⚽ Leeds Utd 2-2 West Ham Utd (4/1/23)

[funky chicken]

I was a bit surprised seeing Paqueta step up to take the penalty ahead of Scamacca, seeing as Scamacca has taken more penalties in the past, prior to his move here.

I admire the confidence from Paqueta though and fair play, it was a great finish.

[unmartillo]

Weirdest stutter run I've seen though, doesn't suit someone of that size. Last night I noticed for the first time what a unit he is, I thought he was Scamacca a few times.

[Cockneyboy311]

I'm struggling to see how this is encouraging, unfortunately.

We didn't lose.

[Knighter10WHU]

Going off topic of the match itself (mainly because I'm bored of talking about how poor we are in the first half of games and how little Soucek offers), what a top away day Leeds is, by far the best in the league IMO and well worth the 7 hour round trip midweek. Yes the concourse is appalling and probably an accident waiting to happen and theres a lack of pubs near the ground for away fans now but what a great end that is for watching the game and interacting with the home end - proper football and proper fans. Special mention to the DJ for playing "I predict a riot" before kick off, very good.

[Wilko1304]

I don’t understand the hate towards the subs, I really don’t.

Leeds had just started to come to life again, they’re an energetic team and had just brought on two themselves.

Scamacca - lovely goal, mostly walking around by that point. Antonio, a striker to hold the ball up and one who has shown himself good on the counter is brought on. Fair call.

Coufal - victim of an awful referee and a snide little gimp. Made sense to go for Cress and move Kehrer to a more natural side.

The next two. We’re holding on a bit but there’s also space to create, if we get it right. Beating a man now opens up mass amounts of space. But we’re also getting a bit done by the scrap in midfield.

Fornals - first start for ages, doesn’t beat players. It was a pretty fair gamble that Benny might enjoy the space.

Downes - Paqueta’s minutes are obviously on the mind and he does occasionally dally on the ball in his own half. We were getting a bit swarmed, I quite liked Downes being the choice, he embraced the physical stuff immediately.

I’m not sure they ultimately worked, but the game was going the way it was going before the changes. It was pretty unlucky that we conceded so soon after the first two, but they were on the up, and I cannot see any blame attached to the subs.

The second two were gambles, trying to help one area and profit in another. And it was the 80th minute, fresh legs absolutely should be looked to and I agree with both decisions. And I love Pablo like a child.

The big errors were leaving Kehrer on and, maybe, not finding a solution on the pitch before Leeds got control, but this group of players has been pretty bad at on-field solutions to problems.

[dasnutnock3]

Win, lose or draw, last night's game was an absolute belter, and a magnificent advert for everything that's good with this league. Fire, fury, passion, pace, power, skill, mistakes, had absolutely everything. Pure entertainment, and while it wasn't the result we wanted, it was a bona fide PL classic.

['stone hammer]

I don’t understand the hate towards the subs, I really don’t.
...
The big errors were leaving Kehrer on and, maybe, not finding a solution on the pitch before Leeds got control, but this group of players has been pretty bad at on-field solutions to problems.

An easy stick to beat Moyes with. The starting XI however, namely Kehrer at LB and Benrahma being on the bench, would be fair criticism imo.

[jabbaglob123]

An easy stick to beat Moyes with. The starting XI however, namely Kehrer at LB and Benrahma being on the bench, would be fair criticism imo.

It's not an easy stick to beat him with.

It's simple he took off our three best players and we got worse.

[mattyD]

Still can't believe the red card wasn't given. They equalised two minutes after Vlad went off.

[S-H]

Still can't believe the red card wasn't given. They equalised two minutes after Vlad went off.

Because he only got a yellow, does that mean it can't be looked at retrospectively?

[Kentammer]

Going off topic of the match itself (mainly because I'm bored of talking about how poor we are in the first half of games and how little Soucek offers), what a top away day Leeds is, by far the best in the league IMO and well worth the 7 hour round trip midweek. Yes the concourse is appalling and probably an accident waiting to happen and theres a lack of pubs near the ground for away fans now but what a great end that is for watching the game and interacting with the home end - proper football and proper fans. Special mention to the DJ for playing "I predict a riot" before kick off, very good.

A couple of my best mates are Leeds, one of whom I lived with at uni during the League One years - so I've got a bit of a soft spot for them. Made it up to Elland Road for their pre-season friendly the day of the Women's Euros final, and have to agree - cracking city, day out and stadium. Walking to it from the town and seeing that one massive stand appear in the distance reminded me of the walk from the station to the Boleyn. The whole day really rammed home for me what we've lost. This is not a pro- or anti-anything post, I just miss it. It's all a bit sanitised now, isn't it - but that isn't just us.

[the pink palermo]

Just on my second espresso of the day following a late return from Leeds yesterday evening. Smoking jacket on, Beef Wellington in the oven, time to reflect upon last nights game.

Firstly, fantastic to bump into so many people last night, even in a crap season the usual faces travel in hope. Denying the obvious evidence piled up that we are not very good currently, everyone still thinks we "can get something here". We would all be stood on the gallows, noose being put around our necks and we would be going " bit of a difficult spot this, but we should be ok. Not so tight, that rope will give me a rash".

Allardyce was right. Deluded. All of us. Still got that T shirt somewhere.

But, the Away support stood firm. It supported the team, did it's job, and whatever issues the club currently has it doesn't suffer the indignity of having it's own travelling support turning on it's own team. Proud of that.

Last night was a classic, it had it all, rare moments of real skill and vision - Coufal, I mean, had that gone in, I'd have choked on my Pie. Audacious.And over the top, but still, had the Leeds fans worried for a few seconds.We also had one of THE very worst showings from a defender I've ever seen but I'll leave him alone, out of form, out of position, and undoubtedly going to be out of the team, and probably club quite soon. We thought we were buying a Focke wolf, but we actually got a Focke Messerschmidt, so to speak.

The defence last night was beyond parody, nobody had a good night, but Fabianski pulled off one excellent save which ultimately probably got us a valuable point. Daws was out of sorts and Agured probably at fault for one of the goals.
Further up the field we saw Fornals, although rusty- missing the sitter before the penalty, busy, always moving, in stark contrast to Luca who really likes running less than I like running. Not his game. Bowen was a constant threat all night but Paqueta once again needed too much time on the ball, and surrendered possession in our own half cheaply on a number of occasions.His penalty did not impress me at all. Just hit the thing, hard.

All of the new recruits are struggling with the pace of the PL. No time to think, react, ponder, it's a game played by anticipation, instinct and living off your wits. I hope they come good, but this is what happens when you do your transfer business late in a crowded season. No time to adapt or integrate.

Did the subs hand the initiative back to Leeds, no, I don't think so, the game was a bit disjointed throughout, lots and lots of niggly fouls, with a couple of red cards narrowly avoided, one for each side, so we gave as good as we got in that regard.
Normally a point away from home is a good result, but last night, upon reflection , it wasn't enough, the best that can be said was we worked harder, scored a couple of goals but that was it. Ultimately it was the two goals we conceded that mattered and it was that fragility at the back that cost us two points last night and without significant improvement will see the club slide into the Championship.

Anyone who thinks otherwise really does need to dig out their deluded T shirt. We are bang in trouble, and the noose is tightening.

And with that, my Wolves ticket has just dropped through the letterbox.

[Crossd_Hammrs]

Because he only got a yellow, does that mean it can't be looked at retrospectively?

Yes. And from two examples from this season and last (or the one before) even without the yellow, if the ref says he saw the incident no retrospective action can be taken - the Coufal kneed in the bow locks, Cucurella hair pulled.
With VAR I don't know if there is much chance of a red-card incident being missed in game, surely Tierney looked at the incident last night - mind boggling. It was the very definition of Violent Conduct.
I thought it should maybe have been a freekick for the initial challenge by Coufal, but the ref didn't. Summerville had no excuse, he deliberately retaliated in a red mist, not even disguised as a challenge for the ball.

I thought Rodrigo had been lucky not to be sent off for the studs in Rice's ear - in contrast to the Fornals high boot, Rice's head was clearly there well before Rodrigo swung his boot into it, if that's not Serious Foul Play....
For the Fornals incident, Ayling could see the boot up before he dipped his head into the challenge - he wasn't ever going to get there he was just looking for a "high boot" call. Disappointed he wasn't booked for going down, holding his head when there was no actual contact - again, for potential Serious Foul Play, VAR must have looked at it.

Match of the Day only showed the Summerville assault - the commentator called it a body check - pretty sure he stuck his studs into Coufal's shin just below the knee though.

[Alan Pardew's Dad]

All of the new recruits are struggling with the pace of the PL. No time to think, react, ponder, it's a game played by anticipation, instinct and living off your wits. I hope they come good, but this is what happens when you do your transfer business late in a crowded season. No time to adapt or integrate.

This 1000%. This is why I don’t want Moyes to go.

We are building a good team that need time to get up to speed because of the stupidly late purchase of so many players.

The transfer window opens at the same time each year, yet we are always scrambling around trying to get deals concluded just as the window closes. We should identify targets and get them in ready for them to get a full preseason under their belts, not have to throw people into the team virtually straight off the plane after the season is already weeks underway. I know it sounds stupid, but I genuinely believe that if we get people in during the January window, we can’t expect them to be fully ready until the following season. A team takes time to build.

[Crossd_Hammrs]

Kehrer was awful. He couldn't put a foot right. I really like him but he was dreadful. Slow, nervous, weak, out of position. A constant liability. I have no idea why Moyes played him at left back

Kehrer played left back for the Germany team for a spell of half-a-dozen games.

[Knighter10WHU]

A couple of my best mates are Leeds, one of whom I lived with at uni during the League One years - so I've got a bit of a soft spot for them. Made it up to Elland Road for their pre-season friendly the day of the Women's Euros final, and have to agree - cracking city, day out and stadium. Walking to it from the town and seeing that one massive stand appear in the distance reminded me of the walk from the station to the Boleyn. The whole day really rammed home for me what we've lost. This is not a pro- or anti-anything post, I just miss it. It's all a bit sanitised now, isn't it - but that isn't just us.

Bang on. You're also right its not just us that its sanitised for now, Leeds are one of very few that is still very much a proper football ground/day out. Burnley & Sheffield Utd were good days out as well and are a miss, would take those over Brentford/Brighton any day of the week.

[Crossd_Hammrs]

I wish the Premier League would do something about managers' and substitutes' sideline antics: Marsch left his technical area so many times, shouting at the ref even during the penalty review, he eventually got booked I think, but not sure exactly what he did on that occasion, seeing as there had been no action taken for him holding onto a ball and rubbing it onto the wet grass to delay our throw in.

['stone hammer]

It's not an easy stick to beat him with.

Yes, it is. Very easy.

It's simple he took off our three best players and we got worse.

Describing Fornals among Paqueta and Scamacca as being our best players after watching him miss 3 opportunities to get, at the very least, a shot on target is nonsense.

And it's not simple, there's context to be considered. But if you're that black and white about it, I can't be arsed.

[I am Legend]

Yes, it is. Very easy.



Describing Fornals among Paqueta and Scamacca as being our best players after watching him miss 3 opportunities to get, at the very least, a shot on target is nonsense.

And it's not simple, there's context to be considered. But if you're that black and white about it, I can't be arsed.

Always context but the most important is that we were comfortable, then he took our 3 best players off, then we were very not comfortable.

Scamacca had 2 CBs glued to him for most the game, giving CM (when advanced) space, Bowen and Fornal's more space out wide. When he came off the CBs pushed forward to help their CM and their FBs paid more attention to Antonio and Bowen. Meaning they played more centrally, the area that they had seen we would more susceptible to (other than throw ins, our new worst enemy), and they got the 2nd that way.

Paqueta and Fornals off meant we could not hold the ball anymore. It was now back to usual hoof it to no one, let Leeds continue to pressure. Occasionally we got a break away but didn't matter because Benny and Antonio give it away nearly every counter attack.

The 3 subs killed the game for us and we're lucky to get a draw in the end.

Shame as it was a entertaining game!

[hammerman11]

Not enough I am afraid . Leeds should have won that by a few clear goals .
Next up , our cup exit