My thoughts from Leeds.

[EastStandBlue]

Overall, I don't think the squad performed too badly. We dominated the play at times and, despite the free kick, Leeds barely threatened us until Flo came on and we adjusted the back four to cope with him. The midfield is more than capable at this level with suitable depth, Bailey proved this with a good and the defence looks assured, Che Wilson included.

Now, to the forwards. Under what pretense did Tilson ever think that Bradbury and Harrold would work together? 2 completely static players with no movement whatsoever are never going to trouble any defence... As it happens, I was more than happy with Bradbury's performance, Won headers, chased down balls and his touches were good... Harrold, however, i despair with. As long as he plays, we're going nowhere... It's as simple as that.

Flavs: 6 - Could've done better with the Freekick but made some top saves.
Wilson: 7 - Didn't put a foot wrong and pressed forward well.
Clarke: 6 - Didn't put a foot wrong but could look more assured
Barrett: 8 - I wonder if he's the only one with any drive at the moment...
Gilbert: 5 - Shaky at the back, gets turned and we look weaker with him.
JCR: 6 - Didn't do a lot but as usual his effort cannot be faultered.
Bailey: 7 - Great display. If his effort had gone in it'd be a different story...
Macca: 7 - More controlled despite the altercation at the final whistle, got stuck in.
Gower: 6 - Like JCR, Could've done more but done well enough
Bradbury: 6 - Partnered with a proper striker would've done well.
Harrold: 3 - No words can display the anger.

Subs:


Richards: 5 - Great assist for Flo
Black: Not enough time.
MacDonald: 6 - Looks lively.


FYI Matt Harrold:

You use this:

Or these:

To put this:

Into this:

Thus concludes Football Lesson 1. Next week Matthew, we'll tackle the difficult discipline of "running".

 

[seany t]

Newspaper reports and a Leeds fan / friend of mine at the game also suggest we weren't THAT bad considering we were away from home and that 4-1 was very flattering, but I'm yet to see us this season for various reasons.

Plus these opening 5 fixtures are some of our most challenging. But I fear in the present mental climate of football if, come the 6th game of the season we're near the bottom still, we'll be managerless...

 

[Sean 2]

I really hope not.
Come mid-season we'll be settled and looking good and all the doomsters will crawl back into their Tilly-hating shell.

 

[DTS]

Some Leeds knobber in the station said we were a good team and deserved a win. Not sure I saw it that way myself but thought a draw would have been fair.

Thought Baileys mark was well to low as I personally thought he was imense and I thought Harrolds mark was a bit low as he had two good headers that could have gone in had they been an inch or two more goal bound.

 

[seany t]

Did Bailey look like a decent replacement for Maher?

 

[EastStandBlue]

More than capable...

If we can't bring in a new forward, I'd like to think that we would try a Chelsea style 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation, With a Solid base of Macca, Maher and Bailey in the middle with 1 forward and either Black and Gower on the wings in advanced positions. Both Gower and Black are capable of scoring goals, and having a Solid base in the centre would hopefully break their reigns and let them loose to score goals.

 

[Suffolk Blue]

Flavs: 7 - That really was a first class save to pluck the ball from the air when he had already dived past it.
Wilson: 7 - I can't recall a single problem from Che. Involved in the defensive reshuffle but I don't think him being at RB was what caused our downfall.
Clarke: 6 - He made his one blunder of the game but it didn't cost us; he's really been quite lucky in this respect.
Barrett: 8 - Sheer passion, commitment, drive, and desire to survive more than compensate for any inadequacies he might have
Gilbert: 4 - Didn't do a job up front or in defence; back to basics I think.
JCR: 6 - A quiet game from JCR; didn't even have enough of the ball to be able to be guilty of his usual failure to play the right ball at the right time.
Bailey: 7 - Very solid; not too imaginative, and not really a playmaker yet but he seems to be improving each tiome I see him.
Macca: 8 - Mainly responsible for us holding it together after the early goal; saw a lot of the ball in the middle of the park and put himself about well without going mad. He took another yellow but he had no option really; he had to stop a dangerous run so he simply checked his man and then offered the back of his shirt to the ref.
Gower: 8 - Gower could be the key to our season; he is the one player who will make things happen from midfield. Showed the Leeds defence inside and out on Saturday and with a decent pair of strikers to pass or cross to would have had a couple of assists to his name.
Bradbury: 6 - Worked hard and did the job you expect he was asked to do; on too many occassions though he and Harrold jumped or ran for the same ball; does he share some of the blame or shall we lump it all at Harrold?
Harrold: 3 - I've really tried to be supportive of Harrold but on Saturday there was nothing from him at all - he didn't work well with anybody, didn't win headers, was second to every ball, was slower than Bradders, never made himself any space, never ran off of the ball... I'll stop there, you get the picture.

Subs:


Richards: 5 - Tilly thought he would be the answer to any questions posed by Torre Andre Flo; he wasn't.
Black: 7 - For the very short time he was on he showed exactly why he should start on the opposite flank to Gower; quite similar in my eyes but with a little more robustness about him.
MacDonald: 7 - In the ten minutes or so he was on he tried to work off of his teammates, worked off of the ball well, very mobile... He tried more in that time than Matty did all match.

 

[Suffolk Blue]

Looking at my ratings you'd wonder how we lost 4-1. Just in case there's any doubt, that scoreline flattered Leeds. With one decent striker we could have won this one. We were worth a draw at least until they brought Flo on. I think Tilly panicked at the thought of what he might do to us and reacted with a poor tactical substituion.

Leeds will do well in this division as long as they don't start believing that they can play good football. If they keep hoofing the ball upfield to their strikers at the first opportunity then they'll win matches with the players they've got and the defenders they'll face.