke appears to have stumbled on a system that works and is suited to our players and has now produced back to back performances that gives real hope going forward. Liverpool at the weekend though is another acid test, but at least it can be approached with some optimism.

MOT. 

[Milltown Row2]

One of THE great nights at Elland Road, as Chelsea were swept aside in a thoroughly deserved victory. You will always have a chance with guts, heart and determination, and those characteristics were on display in abundance last night, and was reflected in excellent performances across the pitch. It illustrated as well how much the players are playing for the manager, who is (was) clearly under pressure.

As a mate of mine said, Farke appears to have stumbled on a system that works and is suited to our players and has now produced back to back performances that gives real hope going forward. Liverpool at the weekend though is another acid test, but at least it can be approached with some optimism.

MOT. 

Mate of mine was at the game last night. Flip he had a great night.. some videos coming through lol

[SaffronSports]

Great night but last time we pumped Chelsea at Elland Road we went down so need to build on it too. 352 seems to work quite well. I'm a massive Tanaka fan. Proper duracell bunny leading the press and then DCL and Nmecha are everything the modern centre half hates. It gives us a fighting chance. I'd still bite your hand off for a 17th place finish.

[johnnycool]

Great night but last time we pumped Chelsea at Elland Road we went down so need to build on it too. 352 seems to work quite well. I'm a massive Tanaka fan. Proper duracell bunny leading the press and then DCL and Nmecha are everything the modern centre half hates. It gives us a fighting chance. I'd still bite your hand off for a 17th place finish.

Image playing with 2 up top being a new thing.

Mike Bassett would be proud

[Rufus T Firefly]

Mate of mine was at the game last night. Flip he had a great night.. some videos coming through lol

Brilliant!! Great rendition of I predict A Riot at the end.

Great night but last time we pumped Chelsea at Elland Road we went down so need to build on it too. 352 seems to work quite well. I'm a massive Tanaka fan. Proper duracell bunny leading the press and then DCL and Nmecha are everything the modern centre half hates. It gives us a fighting chance. I'd still bite your hand off for a 17th place finish.

Agree with all of that and the 3-0 at home to Chelsea three years ago resonated with me too. 3-5-2 definitely seems to be the way to go, and yet we'd only be one or two injuries away from that being seriously impaired. The need to strengthen in January is still paramount.

[Mourne Rover]

I'm still trying to calm down after the magnificent displays against Chelsea and Liverpool. All the predictions were that we were facing two heavy defeats, with Farke on the way out, so to take four points out of six was fantastic. We could even be greedy, and suggest that all three of the goals Liverpool scored were very preventable, and we might have managed back to back wins, but we have still put ourselves in a decent position to push on. It is amazing to look at the cost of the Chelsea and Liverpool attacks, and realise that our first choice strikers, DCL and Nmecha, were both free transfers. Nmecha's injury, with James also a long term absentee, shows again that our squad is too small, although the unusual financial fair play rules mean that we may have to rely on the loan system in January. It's all still very tight at the bottom, and it is looking like the final relegation spot could be between us, West Ham and Forest. They are both decent and well managed sides, so it may all go to the wire.

[Rufus T Firefly]

It's all still very tight at the bottom, and it is looking like the final relegation spot could be between us, West Ham and Forest. They are both decent and well managed sides, so it may all go to the wire.

Still early days, but I don't think Brentford and Fulham are by any means clear of the drop zone and I don't get the impression they have what it takes to be clear of trouble for the rest of the season. Still a very long way to go though, of course! Indeed if (and it's a big if) we were to beat Brentford, we'd go to within a point of them.

The last three (or two and a half) matches have given renewed hope, and on paper at least, the next three fixtures would be considered easier. However that in no way means they are easy!! I'd snap your hand off for 4/ 5 points. 

[Rufus T Firefly]

Currently standing at seven matches unbeaten - our longest run in the Premier League since O'Leary was in charge. They are playing with confidence now, and with a bit of luck could have had more than the two wins in that period.

The confidence of the team (squad) was evidenced for me by the fact that we have lost key personnel but are still getting results against teams like Liverpool and Manure. Others have stepped up in the meantime, and a shout out in particular for Justin (who was man of the match against Liverpool) and Bournaw who has put together two solid displays in the last week. For me, there are still question marks over the keeper. I thought he was terrible for the goal conceded yesterday. One definitely to watch. 

However, the absence of Ampadu yesterday underlined how much he remains the leader and driving force on the pitch. He is irreplaceable at the moment. Another huge test on Wednesday, away to Newcastle, before a trip to Derby for the Cup.   

[SaffronSports]

Agree with most of that. We've pretty much made ourselves harder to beat and carry more of a threat ourselves. Be nice to take something off Newcastle then I'd like to field a strong team in the cup. PL has 8 less games than the Championship so have a pop at the cup. Best I can remember in my years is a QF.