BFTG Leeds

[Jackson Corner]

Back from the TV. Was expecting a tonking and TBF the team put in a solid shift, But as usual after a promising first half right from the kick off we are on the back foot and nearly conceded in the first minute. Leeds were much quicker, passed the ball faster and we just kept giving it back. Only a matter of time before they scored. And then out the blue we are offered a guilt edged chance to score. 4 of us round my house as one new Mcnulty would miss and he obliged. It wasn't the worst penalty and he had he balls to step up but if his confidence was low before the game it must be rock bottom now. He looked close to tears at the end. Sadly he is out of his depth at this level. no pace poor control and a lack of awareness. At the end another defeat and a step nearer division one.

[Fezza]

Thoughts...

Swift - looked lazy, very little tracking back, not at all at the races!

Gunter - should have given away a Pen, lino did us a favor, was torn apart by their kid in the second half.

Meite - looked unfit, which he is due to the injury, still surprised Loader wasn't the one withdrawn (for all his energy he's not quite the player we want him to be yet).

McNulty - Why the hell is he taking a pen for us? Bacuna surely?

[Kulshaw72RFC]

At least the y26 Ultras got a result off the pitch...small consolation!

What happened? I thought leeds were hard.

[NewCorkSeth]

Where's Seth? Thought he "wasn't going to stand criticism of Swift".

I'm here. Hiding in the corner as Swift oxf*rd up all my well laid out plans to turn around the HNA public opinion.

[RoyalBlue]

Where to start with that.

Turned up at Elland Road not expecting much and expecting to be blown away by a high-tempo Leeds team - and we weren't.

Didn't think they really posed a threat in the first half, their dive in the box was embarrassing, Roofe was arguably the danger but thought we handled him. Second half pressure told, they got their goal. We then got our golden chance to equalise but for some reason Bacuna didn't square it to Loader, we then got another golden chance with the penalty, can't blame McNulty imho - had the balls to step up, hit it well, was a good save. The away end (all 50 of us anyway) would have gone crazy. But that's football, was a massive blow.

Few players to pick out:

Rinomhota - this kid looks like he has a huge future ahead of him, I was impressed with him at Wigan and tonight again he looked top drawer. SO confident on the ball, turn of pace, range of passing and not afraid of putting a tackle in. Is he the answer to the hole Danny Williams left in the middle of the park?

Loader - great to see him start, fair play to Clement showing faith in him in a game of this magnitude too. Looks quick and skillful and will continue to get better. Has to start again Saturday

Jaakola -our #1 keeper, put that argument to bed

Illori - Played well, think him and Moore are our best partnership if Clement wants us playing out from the back, he's very comfortable on the ball and is putting in more tackles than he used to

Kelly - thought he looked out of sorts again, running out of patience with him. Don't think him or Swift deserve to start at weekend.

Gunter - why did Blackett get dropped tonight, I thought we got to a point where we knew we needed a left back at left back and a right back at right back. Leeds doubled up on him, don't think he blocked one cross, I don't like jumping on the Gunter bandwagon but tonight he fustrated me a lot and it was very harsh on Blackett not to start

All fair points. Swift really stuck out as the weakest player tonight. He either dwelt too long or overran the ball on several occasions.

Possibly a tad harsh on Kelly who was tidyish in possession although did give the ball away unnecessarily a few times.

I think this is really harsh on Kelly tbh.

I'm getting a little tired of reading BFTG posts where the reviews are literally just rants about players they don't like. It's like if a player they didn't like did 9 great things in a game and 1 awful thing you could get a review as if the latter is all the player did.

This is so absolutely spot on. Same thing applies to comments from those not at the game!

Contrast with the assessments of the pundits on these occasions.

I'm a fan of Swift's and we desperately need his creativity. However, the Sky co-commentator (can't remember his name) was spot on in highlighting how he really needs to start working on/producing a defensive side to his game. Said he picked up on this when he was playing for Brentford and little seems to have changed.

[RoyalBlue]

Back from the TV. Was expecting a tonking and TBF the team put in a solid shift, But as usual after a promising first half right from the kick off we are on the back foot and nearly conceded in the first minute. Leeds were much quicker, passed the ball faster and we just kept giving it back. Only a matter of time before they scored. And then out the blue we are offered a guilt edged chance to score. 4 of us round my house as one new Mcnulty would miss and he obliged. It wasn't the worst penalty and he had he balls to step up but if his confidence was low before the game it must be rock bottom now. He looked close to tears at the end. Sadly he is out of his depth at this level. no pace poor control and a lack of awareness. At the end another defeat and a step nearer division one.

If his confidence was low prior to the game, then Clement must take the majority of the blame. He signed the player, doubtless sold him the opportunities with us (I believe other teams were after him), then proceeded to exclude him from any real first team involvement!

II don't think the majority of professional footballers are as fragile psychologically as you appear to be suggesting, they wouldn't survive if they were. I'd be tempted to play him on Saturday and give him the opportunity to harness any disappointment, feeling of letting down the team etc. that he has. You could pretty much guarantee that he will give everything to the cause in an attempt to make up for that failure to convert the penalty and it might prove to be a positive turning point for him and us.

[NewCorkSeth]

Where to start with that.

Turned up at Elland Road not expecting much and expecting to be blown away by a high-tempo Leeds team - and we weren't.

Didn't think they really posed a threat in the first half, their dive in the box was embarrassing, Roofe was arguably the danger but thought we handled him. Second half pressure told, they got their goal. We then got our golden chance to equalise but for some reason Bacuna didn't square it to Loader, we then got another golden chance with the penalty, can't blame McNulty imho - had the balls to step up, hit it well, was a good save. The away end (all 50 of us anyway) would have gone crazy. But that's football, was a massive blow.

Few players to pick out:

Rinomhota - this kid looks like he has a huge future ahead of him, I was impressed with him at Wigan and tonight again he looked top drawer. SO confident on the ball, turn of pace, range of passing and not afraid of putting a tackle in. Is he the answer to the hole Danny Williams left in the middle of the park?

Loader - great to see him start, fair play to Clement showing faith in him in a game of this magnitude too. Looks quick and skillful and will continue to get better. Has to start again Saturday

Jaakola -our #1 keeper, put that argument to bed

Illori - Played well, think him and Moore are our best partnership if Clement wants us playing out from the back, he's very comfortable on the ball and is putting in more tackles than he used to

Kelly - thought he looked out of sorts again, running out of patience with him. Don't think him or Swift deserve to start at weekend.

Gunter - why did Blackett get dropped tonight, I thought we got to a point where we knew we needed a left back at left back and a right back at right back. Leeds doubled up on him, don't think he blocked one cross, I don't like jumping on the Gunter bandwagon but tonight he fustrated me a lot and it was very harsh on Blackett not to start

All fair points. Swift really stuck out as the weakest player tonight. He either dwelt too long or overran the ball on several occasions.

Possibly a tad harsh on Kelly who was tidyish in possession although did give the ball away unnecessarily a few times.

I think this is really harsh on Kelly tbh.

I'm getting a little tired of reading BFTG posts where the reviews are literally just rants about players they don't like. It's like if a player they didn't like did 9 great things in a game and 1 awful thing you could get a review as if the latter is all the player did.

To be fair Kelly was dispossessed twice, put in 0 successful tackles and only 63% of his total of 30 passes found a team mate.

[Stranded]

Back from the TV. Was expecting a tonking and TBF the team put in a solid shift, But as usual after a promising first half right from the kick off we are on the back foot and nearly conceded in the first minute. Leeds were much quicker, passed the ball faster and we just kept giving it back. Only a matter of time before they scored. And then out the blue we are offered a guilt edged chance to score. 4 of us round my house as one new Mcnulty would miss and he obliged. It wasn't the worst penalty and he had he balls to step up but if his confidence was low before the game it must be rock bottom now. He looked close to tears at the end. Sadly he is out of his depth at this level. no pace poor control and a lack of awareness. At the end another defeat and a step nearer division one.

If his confidence was low prior to the game, then Clement must take the majority of the blame. He signed the player, doubtless sold him the opportunities with us (I believe other teams were after him), then proceeded to exclude him from any real first team involvement!

II don't think the majority of professional footballers are as fragile psychologically as you appear to be suggesting, they wouldn't survive if they were. I'd be tempted to play him on Saturday and give him the opportunity to harness any disappointment, feeling of letting down the team etc. that he has. You could pretty much guarantee that he will give everything to the cause in an attempt to make up for that failure to convert the penalty and it might prove to be a positive turning point for him and us.

Slightly harsh reading there, who would you have played him instead of? The striker with 7 goals, the one with 6 or the one with 4 who can play wide? McNulty would have known coming here that it was likely Baldock and JDB would be ahead of him at least initially and it would be up to him to take a chance when it came his way. To date he hasn't and Meite has pushed ahead of him as a striking option having taken the chance up front.

The WBA was a turning point for him, he had one gilt edged chance there which if he had buried would have seen him most likely at least start the next game or two. We now see Loader getting a chance as he has been scoring in the U23s. If we had more fit strikers at the moment, then McNulty would probably benefit from a game or 2 at that level to try and get a goal or two and build some confidence.

The manager clearly has faith in him as he put him on last night and fair play to him for stepping up to take the pen, believe he was Coventry's pen taker. As PC said, Kelly and Swift were the designated takers last night and both were off, so up to the players on the park to step forward - he did, keeper guessed right - that's life. Keeper goes the other way, he's a hero this morning.

As it stands though, this is looking like a move that isn't going to pay off and unless we get relegated think he will be moved on in the summer.

[muirinho]

All fair points. Swift really stuck out as the weakest player tonight. He either dwelt too long or overran the ball on several occasions.

Possibly a tad harsh on Kelly who was tidyish in possession although did give the ball away unnecessarily a few times.

I think this is really harsh on Kelly tbh.

I'm getting a little tired of reading BFTG posts where the reviews are literally just rants about players they don't like. It's like if a player they didn't like did 9 great things in a game and 1 awful thing you could get a review as if the latter is all the player did.

To be fair Kelly was dispossessed twice, put in 0 successful tackles and only 63% of his total of 30 passes found a team mate.

Stats aren't everything though. Lots of criticism on here for Chris Gunter, for instance - but according to whoscored he made more tackles than any other Reading player (5 tackles, 1 interception, 2 clearances) and was rated higher than Yiadom and Moore.

Although tbf, if he let a lot go by him, and still did that much, it's probably showing up how poor Swift was.

[Hound]

Did feel one of the positives from last night was the feeling there is a bit of a positive identity coming back

Yiadom and Gunter starting getting forward, loads of youth and energy in the midfield, and pace up front. Moore doing the basics well and Ilori bringing it out of defence. It was miles away from what we were when PC took over, basically the polar opposite. Great to see 3 young academy grads starting as well. Being as LB is still a big problem area, wouldn't be surprised to see Richards back in at some point as well, being as Obita looks crocked for a good while yet

I hope PC a) gets some time and b) sticks with basically this team and approach. Bod, Barrow, Baldock and Eza can all fit into that, and really everyone else should be let go in Jan.

I'm still baffled by the Aluko decision on Saturday. Seems to go against everything that we've been moving to.

[Coppells Lost Coat]

We didn't bend over after going behind and showed some character a bit of back bone. Put in a very decent shift and players can hold their head up. Think if GMAC started over Swift we would have had a better chance. Against the biggest club in the country we didn't look outta place. Leeds were class at times last night.

Negatives:
We got done by cross field balls all night.
Gunter stood off his man too often - RB playing at LB
Meite looked injured
Swift was off pace / lazy and nothing come off for him - didn't help out the team.

Positives:
Yaidom and Rhino worked really well together.
Loader looked lively and will feature more
Bacuna put in some hefty challenges and showed some presence in mid.

[Snowflake Royal]

While he didn't have a good game, some really low ratings for Swift there.

Even out of form he is the best creator we have, so I can't see him being dropped in the immediate future. It should be accepted he is a luxury player who will give the ball away while attempting to create chances, and offer low defensive activity. He is likely to look worse against a team that will offer us limited possession - it looks like we had just under 35% today - as he will surrender (rare) possession cheaply and we have to defend more, with his limited defensive skillet therefore exposed.

Who else do we have who could play that role?

Sorry but I disagree, he didn't create one thing today. It's not just the fact he gives the ball away, it's the fact he just watches and never tries to win it back after he's lost ut

Considering we were playing 4-3-2-1 with Swift on the left side, I'd rather McCleary play there, he works well with Gunter, so will help him out more and he may actually play the ball to his own team occasionally. Summed it up after about 55 minutes when we were on the break 3 against 3 and he did an atrocious touch straight into the defender which IIRC nearly resulted in a goal for them

After a few decent games earlier in the season, he has really disappointed again the last few games and I would be very surprised and annoyed if he is in the 11 against Stoke, particularly against a strong physical Rowett side most probably

+1

Swift really doesn't create much at all and his downsides far out weight his positives. Bacuna has more assists and higher key passes per game, plus more goals. He's too slow and casual to carry the ball forward on the break as well.

Barrow has as many assists and higher key passes. Yiadom and Blackert have as many assists, Blackert and Kelly are not far behind on key passes. With the exception of Barrow all of them offer far more defensively than Swift.

He's absolutely the first of those four midfielders I (or more importantly Clement) would drop. As soon as Eza's back he's out the xi for sure, and he should also lose his place in that line up to any of McCleary, Barrow, Baldock and Sims.

[NewCorkSeth]

I think this is really harsh on Kelly tbh.

I'm getting a little tired of reading BFTG posts where the reviews are literally just rants about players they don't like. It's like if a player they didn't like did 9 great things in a game and 1 awful thing you could get a review as if the latter is all the player did.

To be fair Kelly was dispossessed twice, put in 0 successful tackles and only 63% of his total of 30 passes found a team mate.

Stats aren't everything though. Lots of criticism on here for Chris Gunter, for instance - but according to whoscored he made more tackles than any other Reading player (5 tackles, 1 interception, 2 clearances) and was rated higher than Yiadom and Moore.

Although tbf, if he let a lot go by him, and still did that much, it's probably showing up how poor Swift was.

Oh stats are for sure not everything. No doubt. But he was described as "tidyish in possession" by a poster who over credits Kelly continually. The stats are useful for illustrating that he was no where near "tidyish" in possession. He completed no dribbles, was forced off the ball twice and his passing was shite. I think it's fair to say he was poor. (Yes Swift was worse before anyone uses that as an argument)

[sandman]

All fair points. Swift really stuck out as the weakest player tonight. He either dwelt too long or overran the ball on several occasions.

Possibly a tad harsh on Kelly who was tidyish in possession although did give the ball away unnecessarily a few times.

I think this is really harsh on Kelly tbh.

I'm getting a little tired of reading BFTG posts where the reviews are literally just rants about players they don't like. It's like if a player they didn't like did 9 great things in a game and 1 awful thing you could get a review as if the latter is all the player did.

To be fair Kelly was dispossessed twice, put in 0 successful tackles and only 63% of his total of 30 passes found a team mate.

Kelly made two interceptions, blocked two shots and made a clearance.

Outside of the tackle Swift made zero contribution defensively with no interceptions, blocked shots or clearances.

It's not Kelly's job to tackle. He's a player who defensively has to try to nick the ball by intercepting passes and closing down passing lanes. If you're expecting him to be a player who makes tackles, even in a successful side, then you're always going to be disappointed. Apart from anything else his frame will make it difficult for him to make successful tackles.

[Kulshaw72RFC]

While he didn't have a good game, some really low ratings for Swift there.

Even out of form he is the best creator we have, so I can't see him being dropped in the immediate future. It should be accepted he is a luxury player who will give the ball away while attempting to create chances, and offer low defensive activity. He is likely to look worse against a team that will offer us limited possession - it looks like we had just under 35% today - as he will surrender (rare) possession cheaply and we have to defend more, with his limited defensive skillet therefore exposed.

Who else do we have who could play that role?

Sorry but I disagree, he didn't create one thing today. It's not just the fact he gives the ball away, it's the fact he just watches and never tries to win it back after he's lost ut

Considering we were playing 4-3-2-1 with Swift on the left side, I'd rather McCleary play there, he works well with Gunter, so will help him out more and he may actually play the ball to his own team occasionally. Summed it up after about 55 minutes when we were on the break 3 against 3 and he did an atrocious touch straight into the defender which IIRC nearly resulted in a goal for them

After a few decent games earlier in the season, he has really disappointed again the last few games and I would be very surprised and annoyed if he is in the 11 against Stoke, particularly against a strong physical Rowett side most probably

+1

Swift really doesn't create much at all and his downsides far out weight his positives. Bacuna has more assists and higher key passes per game, plus more goals. He's too slow and casual to carry the ball forward on the break as well.

Barrow has as many assists and higher key passes. Yiadom and Blackert have as many assists, Blackert and Kelly are not far behind on key passes. With the exception of Barrow all of them offer far more defensively than Swift.

He's absolutely the first of those four midfielders I (or more importantly Clement) would drop. As soon as Eza's back he's out the xi for sure, and he should also lose his place in that line up to any of McCleary, Barrow, Baldock and Sims.

Were you at the game Ian? How was the journey?

[Hound]

don't particularly agree with all the piling in on Swift today. He was poor, nothing came off for him, but he does provide that link between midfield and attack better than anyone else. Firing of stats to try to prove everything doesn't really tell the whole story

I don't think he was lazy - half the time he was up front with Loader and Meite, and the other half trying to track back. Didn't see either Loader or Meite in the full back positions at any point. Defensively he clearly needs to up his game though.

I'd agree I wouldn't start him for the next game. He is a good sub as he provides something a little different to the other midfielders, whether its just a nice turn to beat a press, a good ball out to the wing or a bit of skill to get in a cross. None of which ever really show up on whoscored.com. Bacuna, Kelly and Rino all played better than him without a doubt, but are all fairly similar. Can't really see any of them coming off the bench and changing a game

[NewCorkSeth]

I think this is really harsh on Kelly tbh.

I'm getting a little tired of reading BFTG posts where the reviews are literally just rants about players they don't like. It's like if a player they didn't like did 9 great things in a game and 1 awful thing you could get a review as if the latter is all the player did.

To be fair Kelly was dispossessed twice, put in 0 successful tackles and only 63% of his total of 30 passes found a team mate.

Kelly made two interceptions, blocked two shots and made a clearance.

Outside of the tackle Swift made zero contribution defensively with no interceptions, blocked shots or clearances.

It's not Kelly's job to tackle. He's a player who defensively has to try to nick the ball by intercepting passes and closing down passing lanes. If you're expecting him to be a player who makes tackles, even in a successful side, then you're always going to be disappointed. Apart from anything else his frame will make it difficult for him to make successful tackles.

I knew this was coming. See above my comment that someone would use Swift being worse as an argument. It's not. Swift was shit. So was Kelly. Just because I like Swift doesn't mean I'm going to look for excuses or pass blame onto other players. I think Swift was bad and will write that in my BFTG later. Kelly was only slightly less bad.

Swift is (and was fairly last night) often lambasted for his lack of defensive contributions. But we should hold Kelly to that same standard.

You say Kelly is not that type of player well neither is Swift. Say what you want about me but I don't blindly defend a player by contradicting myself.

[Snowflake Royal]

I thought Kelly had a decent if somewhat anonymous game being asked to do the dirty work hanging back and screening the defence which he did ok.

He's the sort of player who isn't going to get great tackling stats because of his stature, but like Harps, you can do a lot of good defensive work without putting in a tackle.

I don't think being subbed had anything to do with performance, but everything to do with sacrificing a defensive midfielder for a striker to really go for it.

[Hound]

Kelly was playing CDM, and I can't think of a time that Leeds got in through the middle when he was on the pitch

He was where he was meant to be, and did a good job of supporting the excellent Bacuna/Rino combination.

[Snowflake Royal]

To be fair Kelly was dispossessed twice, put in 0 successful tackles and only 63% of his total of 30 passes found a team mate.

Kelly made two interceptions, blocked two shots and made a clearance.

Outside of the tackle Swift made zero contribution defensively with no interceptions, blocked shots or clearances.

It's not Kelly's job to tackle. He's a player who defensively has to try to nick the ball by intercepting passes and closing down passing lanes. If you're expecting him to be a player who makes tackles, even in a successful side, then you're always going to be disappointed. Apart from anything else his frame will make it difficult for him to make successful tackles.

I knew this was coming. See above my comment that someone would use Swift being worse as an argument. It's not. Swift was shit. So was Kelly. Just because I like Swift doesn't mean I'm going to look for excuses or pass blame onto other players. I think Swift was bad and will write that in my BFTG later. Kelly was only slightly less bad.

Swift is (and was fairly last night) often lambasted for his lack of defensive contributions. But we should hold Kelly to that same standard.

You say Kelly is not that type of player well neither is Swift. Say what you want about me but I don't blindly defend a player by contradicting myself.

The difference is Kelly tracks his man and hassles him, getting goalside. Swift doesn't.