Once again, a good days drinking spoilt by 98 minutes of football.All my pre-season optimism and support of the Cellino / Monk partnership gonewith one dismal match. This was the first time I’ve seen Leeds live due to anill planned Summer holiday (watched Luton and QPR on tv) and I was not impressed.
Yes, we were up against the league leaders and on the faceof it matched their mediocrity for long periods of the game but there were somany things wrong with the tactics and performances it left a sour taste in themouth. After the game, some of the players made their away around the pitch to applaudthe home support. They were met with boos and abuse. Not from me but I was asdisgusted as the abusers. It was all round very poor. For me the team selection and tactics were completely wrong. We lost the game in midfield. Monk went with Philips and Bridcutt incentral midfield with Mowatt on the left wing and Sacko on the right. Thatmidfield is so wrong , yet Monk persisted until mid second half when he tookSacko off. Mowatt is not good enough at this level. I’ve said it before and hewas totally anonymous in the game as he used all his energy and his fat, littlelegs to chase the opposition. Even if he was good enough, he will never be aleft winger. Philips got picked on the back of his free-kick againstForest and to be fair I thought he contributed with bits and bobs and he’sdefinitely a got something to offer but at this stage of his career in a match like this he waslacking. Bridcutt is a good choice for captain and worked his socks off but hereally was a one man midfield today. Sacko started well and skinned the townleft back but that was it , he hardly touched the ball until he was subbed. Our only player with a bit of pace and skill and we couldn't get the bloody ball to him. You can’t win with this midfield and I worry about Monk’sdecision making ? If you think back to QPR he had Grimes and Diougara inmidfield, neither of whom figured yesterday. He seems to be chopping and changing in the hope something will click. Even if the midfield had been functioning I have doubtsabout the ‘partnership’ up front. Chris Wood is slow and flat footed and whilsthe wins the odd header they very rarely lead to anything productive. Antonsson,whilst much livelier, was feeding on scraps. He rarely got into the box. Huddersfield were well organised and passed it around well at times but they never really threatened. Rob Green had nothing to do other than pickthe ball out of the net and one good save late on as Town tried an ambitiouslob. The main reason they won was down to one player - Mooy their loanee from Man City. He was headand shoulders above every player on the pitch and ran the show. He picked upthe ball and smacked it in the back of the net – it looked saveable to me butit was a good strike. He was the difference between the 2 teams. Just before he scored I said to my mate that someone needs to either man mark him or nobble him. Apart from Mooy, I thought Town were very ordinary but it only takes one player with a bitextra in this shower of shit league to make a difference. We didn’t create a decent chance in 98 minutes, this reallywas awful game and I’m in 2 minds about Blackburn on Tuesday. Not surewhat Monk can do about this ? The pressure is on and it's clear to see. We're in a rut and it's going to take some real character to get out of this position. Scores: Green – 4 had nothing to do for most of the game. Looks abit small for me, not commanding enough. Ayling – 4 I think he’s prettyaverage, just a run of the millright back with a shit haircut. Taylor – 5. Did more going forward than anyone on the left Bartley – 6. Looked pretty solid. Jansson – 5. Did his bit to get the Kop going after onegreat tackle. He also won a lot of headers and really didn’t do much wrong fora central defensive debut but he did look at times like he didn’t really know whathe was doing. Philips – 4. His set pieces were awful – why is he takingthem ? I thought he contributed well in the first 45 minutes but he fadedbadly. Why Monk persisted with him for the full match was mind boggling? Healso has little pace which actually applies to most of the team. Bridcutt – 6. I thought he worked hard and put some goodchallenges in but he was second best against Mooy today. Sacko – 2. Just didn’t see any of the ball. Is he really aright winger ? Wood – 1. A shocking performance. Has to be dropped. Antonsson – 4. Wasn’t effective but at least he chased andcaused a nuisance of himself now and again. The crowd was not impressed when hewas replaced by Doukara in preference to Wood. Subs: Doukara and Roofe had no impact. So, does Monk know what he’s doing ? Steve Evans said thatmost of Monk’s signings were on his list and Bridcutt was Evan’s player ? It’s very worrying. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org MARCHING ON TOGETHER
