Agree with most apart from Adams.

Been a good signing, different to phillips, not many pinging the ball out wide( be pointless in these tactics anyway)

Clueless..............must have watched highlights of every single game because Adams has clearly been our best player all season and I dont think anyone other than Jonty would argue

I think Roca gets subbed not down to ability but as part of the plan pre-match. He does more than he gets credit for - not been the best prior to Cardiff (too many passes astray). Bringing on Greenwood/Klich etc .... to bring fresh energy i'd imagine is by design.

As for Adams - no way. Good signing. Clubs will be circling for him in the summer whether we stay up or go down.

Sinisterra - doesn't look match fit (i know he's just back from injury) ... but seemed way off it Wed and yesterday when he came on.

comment by LIW Rad a %#@% and so is Orta (U8453)
posted 20 minutes ago
Agree with most apart from Adams.

Been a good signing, different to phillips, not many pinging the ball out wide( be pointless in these tactics anyway)
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I feel we really miss those long cross field balls that Philips could deliver, but in narrow formation, theyre redundant.

I've made point of last couple of games watching Adams specifically and was surprised how often he wasn't in DM role, attacks had gotten past him and he was chasing back and also how unimpactful his passing is.

I think he could be delivering more, what do you think?

comment by VOF - Have a nice day y'all ... (U17124)
posted 6 minutes ago
I think Roca gets subbed not down to ability but as part of the plan pre-match. He does more than he gets credit for - not been the best prior to Cardiff (too many passes astray). Bringing on Greenwood/Klich etc .... to bring fresh energy i'd imagine is by design.

As for Adams - no way. Good signing. Clubs will be circling for him in the summer whether we stay up or go down.

Sinisterra - doesn't look match fit (i know he's just back from injury) ... but seemed way off it Wed and yesterday when he came on.
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I see glimpses once in a while with Roca but just glimpses infrequently, I just don't see a player there who takes us to next stage.

Goodness only knows how Aaronson is still getting a game. He’s proved beyond any doubt now that he is not Prem quality.

Agree that Wober looks good, but let’s see over next few games.

I think every club has good and bad signings.

Richarlison - 60m - not scored for them yet!
Philips - I doubt many Man City fans think its a good signing
Wolves - Guedes 28m - just joined Benfica on loan cos cant get in Wolves team.

These are just 3 off the top of my head. The only really baffling signing for me is Rasmus. I didnt really feel like we needed a RB anyway with Ayling and Drameh. Roca - you get what you pay for - nothing special, not terrible. Adams great signing for me. Aronsson was good at the start of the season but gone off the boil since the World Cup and deserves to be dropped. Maybe not playing much at the WC affected him? Not sure.

Have to agree with some of the comments here.

Roca - gives the ball away too much, does show occasional glimpses of quality but overall not a success for me

Adams - best of the midfielders we signed. Good at breaking up play and sniffing out danger. Needs to be played in the Philips role but we have to accept he is not good at the forward looking creative/playmaker side of the game.

Rasmus - not too bad a defender but hopeless going forward. Ayling is better and has replaced him.

Gnonto - absolute steal, best bargain ever. The strange thing is it seemed like he was a sort of panic buy because we did not get the much vaunted "big" signing we had been chasing. Seems like a "happy accident" rather than a shrewd signing!

Aaronson - cannot believe what we paid for him. JM keeps playing him no matter how poorly he plays. He cannot stand up in a light breeze. Probably the worst signing.

Sini - Looked great early doors but injured for a while. Looks way off it on his return but hopefully will get back to his best when fully fit. Jury still out I feel

Wober - Looks good so far, calming influence at the back. I hope with his organisation skills he can marshal the back line and stop the kamikaze defending we have suffered for ages

In summary, a mixed bag some gems unearthed but a lot of dross as well

"Gnonto - absolute steal, best bargain ever. The strange thing is it seemed like he was a sort of panic buy because we did not get the much vaunted "big" signing we had been chasing. Seems like a "happy accident" rather than a shrewd signing!"

He\'s looked great so far, needs to play more and consistently deliver to be labelled as best bargain ever perhaps, but agree with your point this was a happy accident rather that shrewd signing for this season and it's genuinely bizarre that no one at club thought he would be affective this season and had him labelled as one for the future.

One wonders what they based that assessment on.

You can't dismiss Gnonto just because it doesn't fit your narrative.

Kristianson and Aaronson have struggled. Aaronson started off well but has gone off the boil.

Roca I think is better than what people are suggesting. He played well yesterday and keeps the ball moving forward and is are best players at keeping the ball. Think what would improve was if he had more width to play with.

Woeber - looks good so far but we'll need more than a couple of games to properly asses.

Adams is great at breaking the play up. Finds it difficult to pass forward but that isn't really his job.

Sini - has been injured but has shown a few flashes of brilliance but has been off the pace in his last two subs appearances.

Think the not ready for PL statement is a harsh stick to beat the club with. He was 18 and not starting in the Swiss league when that was said. He has obviously come in and impressed in training and in games. Also it would have taken pressure off of Gnonto knowing that Leeds were not reliant on him

Maybe it's the old memory going, but I really don't remember Sinistere doing much at all, apart from getting sent off in an important game. Where does he fit in the team?

What's my narrative?

Looking at the first team signings for this season, Gnonto was signed for the future.

It's really looking at what was planned for this season and whether it''s working or not.

Good debate. I'd agree with your assessment Jonty apart from on Adams. It's unfortunate but one thing in his favour compared to Phillips is availability which has to come into it. Realised I have now probably jinxed Adams.

It's quite early on Aaronson. Does feel a bit like a central Dan James with a lot of huff and puff and limited end product and for a similar value. It's a bit like in cricket when a batter has some initial success and then teams of analysts and wise opponents quickly suss out technical flaws and start getting batter out. I think teams know he can be pressured into running down blind alleys and will give ball away or go down. Unfortunately this is compounded as refs seem to have cottoned on to it too and there are times he doesn't get free kicks that he should.

Early days for Wober but he has qualities that will help our defence with a calming presence and no nonsense approach.

I think we can upgrade on Rocca (maybe in this window) and he could effectively become Klich's replacement.

Good question and discussion.

Difficult to judge the players without also considering the tactics they're being asked to play under. Rodrigo was a weird signing for a Bielsa team, but he's a good signing for a Marsch system.

With that in mind, i think Marsch's system, which seems to be "quickly turnover the ball high up the pitch, and then flood forward in freestyle/chaos", is likely to lend itself better to players who can a) press well, b) make good decisions in a chaotic environment, c) move the ball forward the ball quickly after turning over.

Most of our new signings seem capable of a) (Adams, Aaronson, Sinistera, Roca)

Some can do b) but some struggle with the pressure to pick the right pass in tight spaces/and no obvious patterns of play (Aaronson, Roca)

...and some can do all three (Gnonto,Sinistera)

Overall, i think the signings have actually been really good...but i think Aaronson, Roca, Kristienson would really benefit from some more clearly defined patterns of play (and a little less chaos and reliance on individual brilliance).

comment by Jonty (U4614)
posted 1 hour, 44 minutes ago

it's genuinely bizarre that no one at club thought he would be affective this season and had him labelled as one for the future.

One wonders what they based that assessment on.
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Hmmmm….. not sure about this.
Have been thinking this last couple of weeks how a younger player like Gnonto. who has been selected and played for Italy, had not attracted a host of suitors, and why his value was deemed so low? Clearly, both factors attracted Orta’s interest, as it should. But then surely others looked too and saw the same ‘reasons’ why it was thought he might not be ready to step up?
So, using your terms, isn’t it ‘bizarre’ why no one else pursued him?

I’m not saying Leeds didn’t get it wrong… I’m saying surely everyone else also seems to have got it wrong … so maybe it’s simply Gnonto is showing stuff he hasn’t previously and it’s just unexpectedly thriving in a completely different environment?
🤷‍♂️

Salonika, it could be that he's one of those that everyone misses, like Ian Wright or Jamie vary, whom make it later on, so I'd tend to agree with you that it feels like everyone missed him IF he continues and delivers consistently.

It could be that others dismissed him, as I did, for being too short.

Kristensen - Steady, decent age and could be pretty could next season. Attitude and fight are spot on and I like him.

Adams, better than Phillips for me, like a little terrier in the middle. Doesn't need to ping 30 yard passes, 6 yards is fine as long as they find a Leeds player. Best signing we've made for a while for me.

Aaronson - Started well but fizzled completely out. Tries hard but has lacked end product all season. Could use a few games on the bench.

Roca - Bang average as they come, not in a bad way, just a steady player.

Sinisterra - Looked good but injury prone it seems.

Gnonto - Absolute steal who's looked way better for us than he did for Zurich and Italy when I watched him. He looked like a 4 million pound player for them, but at least 20 for us. No pressure on him and he's loving life it seems.

Wober - Early days but looks good. Steady, does the basics, likes a strong tackle. Hopefully he's our leading CB going forwards.

Rutter - If Tyler Roberts had a French cousin!

I think you have to give players time to adapt. Aaronson, Sini, Summerville and Gnonto are all young players who need plenty of support and encouragement. They will certainly improve.
Rasmus and Roca are a little older and may deserve a little more critical comment, but thinking back, who among us could have foreseen Rodrigo coming good this season, simply by paying him in his preferred role? His link up play yesterday was superb but you can see, with the exception of Gnonto, other players are catching up with him.
With all of these players, I don't think we will know their true value to us for at least one season.

Can I slightly change the question to Have we done with signing? I am neither seeing nor hearing any more whispers, if so is this squad good enough?

comment by Jonty (U4614)
posted 1 day, 4 hours ago
What's my narrative?

Looking at the first team signings for this season, Gnonto was signed for the future.

It's really looking at what was planned for this season and whether it''s working or not.


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So when you inevitably do this article in a year will you include Gnonto?