It’s a funny old game. Last weekend we were arguably the better team against Wolves and lost; this time out we snatch a win off a Leeds side who will be disappointed that they didn’t get all three points themselves, let alone one.
Here are my ratings:
Schmeichel: 8 - Left his kick to the last minute on a few occasions, but did the basic required of a goalkeeper and repeatedly kept the ball out of the net.
Choudhury: 6 - Concentrated hard on being sensible defensively. Took no risks in doing his job, and was successful but as a result non-existent as an attacking force.
Amartey: 8 - As I’ve likely said before, you never quite know what you’re going to get from Amartey. Today, he was on it - Read the game well, got in some important positions and took the blows when needed.
Soyuncu: 8 - Like Amartey, looked on it today, his mind always working and making good calls on whether to step in or drop off. Likely his best game of the season. Marginally my choice for our MOTM, although there were a few contenders.
Thomas: 7 - Linked up well down the left. Sometimes caught out of position and could do with learning and improving the overlap. But this was still a good, rounded performance overall.
Ndidi: 7 - I’ve seen some criticism of Wilf today, but I think that’s largely unfair. There are some questions over his positioning but to me he did a job and came away with the ball more often than not. Cleaned up for Tielemans a lot.
Albrighton: 6 - Doesn’t always have the greatest quality and wasn’t able to do much as an attacking force, but brought his usual effort, determination and flexibility.
Tielemans: 4 - Got largely swamped by this match and looked half a yard behind Leeds. I was surprised he stayed on.
Dewsbury-Hall: 8 - Helped most of our attacks to come down his side, as well as being the only one to drive us up the field in the second half. Really earning his place in the team right now.
Barnes: 8 - Looked dangerous without the final ball for 60 minutes, then found it in a neat one-two with Iheanacho followed by a precise finish. The kind of match that’s been lacking from him in the past.
Vardy: 6 - Keen and competitive, but starved of any decent service.
Lookman: 5 - Wasted some very good opportunities that could have led to something. Not lacking effort, but lacking awareness at key moments today.
Iheanacho: 7 - Made some good runs to mistimed passes. A good outing capped by a neat assist.
Mendy: 8 - Looked full of confidence. Read the game very strongly and was composed on the ball.
A note on Leeds: It would have been difficult for Rodgers today, given that we wouldn’t have known what we were up against. But they looked generally well coordinated if a bit different in their pressing - just lacking in some quality in places. Even so, they’ll be heartened by their performance in the second and third quarters of the game, where they were the better team. The last quarter felt like everyone had run out of energy a bit.
Player ratings vs. Leeds
posted on 5/3/22
Worth saying that I don’t want to sound over-critical on Albrighton and Lookman - as you say TB, out of their best position. But I want to give ratings based on player performance as it stands. That doesn’t make Albrighton less valuable, for instance, because someone has to play at right back!
Mersey - I thought with almost all of our attacks coming down the left, Barnes was the outlet and looked the most likely to me to open up the Leeds defence. Vardy did well for what he had but was feeding on scraps and obviously wasn’t fit enough for the whole match. Interesting that Rodgers brought Iheanacho on instead of Daka, given the continued space in behind to be exploited.
posted on 5/3/22
comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 12 minutes ago
Worth saying that I don’t want to sound over-critical on Albrighton and Lookman - as you say TB, out of their best position. But I want to give ratings based on player performance as it stands. That doesn’t make Albrighton less valuable, for instance, because someone has to play at right back!
Mersey - I thought with almost all of our attacks coming down the left, Barnes was the outlet and looked the most likely to me to open up the Leeds defence. Vardy did well for what he had but was feeding on scraps and obviously wasn’t fit enough for the whole match. Interesting that Rodgers brought Iheanacho on instead of Daka, given the continued space in behind to be exploited.
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I agree Dunge. Barnes was our outlet for every attack and did a great job of walking at the defenders or lethargically wasting the opportunity.
Great 1-2 with Nacho for the goal though and a neat finish.
posted on 5/3/22
Too harsh on Tilly, 5 for me.
KDH MoM. If not him then Kasper.
We missed Madders.
One of those matches where one team plays far better than the other and gets nothing. Daylight robbery. If Leeds keep on performing like that and add in Bamford (slightly surprised to not see him make an entrance) then they should be OK.
posted on 5/3/22
'Worth saying that I don’t want to sound over-critical on Albrighton and Lookman - as you say TB, out of their best position. But I want to give ratings based on player performance as it stands. That doesn’t make Albrighton less valuable, for instance, because someone has to play at right back!'
I guess that explains them, doesn't explain the extra 4 points that Tilly got.
posted on 5/3/22
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 6/3/22
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 7 hours, 12 minutes ago
Think you’ve got Vardy and Barnes mixed up Dunge.
What did Barnes do other than the goal?
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You mean Harvey Barnes who was highlighted on MoTM as the best player on the pitch?
I wrote this on another well known forum earlier:
"Strange game.
The composure and interplay we started with at the beginning of the game indicated a comfortable win. We failed to score in that period and allowed Leeds to grow into the game.
Second half was just incredibly scrappy. Most of the pressure was because we couldn’t keep hold of the ball. Even at our worst, though, I felt that we only needed to get our game together for a few minutes and we’d be capable of scoring and winning the game. That’s ultimately what happened, but it’s a shame we didn’t add more goals to make the game more comfortable.
I was looking forward to seeing Leeds live as they’re supposed to be a good, attacking, footballing side. All I saw was a hardworking, pressing side, low on quality. The fact we couldn’t get our game together to beat them comfortably is more of an indictment on us and the way we’ve failed to control games this season.
The big positive, though, is that we didn’t crumble like we have been doing. There were some committed, defensive, performances and the win was all that mattered in the end. Even if we didn’t play particularly well. "
..... but having just watched the highlights on the telly I thought Leeds looked better and more dominant than I felt watching the ground. Perhaps we were a bit lucky, but there has been a big absence of that for us in recent games - so I'll take it!
posted on 6/3/22
Clearly I saw a different Barnes to everyone else yesterday.
He stretched the play well and linked the strikers and the defence, but for me, every time he got into a dangerous position he was wasteful or gave the ball away. He just seemed to run into the defender twice when there was a pass on.
But I accept my opinion seems to be in the minority on this one.
posted on 6/3/22
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 14 hours, 14 minutes ago
....................... but for me, every time he got into a dangerous position he was wasteful or gave the ball away............................
Except for the time he put the ball in the back of the Leeds net?
Joby - I thought we started well and were then poor. Leeds were unfortunate not to get something from the game.
Having seen the highlights I'm changing my MoM from KDH to Kasper - he was the main reason we won the match rather than drawing or losing it, with at least one astonishingly good stop.
posted on 7/3/22
Except for the time he put the ball in the back of the Leeds net?
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Obvs
posted on 8/3/22
comment by Nuneaton_fox (U7936)
posted 1 day, 14 hours ago
comment by Merseysidefox (U4842)
posted 14 hours, 14 minutes ago
....................... but for me, every time he got into a dangerous position he was wasteful or gave the ball away............................
Except for the time he put the ball in the back of the Leeds net?
Joby - I thought we started well and were then poor. Leeds were unfortunate not to get something from the game.
Having seen the highlights I'm changing my MoM from KDH to Kasper - he was the main reason we won the match rather than drawing or losing it, with at least one astonishingly good stop.
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Yes, the stop at close range with his legs could have gone anywhere and was the time we really rode our luck.
I’m just saying that my overriding feeling at the game (live, not on telly) was that we only needed to get our **** together for a brief period and should be capable of easily winning the game. The fact is that we haven’t consistently done that this season.
I think that our narrow win was more down to our poor performance and failing to control the game, rather than anything Leeds did who, to me, look a poor side. Admittedly I’m basing my opinion on watching Leeds for one game whereas I watch Leicester all the time. There were probably many Leeds fans walking away from the ground thinking that we are a pretty poor side based on that one off performance.