Another heavish defeat and another chance to see how we measure up against one of the most organised teams in the league. Despite getting hammered at Scum and losing 3-0 today I don't think we're a million miles away. Defence needs to be sorted and needs to be sorted in Jan. If Bielsa really believes he can get through this season without another central defender then I think that would be a bad call. Today, it's the same old problems - a left back who's not a left back giving away a needless pen (it wasn't a pen but still a terrible half tackle). Defending corners - there were lots of Leeds players around him - Philips etc but nobody got near him and as usual Meslier was stood on his line and didn't stand a chance. How many more times ? Then for their 2nd, Struijk(midfielder playing as defender) commits himself in midfield and as a result we're a man short at the back. Kane cross, Sol 2-0. Avoidable. You just can't come to places like this with a makeshfit defence and expect to win the game no matter how lively you are in attack. Let's see what happens in the January window. It might sound like sour grapes but I don't think Spurs are a great team. Yes they have some good individual players (Son in particular) but we were all over them in the first half. Our movement and our interplay was excellent and we really should have scored. For me, Bamford isn't the answer and that might sound stupid giving he's breaking all records and is just about top PL scorer. I think he's benefited from our great play and he's played and finished pretty well at times. He's scored 1 in the last 4 and that was a pen and today he didn't even look close. He looks a yard slower than the rest of the team and he never looked like he was going to get on the end of a cross and finish. I'd like to see Rodrigo play as number 9 with Pablo behind him. More creativity, more intellignet play and yes more goals. The penalty gave them confidence because there's no doubt Spurs were 2nd best up to that point. We started to make silly mistakes at the back. Ayling and Phillips giving the ball away and as soon as they got the 2nd it was game over. I lost count of the number of times we just aimlessly gave the ball away sometimes just passing in to touch. Very frustrating. To our credit, we made 3 subs and they all contributed to us continually having a go in the 2nd half. Pablo was fantastic and you can see he is looking fitter and battling for his place. I think he deserves a start. Even his passing was good. Bielsa looked more frustrated than I've seen him for a while and I'm not surprised. We could have got something from this game but again I would say to Bielsa you will get nowt against the top teams with a makeshift defence. Every fucker can see that ! Scores: Meslier - 7. Some good saves as always and little chance with the goals. Dallas - 7. I thought he did well. Lost Son for the 2nd goal but not sure why he was last man. Allioski - 5. Started well down the left wing but when it comes to pure defending ... well he can't. Ayling - 7. I thought he did well first half but then things went downhill and he made some basic errors. Struijk - 5. Out of his depth for me. Yes he's got a nice left foot and he picks a pass well. But look at their 2nd goal he is on his knees lunging in when he really shouldn't be. Klich - 7. I thought he played pretty well and was part of most of our good work. Rodrigo - 6. Good first half and showed some real class but then he seemed to go to pieces and lost the bal far too easily for someone of his quality. I still would not take him off. Take Bamford off and shove him up front. He plasy number 9 for Spain FFS Raphinha - 5. I thought this was his poorest performance since joining. He wasn't awful, he just didn't get involved first half and only had scraps in the 2nd. Harrison - 5. Started lively but faded badly with the team Phillips - 6. I thought he battled well at times but he didn't really impose himself on the game. Then again, I didn't expect him to. He is what he is. Bamford - 3. Never looked at it for me. Never looked like scoring. Subs: Pablo - 8. I thought he made a real difference. Shackleton - 7. I thought he also did really well down the right Poveda - 5. Didn't really happen Another defeat against the big boys. Hopefully we'll learn, we'll invest in a central defender soon and we'll push on.
Happy New Year. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ Dorigo's Right Buttock...
