Diary of a Leeds Fan (11/08-19/08/18)

Saturday 11/8

Derby County vs Leeds

Team News: One change on the bench, Shackleton replaces Dallas on the bench.

Team: Peacock-Farrell, Ayling, Douglas, Cooper(c), Berardi, Phillips, Klich, Alioski, Siaz, Hernandez, Roofe.

The Game:

A dominant first half was rewarded by two goals by Klich and Roofe, both scoring their second goals of the season. The reply from Derby will be one that Peacock-Farrell might not want to look at again, but he’s a young keeper learning his trade and didn’t have much to do thanks to the barrier that Ayling, Cooper(superb again), Berardi and Douglas put in front of him.

The midfield again worked so hard with Klich, Phillips, Siaz, Alioski and Hernandez like an army of worker bees buzzing around their opponents legs, the desire to win nearly every ball made me so happy, this team’s wants to win and puts their bodies on the line to do so. Up front Kemar Roofe was proving a real handful for Keogh and the other Derby defenders

In the second half Leeds controlled the majority of the game and put another two goals past the hapless Scott Carson, Roofe and Alioski rubbing salt in open Derby wounds. It’s a very long time since I’ve seen anything like this by a Leeds team, the controversial away shirt even is starting to grow on me too!

Klich, Roofe(2), Alioski celebrate their goals.

Well played lads, another well fancied team unceremoniously dumped on it's rear end by a rampant Leeds United team.

All the team, including debutant Jamie Shackleton deserve the MOTM award and Roofe🔥, Klich and Siaz were 9 out of tens.

Post Match:

Marcelo Bielsa: “Our team was very focused and combative, Kemar(Roofe)scored two goals, and that's always enough. We had six weeks in pre-season and that's enough time to create a rhythm.The Championship is very long and it's not right to make conclusions now."

“What is more important to me is being able to repeat this type of performance. To be enthusiastic, you need more time than just two games. If you see the rankings after 23 games or after 46 games, you will see differences that invite you to think that any premature analysis is not good. What happened in the games so far don't mark anything definite. It's too early to draw conclusions, in each game we will have to prove ourselves again.”

Frank Lampard: “We were well and truly beaten by a very good team. There were no surprises for us. We expected energy, and movement on and off the ball but we didn't match them. We turned away from trying to play football very early in the game. We were beaten all ends up and it's good lessons for us all."


Sunday 12/8

Social Media’s mood over the performance was pretty much summed up by a tweet “Not bothering with PornHub tonight going to watch @LUFC instead!” Notable mentions for the midfield five and Kemar Roofe. It was the highest victory over Derby since Leeds won 5-0 back in 1998.

David Watkins steps into Andrew Butterwick’s ‘shoes’ to review the game at Pride Park. We would like to Thank Andrew for his brilliant blogs but sadly he’s not continuing this season.

http://dlw100.wixsite.com/leedsunited/derby-county-aug-11-2018

Thank you DW.

David Watkins perfectly catches the celebrations after Kemar Roofe opened the scoring.

Luke Ayling and Kemar Roofe🔥 were named in the @WhoScored’s Championship team of the week.


Monday 13/8

Heidi Haigh on her new book and reviews the superb win at Derby.

http://www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/derby-a-11-august-2018-at-pride-park

Thank you for your continued support Heidi.

After making his Leeds United debut on Saturday at Pride Park, Jamie Shackleton has signed a new three year contract with the club. The impressive full/wing back and right sided midfielder could be involved in tomorrow night’s cup game with Bolton Wanderers.

Jamie Shackleton signs until 2021.

Marcelo Bielsa on the Carabao Cup tie with Bolton Wanderers:

Changes expected as Bielsa set to shuffle his pack, Jamal Blackman, Jamie Shackleton, Tom Pearce, Lewis Baker, Tyler Roberts and Jack Harrison have also been named by the head coach as starters. Connor Shaughnessy starts for the under 23’s tonight and is also expected to be in the eighteen tomorrow.

Bielsa said "So far we have played only two games. And tomorrow many players who haven't played so far will play, Blackman, Shackleton, Jansson, Pearce, Baker, Roberts, Bamford and Harrison. These players were not starters and they will play tomorrow."

Dallas out for twenty days, Forshaw out for another forty days. Expects another tough game and “every game is important, we will take it seriously”

Maybe one more player will join the squad before the loan window closes.

Jamie Shackleton on signing his new deal: “It's a great feeling to sign another three years here, that’s been the aim since I was young. To get another three years I am really pleased with that. Now that I've had a sniff of it I want more. I started off playing for Kippax Athletic and got scouted for Leeds at six or seven but carried on playing for them until I was nine when I signed. I'm a Leeds fan, a Leeds lad, so to put a shirt on on Saturday was one of the best feelings of my life.”


Tuesday 14/8

Leeds v Bolton Wanderers. Carabao Cup 1st Round.

Team News: Eight changes for Leeds, ten for Bolton. Blackman, Shackleton, Harrison, Baker, Roberts and Bamford make their Leeds full debuts.

Team: Blackman, Shackleton, Ayling(c), Jansson, Pearce, Phillips, Baker, Harrison, Siaz, Roberts, Bamford.

The Game

Back in the press box. Yours truly reviews the action.

http://www.weallloveleeds.co.uk/latest/leeds-vs-bolton-match-report

Samu shines in Leeds’ win

Post Match

Marcelo Bielsa: “Even if the starters were new ones, they respected the style of the team,” Bielsa said. “We dominated the game and we had many offensive actions but when you're winning just by one goal, it's not enough. You're always a little bit worried, (Bolton) had a situation where they could score again but generally the offensive performance of our team was good enough. We could have won by a difference of two or more goals.”

Phil Parkinson: “Leeds have got real quality, they made changes and one of them was a £7m striker. I’ve got respect for what (Bielsa) has done in the game but this is a style we've come up against before. It’s not a brand we've never seen, but the supporters here are excited and I don't blame them.”


Wednesday 15/8

Pretty positive reaction to last night’s win over Bolton, especially the debuts of Lewis Baker and Patrick Bamford. Samu Siaz was most people’s MOTM.

David Watkins reviews the Carabao Cup win over the ‘Trotters’ at ER

http://dlw100.wixsite.com/leedsunited/bolton-car-cup-aug-14-2018

Thank you David.


Thursday 16/8

Paul Warne on the trip to Elland Road and meeting Marcelo Bielsa: “It's a bit surreal but we'll spend the next two days showing the lads how we think we can cause problems. I'm hopeful after back-to-back wins the lads have confidence in themselves, which they should have and we go into the game with no expectations. They can go and enjoy being the underdog but Leeds have been very impressive."

Marcelo Bielsa on Rotherham United: “Their style is different, It’s not the same as the first two opponents. They play long balls to the strikers and they don't play with ball on the ground. This is the main difference but it doesn't mean it’s going to be like that. It’s very hard to implement a style of play, It’s not easy, it becomes more difficult if you are not consistent and don’t respect your style of play. We will take into account the style of the opponent but we will play as we have done so far. If you think that we are favourites, you’re supposing that we should feel superior to our opponent or that our opponent should feel inferior to us. These things are never decided before the game. It’s better to demonstrate it than to say it. But regarding our team, before playing we never think we are inferior to any other team.”

Who starts for Leeds: “I think it will be the same starters. The conclusion could be that the team who played last Saturday (at Derby) played very well so maybe you should keep this team.”

A very interesting piece of the forgotten players still in the squad: “When a professional player has a history as a football player, for example Anita, O'Kane and Ekuban have history, one way to respect them is to keep them inside the team if they have the possibility to play in another position, If we have one position and three players it's very difficult that the third player in the position gets time to play. I saw every game and every minute that they played last year and I also listened to the opinion of the club. If you haven't trained a player it's a deficit to make a decision. We then built a group where we have two players for each position and if we had acted in another way it would have been counterproductive.

For example I have Ayling, Dallas and Shackleton, because Shackleton is a youngster who has time to develop in his career, but I can't do the same thing with Ayling, Dallas and Anita. I would be doing something not very good to one of the three players, so when you take decisions you have to transmit them at the right moment and I think this is an honest behaviour.”

“Of course I can make mistakes but I don't want to make any mistakes. For example I can say that because of Dallas' injury it could have been a good thing to have Anita with us, it would have been better for me but I think it would be unfair to keep a player with us if he doesn't have the possibility to get the time he deserves."


Friday 15/8

We’ve met before
Leeds 3 Rotherham 0 Champ Jan 17
Leeds 2 Rotherham 0 FA Cup 3rd Round 2016
Leeds 0 Rotherham 1 Champ Nov 15
Leeds 0 Rotherham 0 Champ May 15
Leeds 0 Rotherham 0 Champ May 05

Preview

Leeds go into the game unbeaten, playing well and high on confidence and will be most people’s ‘banker’ home win on their football coupons but if they take their opponents casually it will be their folly. Despite a heavy defeat in their first game(1-5 at Brentford) Paul Warne’s side have won their last two, beating Ipswich 1-0 and in midweek they beat Wigan 3-1 in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

They are a well organised team and will try to hit Leeds on the break, Rotherham play with two strikers up top so will hit long balls to them to test Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi in the air. It will be interesting to see how Leeds cope with a team who play a different style.

Bielsa is expected to name the same team that started against Stoke City and Derby County, the players who did well on Tuesday may have to wait a while for an extended run in the team. It is good that the bench is stronger than last season.

A full house is expected and if Leeds get a early goal or two it could be ‘fun in the sun’ for the thirty plus thousand fans inside the stadium. Leeds 3-0.

Enjoying life as a Leeds fan? So am I!


Saturday 18/8

Leeds v Rotherham United

Team News: Same eleven start for Leeds.

Team: Peacock-Farrell, Ayling, Berardi, Cooper(c), Douglas, Phillips, Klich, Alioski, Siaz, Hernandez, Roofe.

The Game

For this match I’ve let Jack (who did the ‘interview with a rival’) give his verdict on the game.

As a Rotherham fan i went away from Elland Road proud, relieved & a bit disappointed. The match was potentially going to be a very long, damaging afternoon as an in form Leeds in front of a full house could have run riot. Having lost our first match 5-1 at Brentford it was no surprise that Paul Warne decided to play a more solid formation with centre-half Semi Ajayi asked to play as a holding midfielder in front of the defence with the energetic Ryan Williams expected to do some hard yards on the wing.

We lived on our nerves a little and the possession stats don’t make for pleasant reading but our first half was potentially a classic away performance. The width of a post prevented a Taylor goal from a decent angled shot and only Ryan Williams will know how he didn’t score after a Leeds defensive howler. The half time summary that Leeds had more chances but Rotherham had better chances wasn’t unfair. Most Rotherham players performed excellently in the first half with Williams and Smith being impressive.

Second half started the same but our energy levels were not the same and because of it Leeds took control. A scrappy set piece goal given by the referees watch amid claims of a foul on defender Richard Wood changed the dynamic and made the home fans more relaxed, a wonderful run and finish from Roofe settled matters.

We changed formation and gave a run out to the subs but the game fizzled out, the home crowd entertained itself by baiting the other side.

Rotherham left heads held high but sadly pointless. I guess some will refer to parking buses but we have to be realistic in this league and QPR’s destruction at West Brom showed us what could have happened.

Atmosphere - crowd behind the goal sang throughout, sadly the rather boring and distasteful “town full of ....” got a few run outs, some away fans took the bait. Some nice Barry Chuckle tributes though, so cheers for that Lads. The £37 entrance price held down our numbers which is a shame but it is what it is.

Players I’d buy - Douglas, Roofe & Ayling could all do us a job.

Danger Man - Roofe on that performance could have a brilliant season. Excellent goal although our defender Raggett could have done better.

Season Prediction - Top 6 for Leeds, but it might be determined by injuries & fitness. More teams than Rotherham will come to ER to defend. Leeds will need to be patient & break them down. A more clinical attack than Rotherham’s today would have nicked a goal or 2. You may need to mix it up and add a bit of directness on occasions to break down more stubborn teams. Ironic that despite the excellent football played by Leeds the opener was a particularly scrappy set piece.

We move on, see you at the New York Stadium for the return

Post Match

Marcelo Bielsa: “Winning three games in a row is good for us. You have to respect your opponent, but I think we deserved to win the game. The problems we had were in the first half were more linked to our own goal rather than focusing on our defensive actions. We have been better in the first half, but we built too much from the back.

"In the second half it was looking like what happened in the first half, but the opponent didn't have any offensive action. Our opponents were tired so we had more space to attack. Unlike our first two league games, today was more of a Championship game. Rotherham had three clear moments where they could have scored a goal, which was because of the mistakes we made."

Paul Warne: "The lads had a real opportunity to upset the apple cart today - and they didn't take it. They're great human beings my lads, but they have to believe they are better than they were today.”

"We want to get better and really compete, but we've got to be realistic but I hope they all think we need to improve, even by 5 per cent that would benefit us. In the Championship you don't get many opportunities to score, so hopefully we take more of them going forward."


Sunday 19/8

Social Media: Despite it not being the best performance of the season it was a ‘gritty’ one. Kalvin Phillips has surprised many with his performances this season. His assist for Kemar Roofe’s goal was sublime. Bailey Peacock-Farrell superb block in the first half was so important at a time when Rotherham were pressing. Marcelo Bielsa now is in the record books for the unbeaten start to the campaign, he expects Leeds to improve as the season progresses too.
David Watkins reviews the game and was impressed with the display and especially the result.

http://dlw100.wixsite.com/leedsunited/rotherham-aug-18-2018

Thank you David.

MOT

By Keith Ingham