Rich, Thanks for the detailed report. I think you missed out Ayling, who LUTV said replaced Llorente at halftime. Cheers! Sean
-----Original Message----- From: Richard Walker via Leedslist <leedslist@gn.apc.org> To: leeds list (leedslist@gn.apc.org) <leedslist@gn.apc.org> Sent: Wed, Aug 25, 2021 4:04 am Subject: [LU] Crewe Just about a sell out crowd for a 1st round league cup game and that's got to be some sort of record ? Weirdly Leeds was empty and the P2s not even full but at the ground it was a different story. The queue for the slip road to the ground tailed all the way back to Leeds and the queue for the bars in the NE corner were large. When I saw the team sheet I was impressed but then suddenly realised there were one or two experiments in there and also a couple of players who haven't been performing who really needed to put on a performance. Well, the experiments didn't work (Forshaw and Phillips together in centre midfield and Roberts and Rodrigo appearing to be playing as a front 2) and the players who needed to put on a performance only proved that they are struggling (Robert, Costa, Rodrigo). Whilst we had all the possession we did little with it and looked like a team without ideas. Rodrigo's passing was wayward and Costa failed time and time again to put in a decent cross or pass and when he tried to shoot it was embarrassing. I think Costa has had a couple of decent games for us since he joined (Fulham at home was one) but on the whole he's frustrated in that he looks like a player who has the pace and skill to hurt teams but never does. How many more chances does he want ? As for Rodrigo, that for me is the worrying one for me. Is he a centre forward ? Does he have the legs to play as a winger or a No 10 ? I'm not sure. We've seen what he is capable of but how do you match that to what he produced last night ? He was without doubt the worst player on the park and I see on Twitter he left the ground on full time which I find very weird ? Without Raphinha we looked toothless. Firpo was sold as an Allioski upgrade. Well, on what I've seen so far he's most definitely not. He tries to get forward but there's no link up play with Harrison and he doesn't appear to have the acceleration and drive that we had with Alliosi. Defensively he looks suspect too. Hopefully this is down to fitness and he'll come good (I'm not sure though). After 20 mins my mate turned to me and said, "I wish I'd stayed at home and listened to this on Radio Leeds in the bath with a tinnie". It was poor. So it was a tale of woe for 80 mins. Yes we had all the possession and especially in the 2nd half we did start to play a bit but it was only when Bamford came on that we looked like a team who could score. The first came from a corner which found captain Phillips unmarked from 5 yards. Good goal and I was impressed the way that Phillips kept going and drove the team forward. I think his game is lacking a bit and some of his passing was wayward but you could never doubt his committment. 2nd and 3rd goals were all from Bamford's excellent running beyond their defence, something that Rod, Roberts and Costa hadn't achieved in the previous 80 minutes. Good to see Harrison bag a brace. Everyone came out feeling happy but it was a poor performance and you could see Bielsa wasn't happy. I've never seen him so animated on the touchline, berating the 4th official and the linesman. Not sure what is issue was but I suspect he was frustrated that a strong first XI made a real meal out of playing against a poor Crewe team. Scores: Meslier - 7. Really nothing much to do other than a couple of routine saves and a few crosses to catch. Shackleton - 5. Another player who is not really doing what we know he can. I don't like him at right back and second half late on as he pushed forward we saw him in his more natural position. Firpo - 4. All said above. He did hit the bar with a speculative effort but I am disappointed with what I have seen so far. Struijk - 6. Did ok but sometime I feel he's just in the wrong position and that ends up with him fouling the opposition. Llorente - 7. Good to see him back and hopefully his withdrawal after 45 mins isn't another injury. We need him. Forshaw - 6. I was watching him closely and whilst he didn't really influence the game he covered a lot of ground and put in a few good tackles. He also showed that move where he spins around and beats his man. Needs more games. Phillips - 7. Poor first half but kept battling and did well with the goal. Harrison - 7. Two good goals late on and he did beat his man a couple of times first half. Costa - 2 . I can't give him more than 2 because he really didn't do anything but saw a lot of the ball. Very poor. Rodrigo - 1. When Rodrigo is worse than Costa then there's a problem but I'm not sure what it is ? Roberts - 3. I've defended Roberts but this was his chance and he didn't take it. Subs: Bamford - 8. Yes Crewe were knackered when he came on but he made the difference Klich - 6. Lively Can't remember if anyone else came on. Luke Murphy received a standing ovation when he went off. Not from me, Don't fans remember his performances ? He was terrible and last night he played exactly as he did for us. Strolling around and not doing anything effective. On to Burnley. _______________________________________________ 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!
