Brighton v Leeds PITCHSIDE NOTEBOOK; from Withdean
RESULT; 0-3 . (ht 0-2) . SHAPE; 4-4-2, very late 3-5-2. PITCH; been much soaked and looked well forked over. WEATHER; light rain, then heavier rain. GATE; 7615. REF; tried to be fair but fairly trying. ATMOSPHERE; the key to a vocal good time is to be winning, other quiet variations are usually negative. TEAM; . . . . . . . Smith . . Whing, Tunnicliffe, Elphick, El-Abd . . . . Bennett, Crofts, Dicker, Cox . . . . . . . Murray, Forster Bench; Virgo, Livermore, Hart, A Davies, C Davies (78), Navarro (69), McLeod (69) Prior to 3pm, B'ton fans were on route to Withdean feeling warm, snug and dry. Then threatening rain started and we wondered if it was a harbinger of doom. A positive mental attitude based on one week in football, kept us all as keen as mustard. We'd kept faith in bad times, were these now going to be good? Gus Poyet put Smith between the posts because FDM's groin was still strained. Murray and Forster returned, following that FA Cup replay non-event at Tongdean Lane this week. Gus and his Argy henchman Mauro were assisted from the dugout by old London boy Oatway, who apparently is fluent in global soccer speak. GOALS; 27 min. Albion got out of the blocks and moved the ball about quickly. But Leeds aren't top for nowt. A snap-shot eluded Smith for position and athleticism. 0-1 - heads dropped and it was too much for some. 43 min. Inexperienced defenders and keeper were caught out by a quality striker to a long ball. 0-2 - we'd lost. 90 min. Gus got 'em to push on with inevitable consequences. 0-3 - a bad day at the theatre of horror. TACTICAL ADJUSTMENT; Poyet had a think and decided to replace Whing and Cox with twenty minutes to go. Navarro sat in front of defence, while McLeod ran about out left. With ten mins to go, GP threw caution to the s-w gale and introduced C Davies for El-Abd. His formation then was 2-1-4-3. It made some difference but only in terms of arithmetic. TOP UP, BOTTOM DOWN; sadly we are what we are and sorry to say Leeds were blinking marvellous. B'ton slipped to just above relegation places and the gulf in points, skill levels and strategic approach got wider. ALBI HOVE SAID; 'fair play to United, they strolled thru and showed us why they are going up. Poyet will have learned a lot today and it gives him a measure of where we are as a team. Whether he can change individuals to fit his version of bread and soft butter footy is debatable.' OLD FRED SAID; 'you can't teach an old dog, new tricks. Our lot hear what Poyet says but it's in one lug and out the other. Is he talking in a foreign language or what?' SIMON SAYS; 'Leeds are streets ahead of anything else in our league at the moment and Championship bound without a doubt. They work even harder off the ball than they do on it, and the reason we looked so poor and had so few chances was because they cut off all creativity at source. There is no doubt we have been well beaten today, but it is not something to get upset about. Sometimes, you just have to accept where you are.' FS _______________________________________________ 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 Volame vsechny Cechy
