I would say relentless instead of solid, Jonty. We just seem to have found a way to win games with the minimum of fuss. It doesn't faze us if the referee has a shocker, as the ref did today, or if the opponents sit back all day and wait for a moment to strike. This season, we seem to have developed the tools for dealing with each kind of challenge. I am looking forward to playing Hull and Watford in our next outings as they will try, at least, to play football against us. We can be critical of individuals at certain times during the game, but what we must acknowledge is the intense unity and focus of this team over the whole of this season, and over the past 13 games in particular. If ever a team was driving relentlessly towards promotion, it is Leeds. In the past, we would be waiting for our team to implode a la Wigan, but it just seems less and less likely to happen this season.
Nice one Jonty, good read as usual.
Archie allowed in dressing room now he’s 18, I heard. Didn’t realise it was like that. I played for a men’s team age 15 and all changed together, but yeah suppose in todays world it makes sense.
Great result and now a break to get everyone fully fit for the run in, hopefully we get to paint the city white this time and celebrate properly, you get the feeling this squad with this manager won’t bottle it.
Comfortable win without hitting top gear. Not sure we'll lose another game, we look a league above the poor sides we face each week. Just want us back in the big boys league now, with 2 spots available, looks kinda promising that we'll get 1 of them.
comment by Wetherby White (U6810)
posted 26 minutes ago
Nice one Jonty, good read as usual.
Archie allowed in dressing room now he’s 18, I heard. Didn’t realise it was like that. I played for a men’s team age 15 and all changed together, but yeah suppose in todays world it makes sense.
Great result and now a break to get everyone fully fit for the run in, hopefully we get to paint the city white this time and celebrate properly, you get the feeling this squad with this manager won’t bottle it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
a nice birthday present
comment by The heart of Farkeness (U19827)
posted 42 minutes ago
I would say relentless instead of solid, Jonty. We just seem to have found a way to win games with the minimum of fuss. It doesn't faze us if the referee has a shocker, as the ref did today, or if the opponents sit back all day and wait for a moment to strike. This season, we seem to have developed the tools for dealing with each kind of challenge. I am looking forward to playing Hull and Watford in our next outings as they will try, at least, to play football against us. We can be critical of individuals at certain times during the game, but what we must acknowledge is the intense unity and focus of this team over the whole of this season, and over the past 13 games in particular. If ever a team was driving relentlessly towards promotion, it is Leeds. In the past, we would be waiting for our team to implode a la Wigan, but it just seems less and less likely to happen this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I can live with relentless
It feels odd being the one that others are watching from behind, it wasn't that long ago some off ours were giving us a lucky play off chance!..
I've backed us on Dave's Olde TOP SIX POINTS CHALLENGE as Champions, and we're well on course to get at least second, but, I've said we should be looking at first so hopefully we don't have to look higher!..
Was a very professional performance today against a Millwall team who set out to spoil our free flowing football by making the game stop start, commiting over 20 fouls.
I have a feeling that other teams will follow the same tactics as Millwall, Huddersfield and Preston and it's credit to this squad that we have learnt how to adapt and show patience and resilience.
Been a long time since we've had such a solid defence. No longer do we fear opposition corners of long throw ins.
My only gripe is our set pieces. Free kicks, corners we are brutal. Does anyone have a number for a set piece coach.
It would have been icing on the cake to see their thug Cooper sent off, but you can’t have everything!
Would be unlikely (but perhaps fitting from a FFP “accounting” perspective) if both Leicester and Southampton ended up losing in the playoffs.
We aren’t promoted yet, so more nails to bite before May.
comment by Earl * * Not available in N.I. (U9333)
posted 1 hour, 58 minutes ago
Was a very professional performance today against a Millwall team who set out to spoil our free flowing football by making the game stop start, commiting over 20 fouls.
I have a feeling that other teams will follow the same tactics as Millwall, Huddersfield and Preston and it's credit to this squad that we have learnt how to adapt and show patience and resilience.
Been a long time since we've had such a solid defence. No longer do we fear opposition corners of long throw ins.
My only gripe is our set pieces. Free kicks, corners we are brutal. Does anyone have a number for a set piece coach.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree with you about our set pieces. It surprises me that they are so bad, given the talents in our squad. Surely they must practice these skills?
As for our run in, we have some challenges, but on our day, there is no-one we should fear. We have Blackburn, Sunderland, Watford and Boro, all of whom should be safe, but not fighting for promotion, or against relegation. It's hard to look past wins for us in those ones. Coventry, Hull and Southampton will be up for it, but I think we are equipped to take at least a point in each of those games. That leaves QPR, who tend to play better against the top teams (ask Leicester), who could surprise us.
Winning is becoming a habit for us and that will feed through to our opponents. Of course we will be their 'cup finals' but the intensity of their play will not be at the Preston, Huddersfield or Milwall levels.
My main concern is the possibility of injuries. The referees offer no protection to skilful players such as Cree, Rutter, DJ or Gnonto. Cooper's assault on Rodon would have been GBH anywhere outside Elland Road and his elbow on Georginho should have been an instant red. The refereeing is one variable we have no control over.
The other is injuries, but we have gone most of the season with just one significant injury, to Struijk. Our controlled football must lend itself to better player safety on the pitch, but I think the coaching team must also spend time on building resilience in our players, because they just seem to bounce back up again after each mauling.
A final variable is our discipline in terms of staying on task, and not giving in to the spoiling tactics of our opponents. Willie is a minor concern in this respect, but he just managed to avoid a red yesterday. This must be the most anti-football leaague in England.
All in all, it's hard to look past us as strong candidates for automatic promotion. We have been favourites before and it has eneded bitterly for us, but at the moment, it is hard to see that happening this year.
Thanks for the excellent work on the threads, Earl
I thought that when Millwall stopped their brutal thuggery and started to play some actual football, they were quite good.
It doesn't faze us if the referee has a shocker
^^^
Noticed that too. Farke has done an unbelievable job
in all departments. But our professionalism is off the
charts. Ampadu got in the middle of things a lot and
immediately calmed things. Talked to the ref like they
were chatting about the weather. This team is firing on
all cylinders and looks unstoppable. Great times.
To your point Jonty, 12 months ago we were pretty
much all in agreement: 60 mill on Rutter & James was
a colossal waste of funds. 12 months later, under
Farke (yes, a drop down divisions), they are proving
to be a massive, massive part of our success.
Crazy.
Nice to see Bill at the match yesterday, he may be playing up the road but heart and soul he belongs at ER.
I think I'm right in thinking that if we go up as champions he gets a medal, he played 14 times for us this season.
comment by LeedsFanFor50Years (U6871)
posted 10 hours, 55 minutes ago
It would have been icing on the cake to see their thug Cooper sent off, but you can’t have everything!
Would be unlikely (but perhaps fitting from a FFP “accounting” perspective) if both Leicester and Southampton ended up losing in the playoffs.
We aren’t promoted yet, so more nails to bite before May.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He should have been sent off in the first half and it would have been a comfortable afternoon. If he'd been sent off for the clothes line offence then he wouldn't been there for the assault on Rodon later on and we wouldn't have got the penalty we should have got. Championship has some god awful refs officiating in it but that one yesterday was the worst by some distance.
The linesman wasn't much better. Gave Millwall a throw in when it blatantly came off one of their players last. Then never flagged on a blatant foul on Gnonto. Standard is so poor.
The Gnonto roll, is that his goal celebration?..
He'd best be careful if it is, Bamford tried something different and ended up a long time out!..
Our back line has got into the habit of defending like the Spartan 300.
Nearly allowed ourselves to get dragged into their uncompromising tactics (Gnonto!!) but kept their cool after some considerable provocation.
We really do need to bury more of the gilt edged chances we get - cud be vital to have a better GD than Leics.
I think after the guy laid on top off him inviting him in Gnonto was right to be upset, but if VAR had been there he would have got his ass well and truly kicked!..
I enjoyed our performance yesterday most for the way the team withstood and came out victorious against extreme physical provocation which like quite a few teams this season shows how Farke has drilled a hard but fare and disciplined mindset into this team that eventually wears the opponent down.
Suddenly that draw against our West Yorkshire neighbours doesn't seem so bad now and thankfully DF and his troops have gone on another little winning streak which I think we'd all love to witness Leeds breaking the Championship successive league wins record which we nearly equalled but we've definitely got the ability to win our next 7 games to make
it 10 successive wins against QPR and then set that new
record against Southampton.
Obviously even though that would be the icing on the cake it's not the end of the world if we fall short on that score because like yesterday proved no game is easy or anxiety free for Leeds fans so our next opponents like Millwall will raise their performance and schhytfackery levels against us
significantly.
Therefore I don't expect us to hammer anyone again this season unfortunately, although it would be lovely, but I reckon as Huddersfield especially proved with their unsettling stop start tactics and Millwall yesterday adopting a similar game plan, Leeds will have with the exception of possibly Hull, Coventry and Southampton, 5 more ugly fixtures to navigate before the champagne corks can be popped.
Not sure why you keep singling out Gruev when he’s been an integral part of the team since Ampadu went to centre back. His heat map against Millwall was off the scale.
He does what he’s there to do and he does it very well.
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posted on 17/3/24
I would say relentless instead of solid, Jonty. We just seem to have found a way to win games with the minimum of fuss. It doesn't faze us if the referee has a shocker, as the ref did today, or if the opponents sit back all day and wait for a moment to strike. This season, we seem to have developed the tools for dealing with each kind of challenge. I am looking forward to playing Hull and Watford in our next outings as they will try, at least, to play football against us. We can be critical of individuals at certain times during the game, but what we must acknowledge is the intense unity and focus of this team over the whole of this season, and over the past 13 games in particular. If ever a team was driving relentlessly towards promotion, it is Leeds. In the past, we would be waiting for our team to implode a la Wigan, but it just seems less and less likely to happen this season.
posted on 17/3/24
Nice one Jonty, good read as usual.
Archie allowed in dressing room now he’s 18, I heard. Didn’t realise it was like that. I played for a men’s team age 15 and all changed together, but yeah suppose in todays world it makes sense.
Great result and now a break to get everyone fully fit for the run in, hopefully we get to paint the city white this time and celebrate properly, you get the feeling this squad with this manager won’t bottle it.
posted on 17/3/24
Comfortable win without hitting top gear. Not sure we'll lose another game, we look a league above the poor sides we face each week. Just want us back in the big boys league now, with 2 spots available, looks kinda promising that we'll get 1 of them.
posted on 17/3/24
comment by Wetherby White (U6810)
posted 26 minutes ago
Nice one Jonty, good read as usual.
Archie allowed in dressing room now he’s 18, I heard. Didn’t realise it was like that. I played for a men’s team age 15 and all changed together, but yeah suppose in todays world it makes sense.
Great result and now a break to get everyone fully fit for the run in, hopefully we get to paint the city white this time and celebrate properly, you get the feeling this squad with this manager won’t bottle it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
a nice birthday present
posted on 17/3/24
comment by The heart of Farkeness (U19827)
posted 42 minutes ago
I would say relentless instead of solid, Jonty. We just seem to have found a way to win games with the minimum of fuss. It doesn't faze us if the referee has a shocker, as the ref did today, or if the opponents sit back all day and wait for a moment to strike. This season, we seem to have developed the tools for dealing with each kind of challenge. I am looking forward to playing Hull and Watford in our next outings as they will try, at least, to play football against us. We can be critical of individuals at certain times during the game, but what we must acknowledge is the intense unity and focus of this team over the whole of this season, and over the past 13 games in particular. If ever a team was driving relentlessly towards promotion, it is Leeds. In the past, we would be waiting for our team to implode a la Wigan, but it just seems less and less likely to happen this season.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I can live with relentless
posted on 17/3/24
It feels odd being the one that others are watching from behind, it wasn't that long ago some off ours were giving us a lucky play off chance!..
I've backed us on Dave's Olde TOP SIX POINTS CHALLENGE as Champions, and we're well on course to get at least second, but, I've said we should be looking at first so hopefully we don't have to look higher!..
posted on 17/3/24
Was a very professional performance today against a Millwall team who set out to spoil our free flowing football by making the game stop start, commiting over 20 fouls.
I have a feeling that other teams will follow the same tactics as Millwall, Huddersfield and Preston and it's credit to this squad that we have learnt how to adapt and show patience and resilience.
Been a long time since we've had such a solid defence. No longer do we fear opposition corners of long throw ins.
My only gripe is our set pieces. Free kicks, corners we are brutal. Does anyone have a number for a set piece coach.
posted on 18/3/24
It would have been icing on the cake to see their thug Cooper sent off, but you can’t have everything!
Would be unlikely (but perhaps fitting from a FFP “accounting” perspective) if both Leicester and Southampton ended up losing in the playoffs.
We aren’t promoted yet, so more nails to bite before May.
posted on 18/3/24
comment by Earl * * Not available in N.I. (U9333)
posted 1 hour, 58 minutes ago
Was a very professional performance today against a Millwall team who set out to spoil our free flowing football by making the game stop start, commiting over 20 fouls.
I have a feeling that other teams will follow the same tactics as Millwall, Huddersfield and Preston and it's credit to this squad that we have learnt how to adapt and show patience and resilience.
Been a long time since we've had such a solid defence. No longer do we fear opposition corners of long throw ins.
My only gripe is our set pieces. Free kicks, corners we are brutal. Does anyone have a number for a set piece coach.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree with you about our set pieces. It surprises me that they are so bad, given the talents in our squad. Surely they must practice these skills?
As for our run in, we have some challenges, but on our day, there is no-one we should fear. We have Blackburn, Sunderland, Watford and Boro, all of whom should be safe, but not fighting for promotion, or against relegation. It's hard to look past wins for us in those ones. Coventry, Hull and Southampton will be up for it, but I think we are equipped to take at least a point in each of those games. That leaves QPR, who tend to play better against the top teams (ask Leicester), who could surprise us.
Winning is becoming a habit for us and that will feed through to our opponents. Of course we will be their 'cup finals' but the intensity of their play will not be at the Preston, Huddersfield or Milwall levels.
My main concern is the possibility of injuries. The referees offer no protection to skilful players such as Cree, Rutter, DJ or Gnonto. Cooper's assault on Rodon would have been GBH anywhere outside Elland Road and his elbow on Georginho should have been an instant red. The refereeing is one variable we have no control over.
The other is injuries, but we have gone most of the season with just one significant injury, to Struijk. Our controlled football must lend itself to better player safety on the pitch, but I think the coaching team must also spend time on building resilience in our players, because they just seem to bounce back up again after each mauling.
A final variable is our discipline in terms of staying on task, and not giving in to the spoiling tactics of our opponents. Willie is a minor concern in this respect, but he just managed to avoid a red yesterday. This must be the most anti-football leaague in England.
All in all, it's hard to look past us as strong candidates for automatic promotion. We have been favourites before and it has eneded bitterly for us, but at the moment, it is hard to see that happening this year.
Thanks for the excellent work on the threads, Earl
posted on 18/3/24
I thought that when Millwall stopped their brutal thuggery and started to play some actual football, they were quite good.
posted on 18/3/24
It doesn't faze us if the referee has a shocker
^^^
Noticed that too. Farke has done an unbelievable job
in all departments. But our professionalism is off the
charts. Ampadu got in the middle of things a lot and
immediately calmed things. Talked to the ref like they
were chatting about the weather. This team is firing on
all cylinders and looks unstoppable. Great times.
posted on 18/3/24
To your point Jonty, 12 months ago we were pretty
much all in agreement: 60 mill on Rutter & James was
a colossal waste of funds. 12 months later, under
Farke (yes, a drop down divisions), they are proving
to be a massive, massive part of our success.
Crazy.
posted on 18/3/24
Nice to see Bill at the match yesterday, he may be playing up the road but heart and soul he belongs at ER.
I think I'm right in thinking that if we go up as champions he gets a medal, he played 14 times for us this season.
posted on 18/3/24
comment by LeedsFanFor50Years (U6871)
posted 10 hours, 55 minutes ago
It would have been icing on the cake to see their thug Cooper sent off, but you can’t have everything!
Would be unlikely (but perhaps fitting from a FFP “accounting” perspective) if both Leicester and Southampton ended up losing in the playoffs.
We aren’t promoted yet, so more nails to bite before May.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He should have been sent off in the first half and it would have been a comfortable afternoon. If he'd been sent off for the clothes line offence then he wouldn't been there for the assault on Rodon later on and we wouldn't have got the penalty we should have got. Championship has some god awful refs officiating in it but that one yesterday was the worst by some distance.
posted on 18/3/24
The linesman wasn't much better. Gave Millwall a throw in when it blatantly came off one of their players last. Then never flagged on a blatant foul on Gnonto. Standard is so poor.
posted on 18/3/24
The Gnonto roll, is that his goal celebration?..
He'd best be careful if it is, Bamford tried something different and ended up a long time out!..
posted on 18/3/24
Our back line has got into the habit of defending like the Spartan 300.
posted on 18/3/24
Nearly allowed ourselves to get dragged into their uncompromising tactics (Gnonto!!) but kept their cool after some considerable provocation.
We really do need to bury more of the gilt edged chances we get - cud be vital to have a better GD than Leics.
posted on 18/3/24
I think after the guy laid on top off him inviting him in Gnonto was right to be upset, but if VAR had been there he would have got his ass well and truly kicked!..
posted on 18/3/24
I enjoyed our performance yesterday most for the way the team withstood and came out victorious against extreme physical provocation which like quite a few teams this season shows how Farke has drilled a hard but fare and disciplined mindset into this team that eventually wears the opponent down.
Suddenly that draw against our West Yorkshire neighbours doesn't seem so bad now and thankfully DF and his troops have gone on another little winning streak which I think we'd all love to witness Leeds breaking the Championship successive league wins record which we nearly equalled but we've definitely got the ability to win our next 7 games to make
it 10 successive wins against QPR and then set that new
record against Southampton.
Obviously even though that would be the icing on the cake it's not the end of the world if we fall short on that score because like yesterday proved no game is easy or anxiety free for Leeds fans so our next opponents like Millwall will raise their performance and schhytfackery levels against us
significantly.
Therefore I don't expect us to hammer anyone again this season unfortunately, although it would be lovely, but I reckon as Huddersfield especially proved with their unsettling stop start tactics and Millwall yesterday adopting a similar game plan, Leeds will have with the exception of possibly Hull, Coventry and Southampton, 5 more ugly fixtures to navigate before the champagne corks can be popped.
posted on 20/3/24
Not sure why you keep singling out Gruev when he’s been an integral part of the team since Ampadu went to centre back. His heat map against Millwall was off the scale.
He does what he’s there to do and he does it very well.
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