Brought to you in bullet points: The team
- Lucas, Hughes (c), Parker, Marques, Michalik, Prutton, Howson, Kilkenny, Robinson, Showunmi, Snodgrass - Sheehan came on for Parker after about 55mins - mainly due to Parker being absent or crap at important moments (Sheehan went off with about 10 mins left, looking to have strained/pulled something) - Becchio & Beckford came on with 15 left for Enoch and Robinson - they pepped things up a bit but never really looked like swinging thing changes - its worth having Fab on the subs bench just so as he can put on ridiculous show of ball juggling at half-time --------------- The ground - a huge bowl - think the game in Florence (for those that went) - without the warm evening air, the great coffee and Alan Smith banging in 4 - oh, and it is in Sheffield - looks like a great venue for athletics - but it is garbage for football - you're miles from the action - (given that our scoreboard remains resolutely blank this year despite KB's promises) their's last night was rubbish, often getting the score wrong - going from 4-2 to 5-2 when they had one disallowed, this was then rectified to 45-2 - which was at least funny... -------------- In their favour: - they fully deserved the win - they could have had 7 or 8 - our defence was shambolic - not one of them had anything approaching a reasonable game and I include the keeper in that - 2 of the goals were headers (unchallenged by our CHalfs) that went over Lucas' head - 2 or 3 of the goals came after Parker had thundered up field only for the ball to come back even quicker, he was out of position, Robinson was nowhere near providing cover and the winger had acres in which to pick his cross...elementary - their keeper had a blinder - was MOTM according to the tannoy - they had bags more pace going forward than we could handle - see their penalty, the guy didn't really "beat" 3 or 4 of our defenders, he just ran past them - speaking of the penalty, Hughes was last man, deliberately prevented a goal-scoring opportunity, why no red card? - R'ham had a good go at playing football - they passed and moved well - had pace and aggression - they were a credit to their coaching staff - good luck to them -------------- In our favour - we had no luck with the bounce - hit the bar three times - when Lucas saved the penalty, their forward was first to the loose ball - when attacking in the 2nd half we were subject to a pretty dreadful linesman - eg. gave Enoch offside when he was first to a loose ball spilled by their keeper in the box after he saved a shot...that's not in the rules... - they had a bloke who took huge throw-ins - they scored their first from one of them - these upset my mate so much that he wants the FA to make long throw-ins illegal...! (not so much a point for us, just something that made me laugh on a pretty crap evening) - Sheehan whistled a free kick inches wide of the post with everyone beaten -------------- Individual blame to be apportioned as follows: LUCAS - woeful on crosses/high balls/headers - unlucky with penalty rebound (where were his defenders?) - decent distribution HUGHES - bring back Fraser - jeez was Hughes bad - passes constantly flying into touch - control non-existant - tackling, consists of nudging, pushing, pulling opponent until the ref blows his whistle...at one point he settled himself on the ball, had no pressure, took a step to the side, the better to enable him to address with the ball with his favoured right foot before very deliberately landing the ball in the long jump pit PARKER - a very definite (and desperate - only to be used in the direst of emergencies) third choice at left back - reasonable when face-to-face with an opponent, but often way out of position, left huge holes - little to offer going forward MARQUES - his worst game for Leeds? Completely off the pace - nowhere near anything in the air - beaten for pace a couple of times MICHALIK - what has happened to Lubo? 18 months ago he was an accomplished CHalf who could also play a bit - last night a carthorse - won nothing in the air, despite being the tallest on the pitch, had no idea when the ball was at his feet, seems to have forgotten how to set your self up for a tackle (wrong position, feet in wrong place, wrong side on the guy with the ball) woeful - tried "clever" little mid-air back heels 4 or 5 times last night - lazy, and looking for trouble PRUTTON - loads of effort with little end product HOWSON - one of the better players (as in at least he looked bothered) - calmly taken goal - had periods on influence but they were fleeting KILKENNY - almost invisible - the game pinged all around him ROBINSON - looked like he was going to have a blinder in the first twenty minutes - then he disappeared into a flurry of miplaced passes, shots fired wildly over from long-distance, shouting at his team-mates for their inability to control his passes/or for their inability to pass to him when he was in space - became increasingly irrelevent as the game went on...might have been injured when subbed SNODGRASS - utter garbage SHOWUNMI - after loads of huff and puff and failing to win anything or hold onto any pass to him, he suddenly found himself on the end of defence splitting pass, which he took in his stride, on the left of the box and buried under the keeper from a tight angle - nicely done ---------------- - Sheehan - injured again - did bring some balance where Parker had floundered - Becchio & Beckford - brought greater thrust and emphasis - but no goals - Becchio did hit the bar --------------- Rotherham had the fattest fan in the world - Jamie's work is cut out We had the best pie and chips at the "Two-Step" in Sharrowvale - don't be taken in by the "pukka Pies" on display, insist on the home-made - last night there was chicken&leek or steak&kidney, on chips, slathered in gravy (mushy peas an optional extra)...Niggy was very happy with this part of the evening - sadly it went downhill from here. _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist is Michel Kitabdjian dead yet?
