The Super(ish) Leeds United Thread

[SaffronSports]

Roll call for tomorrow. Who is in?

Heading down with my da and two of the kids. Hopefully, a good day out.

[DaleCooper]

Saw the AC milan jet earlier and wondered would it be worth going to Aviva.

Yeah, the price soon put paid to that notion. Be interesting to see what crowd that fixture will get.

[SaffronSports]

Saw the AC milan jet earlier and wondered would it be worth going to Aviva.

Yeah, the price soon put paid to that notion. Be interesting to see what crowd that fixture will get.

Milan are in London against Chelsea on Sunday so half expect a second string tomorrow but im a Leeds man so its only really them im interested in anyway.

[SaffronSports]

Great crowd at the Aviva yesterday. Weak Milan team and Leeds looked a bit light up front but really impressed by Stach although I'd prefer a 6 foot + lad in the box at corners rather than taking them.

[Mourne Rover]

The Aviva was a brilliant occasion and it was wonderful to see Dublin completely taken over by Leeds fans. It was a decent enough match, allowing for the constraints of a friendly, and Leeds were solid enough at the back and quite impressive in midfield, with Stach the star of the show and looking a class above everyone around him. However, as has been well documented, our problems are up front. Piroe won the golden boot in the championship and deserves his chance in the premiership but it is difficult to see him scoring regularly at the higher level. Nmecha will need time to settle in, but he seems quite similar to Joseph as a big, powerful striker, who can hold the ball up well but lacks a killer instinct in front of goal. While we clearly need a finisher, bringing someone in for big money at the end of the transfer window is very risky. The wide players did not really impress yesterday so a new winger could be required, and a number 10 who is physically stronger than Aaronson should also be on the list. It is likely to be a very tight finish and we would take 17th now.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Regrettably did not manage to get down, but I'd a few friends who made the trip and they talked about a great occasion. There's no doubt that Leeds have a great support in Ireland.

MR's description of the match seems to tally with what a lot of the experts have been saying. Stach stole the show and already looks like a brilliant piece of business, and the defence generally looked tight. The exception was Schmidt and it appears that Farke's dim view of his defensive capabilities were there for all to see on Saturday. He's due to go on loan to Werder Bremen, so a replacement is likely needed in that position.

The obvious gap though is up front, and it is unlikely that Piroe is going to have the ability to do what Bamford did in 2020/21 and score close to 20 goals in the top flight. I'd love to see him prove me wrong, but he looks like a top Championship striker, rather than a top striker.

The need for a new striker - and it is being acknowledged publicly by Farke - is an absolute priority, but it seems Leeds, as a newly promoted Club, are a name to be avoided by the top quality players, I'd guess for the reason that they'll be favourites to go down.   

[SaffronSports]

Schmidt was dreadful so the sooner Bogle is fit, the better. Byram can obviously cover at full back although I'd worry where he is at if Farke saw fit to start Schmidt ahead of him. Harrison came on at left back although he has work to do to win the fans over. Definitely attacking areas need to be improved. Gnonto looked lively but the rest were poor tbh. Think there's a striker and another wide player needed.

[Mourne Rover]

It's always a roller coaster with Leeds, and we have managed to pack in a fair amount of contrasting emotions to the first four games of the season. What we can say with some certainty is that, while the financial regulations are grossly unfair, we have not handled our transfers well to date and the squad is of questionable overall quality. However, in difficult circumstances, four points from three difficult opening Premiership fixtures is a decent return. We can write off the Carabao Cup, where we usually underperform and were arguably worse at this time last year, but it was still an embarrassing perfomance. The win over Everton was crucial, thanks to a contested but probably justified late penalty, and we were realistically never getting anything from the trip to Arsenal. Today's 0-0 draw against Newcastle was hard to watch, but we got them on a good day and a point against a potentially top five side is a good result. The huge problem is that we are solid enough at the back and in midfield but painfully limited up front. Although Calvert-Lewin may make a difference when he is fully fit, a single goal from the spot in three games tells the story. At least one more creative recruit is vital before the window closes, and Elland Road, where we have not lost for 12 months, must remain a fortress if we are to survive.

[Rufus T Firefly]

It's always a roller coaster with Leeds, and we have managed to pack in a fair amount of contrasting emotions to the first four games of the season. What we can say with some certainty is that, while the financial regulations are grossly unfair, we have not handled our transfers well to date and the squad is of questionable overall quality. However, in difficult circumstances, four points from three difficult opening Premiership fixtures is a decent return. We can write off the Carabao Cup, where we usually underperform and were arguably worse at this time last year, but it was still an embarrassing perfomance. The win over Everton was crucial, thanks to a contested but probably justified late penalty, and we were realistically never getting anything from the trip to Arsenal. Today's 0-0 draw against Newcastle was hard to watch, but we got them on a good day and a point against a potentially top five side is a good result. The huge problem is that we are solid enough at the back and in midfield but painfully limited up front. Although Calvert-Lewin may make a difference when he is fully fit, a single goal from the spot in three games tells the story. At least one more creative recruit is vital before the window closes, and Elland Road, where we have not lost for 12 months, must remain a fortress if we are to survive.

Another excellent post, MR, which is again on the money. The creative recruit that was talked about came to nothing, with Leeds again being denied on the last day, with a very late attempt to get Harry Wilson from Fulham, falling short. At the time of writing, there is talk that Leeds will go back in for him in January, although by that stage there will be a lot of water under the bridge in terms of how the season will pan out.

Given how the transfer season ended, I sort of hoped we might try the free agent market, with Brownhill, Eriksen and Ziyech available. However, the Club has decided to stick with what they have, and the reliance on Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha - both who have been shown to be injury prone - is high risk stuff. I really hope they don't come to regret their strategy, as the supporters will be unforgiving.

[Mourne Rover]

The season is only getting started but there are already some ominous signs for Leeds and the defeat away to Fulham reflected the points previously set out by Rufus. While we were incredibly unlucky with the injury time OG, we will be heading for relegation if our attack does not undergo an unlikely transformation. We are simply not creating chances, never mind scoring goals, and the failure to strengthen the attack in the transfer window was shocking. Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha have potential but there were reasons for their availability on free transfers. We recruited pretty well in defence and midfield but it's clear that we also urgently needed a no 10 and another winger. The lack of quality up front means our only option is to scrap for every available point against the other teams at our level, and the trip to Wolves next Saturday will be massive.