A few thoughts on today's game, my first visit of the season I'm sorry to say, though I have seen all the televised games.
I thought this was a poor game between two average teams. Barnsley had most of the possession, they kept the ball off us with ease at times. I would say they were by far the better footballing team but they never really looked like scoring. Luckily for us they had no cutting edge what so ever. Marlon Harewood is still an imposing presence but thankfully he is no longer mobile enough for the championship and he blew his one chance to score. After being very impressed with the Everton performance and recent results I have to say I expected better, but even though we walked away with 3 points I was dissapointed with today's performance. It was a weird game. For me, we were crap, but despite Barnsley's possession I never for one moment thought we would loose the game. We had a few short spells of possession ourselves but we too had no cutting edge. Even when we did manage to hold on to the ball for a short while you never felt is was leading anywhere. They had few ideas going forward and we had less. Luckily for us we got a penalty which was the only way we were going to score. I was sat the South East corner with the Mrs and daughter so had a good view and thought it was a stonewall penalty. They criticized the ref on the Football league show because in slow motion it was clear that contact was just outside the area, but in real life and at full speed it looked for all the world like a penalty. I do think the media are arseholes towards officials in these situations. Thankfully Bechio scuffed it in. You can't tell me he meant to do that. Which brings me on to Bechio. I'm not a fan by any means and yes his touch is shocking, but when he was replaced by Gray we became even more toothless up front. We missed his presence. Life suddenly became much easier for their centre backs because despite the ball bouncing off him, Bechio is a massive pain in the arse for opposition defenders. His lack of pace is infuriating but there is no doubt, for me, that a battering ram like him can be useful at this level. I wasn't really sure why he was dragged off at the time, but once he went off I thought we were even less threatening. There was one good cross put in from the left that nobody attacked which I thought was made for Bechio, shame he wasn't on. There was only one team likely to score after he went off and it wasn't us. I thought Austin looked fucked. I like him but I think he and many of the team will benefit from the international break. If he gets a break. Brown was Brown, the occasional good challenge mixed with lots of shocking ones. Byram I thought did well because it didn't look to me as though he had much support. Every time they pressed down their left he looked to have to split two players, which is a lot to ask of a young inexperienced guy. I think Lees is a great prospect at center back. He didn't have it easy but looks to have a maturity beyond his years. Pearce however, whilst always committed, looked reckless at times. I thought Peltier did ok at left back though he was never really put under any pressure. I thought White looked exactly what he is, a converted left back. Yes he has pace but he has no guile. He is most certainly not the new Ryan Giggs. Today he was up against a player of equal pace and he didn't know how to beat him. He doesn't have the tricks in his locker that a natural winger has which is probably why he has always been a left back. Look at Diouf, despite his lack of pace he can still beat his man with a drop of the shoulder and get a cross in. White doesn't have that, he only has pace which wasn't enough today. Tonge did o.k. before he went off but did nothing out of the ordinary. Sadly something out of the ordinary is exactly what you need from your attacking midfielders and we don't get that from White or Tonge. Yes there has been recent exceptions where they have both scored crackers, but neither look likely to do that too often and neither look capable of producing the moments of magic that change games and make average teams good. I do live in hope that White at least may prove me wrong. Diouf wasn't as good as he has been but was still our best player. It's a shame there isn't one or two of equal quality around him. That may all sound a bit downbeat but I still enjoyed the day and the 3 points. We're up there challenging whilst not exactly pulling up trees which is a good start. If we are to go up though we will need more. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate
