I went to my first or second game this season (First at ER) - Pretty much saw it as you did Dave.
Random thoughts: Midfield and forward line all powderpuff - Doukara is a big lad but totally shit in the air - he's about the only one who gets stuck in. Instead of trying to head it, he'll let it hit his shoulders and chest. I suppose at least we tried to play football - they should be applauded for that - and we did play some football but we literally tried the same thing for 95 minutes. Again and again. None of them, for all their skills - plenty of flicks and tricks and nice touches and lay offs, NONE OF THEM, can keep the ball! for 95+ mins we played it wide, crossed it in to... No one!! over and over. No one shoots, unless they're about 15 feet out. Why? We had one shot second half and one from Sharp on the turn that went out for a throw! Doukara was sat back in midfield half the time - I actually think he might be better in midfield. We had a header that nearly snuck under the crossbar, hit their keeper and went in but it bounced down went wide. Byram? had as shot that went narrowly wide. They're all too lightweight in the tackle, no one gets stuck in - there was a 1 min period when everyone got stuck in and Fulham backed off, then it was back to the usual. Adryan was ok but far too lightweight. he went for a daft overhead kick then probably missed the best chance of the game with a point bank header about 3 feet out (or so it looked from the half way line) Bianchi goes missing. Antanucci looks dangerous. Cook & Mowatt look a bit rudderless. The whole team lacks shape and no one talks - Warnock maybe. Maybe 3 in midfield means they all shit themselves we're too open. Byram was the main outlet first half - what does that say? They look a bit timid - there's no end product. Second half, it's like we forgot what to do. We let them into the game, gave possession away. First half, I lost track of the times we had 11 men in our own half - at home!! before we started an attack. There's a bit of a lack of invention, so why play a load of lightweight players if none of them are going to either create or do something due to pace, might as well play a dirty destroyer in the middle - there's a massive Batty/Dacourt shaped hole in midfield. Not sure the 3 up front thing works, it ends up as 5 in midfield and they all melt away. Lots of players pretending to challenge and just letting players ghost by them and attack defence. Warnock drinks a lot of water! Sharp was dog shit Redfearn changed nothing, he made like for like subs - 1-0 down, about 5 to go and added time to come he was going to bring Tonge on then changed his mind and brought the left back on instead. Dawson looks and plays like a child, I thought the rest were lightweight. it was literally men against boys second half - even their boys looked like men. Byram needs to add a couple of stone. Nice to see the South Stand bouncing, Revie end was dead. No pies at half time, wtf? Ran out of all food, no tea (was with 6 mates, some not drinking) no hot chocolate, my brother bought the last pack of crisps - at least they had beer. All gone seriously downhill. I don't get the Christmas jumper thing Some total arseholes in town and on the train. On one hand I think we should keep trying to play football but on the other, don't see us winning many. They just got thrashed 5-0 at home and we just let them do what they wanted. We should have mashed them. > Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 21:08:06 +0000 > From: nat...@sky.com > To: leedslist@gn.apc.org > Subject: [LU] Fulham > > The fact that my 'meeting' with fans from FCU Manchester was what I will > remember most from today pretty much sums it up. > First half was OK but the fact that Byram and Mowatt had our best 2 chances > tells you all you need to know. A really clever passing move ended with Byram > getting the ball on the edge of the box but his shot across the keeper was > turned around the post. A lovely cross was met by a good header by Mowatt but > the ball went just over. We had a couple of other half chances in a pretty > boring first half. We played some nice intricate stuff at times but with no > real purpose and it was all a bit lacking. They offered very little but there > was always the feeling that they could up it a bit and cause us problems. > Having said that one shot straight into the midriff of Silvestre towards the > end of the half is all I can recall.I texted my son at half time and said it > was the sort of game where either team could win 3 nil or it could end up at > 0 0. > The first goal was always going to be crucial > The second half started in a similar vein to the first but then after ten > minutes or so they carved us open and the ball was pulled back from the > byline and slotted home. From that moment on Fulham showed us how to defend a > lead away from home - I just hope we were paying attention - they kept us at > arms length and we never really looked like breaking through , the opposite > in fact, it was always more likely that they would sneak a second rather than > us get an equaliser. Redfearn did try and change it, but it just showed up > the paucity of our bench. First Sharp came on for the anonymous Doukara -what > it is it with this lad ? He had alll the attributes of a footballer but > without the character or confidence needed, today and not for the first time > he stole his wages and yet he has enough that he should be unplayable at this > level (reminds me of Heskey) Sharp worked hard and looked lively but never > looked like changing things. Then Adryan was subbed, despite a few touches et c it was never his day, and on came Dawson I have seen enough clips of Dawson on LUTV etc to know that this lad can play but I am sorry he is just too small. I know about Messi and, closer to home, Collins, Bremner,and Strachan but they all had that something extra. At half time when they were warming up Dawson looked like a child and it was the same when he came on, twice he was just pushed off the ball and another time he had the ball and couple of yards on the defender but 4 strides later and the Fulham player was ahead of him and had taken the ball off him. Two decent passes will not make up for this deficiency. > So the game petered out and we left to a chorus of boos - having, in the > end,been soundly beaten by a team no better than we were on the day. Another > lesson for the youngsters and new imports but a lesson they had better learn > quickly. In some ways you could argue we deserved at least a draw if not a > win - we had more and better chances than them but once they went in front we > had no answer. > Ross Mc got a mixed reception - ignored by most, cheered by a few and booed > by a few more (especially when one run finsihed with him jumping the > hoardings and ending up in the Revie Stand) I had told my mate I was > ambivalent towards him - a fact he reminded me of when, with 10 minutes to > go I did join in with the 'greedy bastard' chants. For anyone who cares, he > played very deep and a lot of their play came through him but he was pretty > subdued really > And so to my highlight of the day - when my train got to Stalybridge a group > of FC United of Manchester or whatever they are called, fans got on and > started singing. Oddly their chants were about Busby and then Willie Morgan > rather than their actual new team and players. They then spotted an oldish > bloke in a Leeds shirt and gave it the 'we all hate Leeds' 'Leeds scum' etc > chants. To be fair I did not see anything untoward as such, just a group of > drunken lads having a sing song, and two of them managed to apologise to the > Leeds bloke in between songs and made it clear it was just 'banter'. Next > thing I know is some other Leeds fan behind me having a right pop at them and > when I looked round he had his young (6 or 7 yr old) son with him in floods > of tears. The Leeds fan had a right go at the FCUM lads and pretty much > 'offered them out' - suggesting that 'the fat bastard' who was singing > loudest come down the carriage a bit and 'have a go'. I was half laughing and > half think ing (oh shit here we go, I will have to get involved here) but the FCUM lad did not want to know. The Leeds man and his son then went back to their own carriage (think the youngster had been to the toilet) and then the FCUM lads all started amongst themselves about who had upset the kid, and who could not behave etc and a couple of them even went nose to nose to 'discuss' it - it was very amusing and having left ER thinking I would never smile again it put a bit grin on my face > So another bad day at the office and with our awful away form we cannot > afford to lose at home, especially when the game was ours for the taking. We > need a real leader and someone who can get stuck in in midfield but the > transfer embargo could scupper that. We have the makings of a half decent > team but unless things improve we could be in a relegation fight and one we > may not win > Dave > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org > > John 'Grampa' Sykes > Rest In Peace old lad > 28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013 > MARCHING ON TOGETHER _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org John 'Grampa' Sykes Rest In Peace old lad 28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013 MARCHING ON TOGETHER
