I thought this was one of our worst performances under Bielsa - if you were looking for proof of a trademark late-season Bielsa slump, you would have found it at the AmEx yesterday. It's hard to know why we've failed to perform against Brighton twice this season. One factor is clearly the absence of Phillips - the one player for whom we have no like-for-like replacement (other than the permanently-injured Forshaw). Phillips missed both Brighton games, and we desperately missed him. The continuing absence of Raphinha also affected our ability to get behind Brighton's back line. It didn't help that Costa - Raphinha's not-really-adequate replacement - was also unavailable. I also think we missed Cooper's leadership qualities more than his defensive nous. Nobody seemed to be grabbing the team by the collective scruff of the neck. Having said all that, the players on the field almost to a man played well below par. Ayling repeatedly gave the ball away, Alioski's craziness got the better of him, and Klich and Roberts were almost invisible. The team's usual energy was notably missing all over the field. I also think Bielsa got the second-half subs wrong - not the players who came on, but those he took off. Why take off Bamford? He'd been given no service - not his fault. And Llorente was also unlucky to be yanked - he was one of the few players who weren't repeatedly messing up. I can't understand why Roberts and Klich weren't the ones to make way. It's hard to ignore the Ben White factor. It would almost be dereliction of duty for Potter to not sit White down a few days before a game with Leeds and say, "Okay, Ben, you played and trained with these guys all of last season - how do we stop them?" The performance against Spurs will tell us whether this game was just a case of too many injuries and too many other players off their game at the same time, or a deeper late-season malaise. Cheers! Sean
-----Original Message----- From: John Lee via Leedslist <leedslist@gn.apc.org> To: Robert Heath <heathpalai...@gmail.com> Cc: Leeds List 2010 <leedslist@gn.apc.org> Sent: Sun, May 2, 2021 8:00 am Subject: Re: [LU] Sh*t On at Brighton! I think Brighton have consistently been playing well Rob, but of course they simply couldn’t score, so why Alioski gave them an utterly daft penalty with his arm around the leg is the root cause of yesterdays performance. That said, I did see Llorente bollocking Ayling too - Ayling had a howler yesterday too. It is an oddity re Brighton results - I vividly remember going to a 3-0 defeat at the Goldstone Ground, where Frank Gray did an impression of someone who’d never played football in his life before. Very embarrassing, although the day was saved marginally when I saw the police collecting No Parking bollards - they’d pick one up, copper would jump onto van, then drive 20 yards, then pick another up. The delight when the van set off too early and a copper fell out did make for a better memory than the footie. If I were Bielsa, I think I might call it a day, because a combination of players’ ages and simply not being good enough means next season new blood is required, unless he’s just going to slot 4/5 in from the under 23s? It doesn’t matter how old you are, they can still mess your weekend up :-( Sent from my iPad > On 2 May 2021, at 11:28, Robert Heath <heathpalai...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I'm not going to rise to the bait............but I will say that it is > interesting that our two worst performances of the season have come against > Brighton. (And, having watched a lot of their games so that I could check up > on Mr. Rolls Royce Ben White I can also say that Brighton's best two > performances of the season were against us.) I wonder if that is just a > coincidence or a combination of good management by Potter (I was too > depressed to pay much attention to the post-match guff but I think I heard > that Harrison made a comment that B/ton were "difficult to play against"), > the absence of Phillips for both matches, and the Sussex jinx (which seems to > have been added to the London one.) > > I must confess that I did not know the stat which I heard mentioned during > the game to the effect that B/ton had won something like 9 games in a row > against us. They are such a piddly little club, I hadn't noticed........but I > now officially hate them (although I already did b/c they wouldn't let us > have Ben.) > >> On Sun, May 2, 2021 at 10:09 AM John Lee via Leedslist >> <leedslist@gn.apc.org> wrote: >> Agree re Bamford - nonsensical when we needed to score, and Rodrigo has >> proved time and again he is not suited to being a lone striker. Sometimes >> Bielsa’s stubbornness is legendary? >> >> As for Roberts, whilst occasionally seeing some touches which indicate a >> footballer lurks within, his utter lack of conviction, especially re >> scoring, usually makes me wonder why he’s on the pitch? >> >> At the end of last night I’d pretty much convinced myself Bielsa will go - >> this team will need medium level surgery during the summer, yet he still >> thinks bringing Pablo on was the way to go? I doubt he can do much more with >> this bunch? >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >> > On 1 May 2021, at 19:40, "n...@6haroldplace.co.uk" >> > <n...@6haroldplace.co.uk> wrote: >> > >> > Hard to disagree with any of that John. Are we really so dependent on KP >> > and Raph? >> > >> > We didn’t get started today. No movement for the man with the ball...so >> > anything we tried was always from a standing start. Just as well there’s a >> > SM boycott. >> > >> > The subbing of Bamford was one of the strangest decisions...he’d only had >> > about 5 touches most of which were him tackling back. And Roberts...well, >> > I just don’t see it...he does some great stuff, but as soon as he does it, >> > you’re waiting for the cock-up. >> > >> > Nick >> > >> > Sent from my iPad >> > >> >> On 1 May 2021, at 17:45, John Lee via Leedslist <leedslist@gn.apc.org> >> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> Jeez, what a terrible performance - credit to Brighton for pretty much >> >> playing us off the pitch - thank God they don’t have a decent forward! >> >> >> >> Our man of the match - easier to start at the other end - Alioski was >> >> shockingly poor, gave away a stupid penalty, and his substitution was his >> >> best move of the day. That said, I don’t think he was our worst full back >> >> - step forward Luke Ayling, and try not to fall over as you do! Really >> >> pitiful defending, 4 times she fell over and the ref, rightly, played on, >> >> and he’s provided a perfect opportunity to give Drameh a run out in the >> >> next game. >> >> >> >> Next category - our invisible man of the match - much more competition >> >> for this ‘award’ - Roberts, Klick, Rodrigo - I know the past few games we >> >> have played pretty much the same team and got results, but there are >> >> times when our players limitations are there for all to see! >> >> >> >> I thought the central back 3 did ok, but there was some major-league >> >> fannying around with the ball, and some inexplicably tight ball-play from >> >> Meslier. >> >> >> >> I know my opinion is worth zilch, but if you are going to involve the >> >> Under 23s in the squad, you actually have to start playing them, rather >> >> than bringing on a 53 year old ;-) >> >> >> >> Bad day, could have played all day and not scored - oh, and the crosses >> >> and corners - ffs! >> >> >> >> At least 4 new players required - at least! >> >> >> >> Depressed of Ktown >> >> & I know it’s been a great season, but..... >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> 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/ >> >> >> >> Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat! >> > >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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/ >> >> Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat! _______________________________________________ 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/ Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat! _______________________________________________ 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/ Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat!
