Storm Dennis threatened to ruin the game in the first half but in sometimes difficult conditions we played some breathtaking football. There's no doubt about it, this Leeds team are playing some of the best football I have seen at Elland Road. Yes, a lot of times there isn't an end product and you do wonder whether a natural goalscorer would transform the team and the results. Bamford isn't playing badly, in fact at times yesterday he looked pretty majestic but apart from his disallowed goal he didn't look like scoring. For me the last 2 games have seen the emergence of our two wing backs. I was all on for moving Dallas back to right wing back and giving Ayling a slot on the bench. What do I know ? Ayling has been our best player in the last 2 games. Yes he's never going to be the greatest passer of a ball but his defending and strong forward running have been incredible and he has cemented himself back firmly in the team. On the other side, Dallas has found a new position. His link up play with Harrison and Klich yesterday in blustury conditions was mesmorising, Bristol just didn't know what had hit them and they just couldn't live with us. If it's not Harrison bombing forward it's Dallas, or Klich, or Hernandez. We dominated the first half, Kiko had nothing to do apart from one shaky moment when he didn't come off his line quick enough and Cooper managed to the shield the ball long enough. Kiko looks nervy to me. We should have been 3 or 4 up. Second half they came into it a bit more but we still domintated and should have had more. Their keeper was their man of the match and his save from Costa when he was put through the middle was top draw .It looked liked Costa had edged it past him but he recovered and saved. We had cross after cross, chance after chance. Harrison hit the bar (he deserved a goal today) and Costa should have either converted or found a white shirt when running down the right wing with only the keeper ahead of him. Bristol had a penalty shout when Ayling almost caught the ball and then they had one great chance when our defence appeared to open up letting their man through on goal. It was inevitable that he would beat Kiko but he put it wide. Great chance. It would have been daylight robbery though if Bristol had got anything from this game because they were totally ourclassed and outplayed. More so than the match at theirs earlier this season. Scores: Kiko - 4. He didn't do anything particularly wrong apart from 1 or 2 dodgy kicks but he looked nervy throughout to me or maybe I'm reading too much into things. Ayling - 9. Top drawer performance and a goal showing Bamford what he should be doing in the box. Dallas - 9. Strong running and great link up play. My worry is when he comes across a decent winger in that positiion but for now he looks at home at left back. Cooper - 8. Had a couple of Cooper moments but on the whole I thought he defended really well. White - 8. Usual commanding performance. Philips - 9. I think his last two performances like a few players have been his best this season. Strong tackling, great link up play, good passsing. Perfect midfield performance. Hernandez - 8. Back to looking like his old self. Yes we saw several wayward passes in the first 10 mins but he was everywhere making things happen. Having Hernandez fit for the run in is going to be massive. Klich - 8. Strong performance, just everywhere. Managed one shot which was a bit tame, Costa - 7. He was certainly involved a lot especially second half where he seemed to have the freedom of the park. He still has a great ability to find an opposition shirt when it seems easier to shoot or pass to a white shirt. He showed a couple of times how effective he is down the middle and I do believe he's more of a central attacker than a winger. Harrison - 10. This was Harrison's best game for Leeds. He was terrific and if he plays like this in the run in we will surely benefit from it. He had the beating of his man everytime. Ok, his crosses are sometimes Costa like in that he can find the red shirt at the near post easier than a white shirt but his running and skill levels were great to watch. I'd say this was the best individual performance by a Leeds player this season. Bamford - 7. Some good link up play and unlucky not to get his goal but we need a goal poacher. Subs: Big Kev - 5. Well, he's big, built like Jimmy but for me he looked and played like Habibou. Didn't know what he was doing, doesn't look particularly fast and didn't do the things I'd expect a striker to do. He's no Eddie. Hopefully it is a fitness thing. He had one good chance but he fluffed it. Shackleton - came on and did a bit of running. Overall, I thought this was a great performance and built on the Brentford game. We're looking good but for me we do have a major worry with the keeper. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org
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