Pre-Match: Leeds United (Away) - 2nd November 2020

[Wymsey]

Same team as against Athens?

Personally would start with Barnes, Mendy and Praet.

[Hales]

Hopefully Evan's is back as Morgan will be too slow for Leeds. Barnes, Mendy and Praet to start.

[StanSP]

Kasper

 

Justin - Fofana - Morgan* - Fuchs

 

Mendy

 

Maddison - Tielemans

 

Under - Vardy - Barnes

 

Morgan to play if Evans is still unfit.

Shame we're missing Castagne as I think there'd have been a lot of space to exploit with how Leeds like to get forward as a team and use every player to use space. 

 

Good to have Mendy back and glad he and Barnes didn't play full games. They should be fresh for Monday night.

 

The front 3 are so pacy. We should look to hit on the break as much as possible. 

[Jazzy_Jeff]

From who looks to be available:

 

Schmeichel

 

Fofana

Evans/Morgan

Fuchs

 

Albrighton

Mendy

Tielemans

Justin

 

Praet

Vardy

Barnes

 

Subs: Ward, Morgan/U23 cb, Thomas, Choudhury, Under, Maddison , Iheanacho 

Edited 29 October 2020 by Jazzy_Jeff

[HybridFox]

Dirty Leeds. It's been a while 

[StriderHiryu]

I'm super curious as to what Brendan does for this game. Leeds are a very good team, and Bielsa a world class coach. On paper lining up with 5 at the back against Leeds sounds cowardly but honestly on paper there are so many reasons to do it! Leeds commit many players forward and leave space in behind their full backs, which is asking to be exploited by Barnes, Vardy and Under. Fuchs was brought off at 60 minutes today suggesting he's going to be deployed again on Monday, though with Castagne out this could be to play as a regular Left Back rather than as a LCB.

 

I think we will play something like this:

 

                        Schmeichel

      Fofana  Morgan/Evans  Fuchs

Albrighton  TIelemans  Mendy   Maddison  Justin

                                 Barnes

                         Vardy

 

I expect us to have low possession and see a lot of people complaining about us playing this way against Leeds. But if it works, it would be another masterclass.

 

The only doubt I have about Rodgers going for this system is that he's a huge Bielsa fan and he might have the pride to want to "out-football" a Bielsa team. I'm not sure if the two have ever faced off against one another before so it might be a big moment for him.

 

We are definitely capable of out playing Leeds, but now that we are playing twice a week and have loads of injuries and know that Leeds have lost against counter attacking teams, it makes sense to play that way against them IMO. We are literally missing our entire first choice back 4 currently and our first choice CDM which is going to limit what we can do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 30 October 2020 by StriderHiryu

[OhYesNdidi]

5 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Kasper

 

Justin - Fofana - Morgan* - Fuchs

 

Mendy

 

Maddison - Tielemans

 

Under - Vardy - Barnes

 

Morgan to play if Evans is still unfit.

Shame we're missing Castagne as I think there'd have been a lot of space to exploit with how Leeds like to get forward as a team and use every player to use space. 

 

Good to have Mendy back and glad he and Barnes didn't play full games. They should be fresh for Monday night.

 

The front 3 are so pacy. We should look to hit on the break as much as possible. 

Bar Fofana, who I think it class. That is a terrible back 4, leeds will rip that to shreds.

[OhYesNdidi]

Just now, OhYesNdidi said:

Bar Fofana, who I think is class. That is a terrible back 4, leeds will rip that to shreds.

[Scotch]

I'd throw Thomas in. 

 

JJ can go to his natural right hand side with Ünder in front of him and Thomas playing behind Barnes. 

 

Leeds leak a LOT of goals but they score alot too and with our injury crisis in defence it might just be a case of out scoring them as opposed to being too cautious. Thomas gives us more going forward than Fuchs does. 

[North Leeds Fox]

Must win! Life will be unbearable in tier 3 up here tuesday if we don't beat these lot!  

 

Leeds have recently struggled in the championship against teams that sit back and hit them on the break. it may be tough to watch and with our best 11 we would beat these playing our normal football, but we have to play in a similar way (but maybe not quite as deep) that we did against arsenal and man city. They have defensive players out that will make them even more susceptible to quick transitions. Every leeds fan i have spoke to about the game knows that if they have to try break down a team, they will struggle but organised chaos would suit them more. 

[st albans fox]

6 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

I'm super curious as to what Brendan does for this game. On paper lining up with 5 at the back against Leeds sounds cowardly but honestly on paper there are so many reasons to do it! Leeds commit many players forward and leave acres of space in behind their full backs, which is asking to be exploited by Barnes, Vardy and Under. Fuchs was brought off at 60 minutes today suggesting he's going to be deployed again on Monday, though with Castagne out this could be to play as a regular Left Back rather than as a LCB.

 

I think we will play something like this:

 

                        Schmeichel

      Fofana  Morgan (Evans if fit)  Fuchs

Albrighton  TIelemans  Mendy   Maddison  Justin

                                 Barnes

                         Vardy

 

I expect us to have low possession and see a lot of people complaining about us playing this way against Leeds. But if it works, it would be another masterclass.

 

The only doubt I have about Rodgers going for this system is that he's a huge Bielsa fan and he might have the pride to want to "out-football" a Bielsa team. I'm not sure if the two have ever faced off against one another before so it might be a big moment for him.

 

We are definitely capable of out playing Leeds, but now that we are playing twice a week and have loads of injuries and know that Leeds struggle against counter attacking teams, it makes sense to play that way against them IMO.

I hope he takes the pragmatic approach and leaves the return fixture when we have a stronger line up to take them on in a ‘proper’ game 

 

[Foxxed]

Under, Barnes and Vardy in attack. Mendy, Maddison and Youri in midfield. Just the question of defence. I’d prefer not to have both Morgan and Fuchs in defence: Leeds will show them up unless heavily protected. I wonder if Bren would ever go with two CDMs... No love for Thomas at left back? I reckon we might shithouse it again. It may again be both boring and successful.

[deanolegend1989]

Evans must be fit or were in real trouble for this game I think.

5 at the back with Morgan AND Fuchs is will be embarrassing because we won’t get a sniff going forward. We’ll have Mendy and a surely tired Tielemens too, it’ll be the most crap game and the second Leeds score its over. Praet will be crucial in this game! We need his energy or Leeds will over power us.

Playing 4 at the back might be risky with Morgan in but at least it will give us a chance to imprint our quality on them more!

Castange and Evans maybe will be a huge miss for this. Castange (and Ricardo when he’s back) will be key to playing this 5 at the back effectively.

 

Id play:

Kasper

Albrighton Forfana Evans(Morgan if not) Justin

                Mendy Tielemens Praet

                   Under Vardy Barnes

I want to get Maddison involved but with Morgan in the back and Mendy and YT in the middle , we will get run over without Praets harassing.

[StriderHiryu]

9 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

I hope he takes the pragmatic approach and leaves the return fixture when we have a stronger line up to take them on in a ‘proper’ game 

 

Yep totally agreed, and I think he will! I'd argue that the bigger game next week is Braga at home rather than Leeds. Win that and we are basically through to the next stage already.

 

I think Rodgers deserves a lot of credit over these last 3 games. Under Ranieri our results suffered badly when we rotated the squad playing in Europe and the Premier League, but so far we've made a very good start. We definitely have a much better squad now compared to then, but we didn't have anything like as many injuries back then as we did now, even if we did lose Kasper and Drinkwater in 2016. Tonight some of the players that impressed me the most were Albrighton, Fuchs, Under, even Thomas when he came on. All of our "squad" players that haven't play much yet, but all of whom looked sharp and willing to get stuck in. That's great management and it's needed because we almost have enough players out to field another eleven!

[StanSP]

22 minutes ago, OhYesNdidi said:

Bar Fofana, who I think it class. That is a terrible back 4, leeds will rip that to shreds.

Can't think what the alternative is apart from going to 3 CBs - Fofana, Morgan, Fuchs?

 

Which then means Albrighton at RWB and Justin at LWB which doesn't inspire me with much confidence either...

[ant83]

24 minutes ago, Foxy_Bear said:

I'd throw Thomas in. 

 

JJ can go to his natural right hand side with Ünder in front of him and Thomas playing behind Barnes. 

 

Leeds leak a LOT of goals but they score alot too and with our injury crisis in defence it might just be a case of out scoring them as opposed to being too cautious. Thomas gives us more going forward than Fuchs does. 

Based on what? The first two games of this season? They conceded 35 goals in 46 games last season, and have conceded 2 in their last 4.

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

I think Leeds have injury problems themselves, Kelvin Phillips certainly out, I’m sure Luke Ayling (who I think is a quality right back) had to play centre back vs Villa. 

I think Evans will make it and we’ll line up similar to tonight with the addition of a few that got a vital rest;

 

Kasper 
 

Albrighton 

Fofana

Evans 

Fuchs 

Justin 

 

Mendy

Tielemans

 

Praet / Maddison 

Barnes  

 

Vardy

[deanolegend1989]

1 minute ago, StanSP said:

Can't think what the alternative is apart from going to 3 CBs - Fofana, Morgan, Fuchs?

 

Which then means Albrighton at RWB and Justin at LWB which doesn't inspire me with much confidence either...

The alternatives for me is pack the midfield to make up for the lack of quality we will have due to the weaker squad.

 

We CANT play Morgan AND Fuchs in the same game with Leeds pace and attack power. Asking for a d*cking!! If we over do it , to try and compensate it’ll never work unless we don’t concede 1 and Vardy miracles a smash and grab which won’t happen.

 

[harpendenfox]

I think young Youri may need to miss this one to keep him fresh. We play Monday - Thursday - Sunday. Time for the rotations as our European manager friends like to say

[Chocolate Teapot]

Evans trained last night and the knock was from the Arsenal game. I wouldn't discount him for this one - still 4 days before kick off.

[Leicester_Loyal]

53 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Kasper

 

Justin - Fofana - Morgan* - Fuchs

 

Mendy

 

Maddison - Tielemans

 

Under - Vardy - Barnes

 

Morgan to play if Evans is still unfit.

Shame we're missing Castagne as I think there'd have been a lot of space to exploit with how Leeds like to get forward as a team and use every player to use space. 

 

Good to have Mendy back and glad he and Barnes didn't play full games. They should be fresh for Monday night.

 

The front 3 are so pacy. We should look to hit on the break as much as possible. 

This is the team for me, but I think Evans will play.

 

I think Fuchs is definitely playing, that's why he was taken off at HT today, to give him a rest.

 

Sit back and hit them on the counter, an inform Vardy would be lovely. I think I'd even take a draw at this point, then the big game is Braga next week.

[Guest SO1]

30 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

I'm super curious as to what Brendan does for this game. On paper lining up with 5 at the back against Leeds sounds cowardly but honestly on paper there are so many reasons to do it! Leeds commit many players forward and leave acres of space in behind their full backs, which is asking to be exploited by Barnes, Vardy and Under. Fuchs was brought off at 60 minutes today suggesting he's going to be deployed again on Monday, though with Castagne out this could be to play as a regular Left Back rather than as a LCB.

 

I think we will play something like this:

 

                        Schmeichel

      Fofana  Morgan (Evans if fit)  Fuchs

Albrighton  TIelemans  Mendy   Maddison  Justin

                                 Barnes

                         Vardy

 

I expect us to have low possession and see a lot of people complaining about us playing this way against Leeds. But if it works, it would be another masterclass.

 

The only doubt I have about Rodgers going for this system is that he's a huge Bielsa fan and he might have the pride to want to "out-football" a Bielsa team. I'm not sure if the two have ever faced off against one another before so it might be a big moment for him.

 

We are definitely capable of out playing Leeds, but now that we are playing twice a week and have loads of injuries and know that Leeds struggle against counter attacking teams, it makes sense to play that way against them IMO.

Please no. Same lineup as ManCity or Arsenal only with Vardy and Under starting. If Rodgers goes mano a mano I'll go nutz.

Does Leeds play any other way than 433 attacking? Interested if Leeds might pull a fast one on us. If Leeds come out with a high press like Manchester City they are going to get beat. Badly, as in toasted. Is there any other club, that can sit back, besides Atletico Madrid that has as much attacking ability as us with Vardy. Can Leeds even touch us as we selectively press and punish them for their mistakes. Wheres that photo of Vardy coming out of the tunnel in the post Match thread.

[StriderHiryu]

21 minutes ago, SO1 said:

Please no. Same lineup as ManCity or Arsenal only with Vardy and Under starting. If Rodgers goes mano a mano I'll go nutz.

Does Leeds play any other way than 433 attacking? Interested if Leeds might pull a fast one on us. If Leeds come out with a high press like Manchester City they are going to get beat. Badly, as in toasted. Is there any other club, that can sit back, besides Atletico Madrid that has as much attacking ability as us with Vardy. Can Leeds even touch us as we selectively press and punish them for their mistakes. Wheres that photo of Vardy coming out of the tunnel in the post Match thread.

Leeds play a really interesting way, using a system Bielsa has formulated over the years. They setup in a 4141, but when they transition they go into a 3133. It's very dynamic and creates lots of spaces and half-spaces to open up the game. I might not be the biggest fan of Leeds, but I am a huge fan of Marcelo Bielsa, he is one of the best coaches of the last 30 years by far. Leeds' system is proven to work against Liverpool and Man City so are well drilled when playing that way. Kalvin Phillips is out though who is a pivotal player for them in the way they play.

 

You've said "please no" but my suggested lineup is the way we played against Man City only with different personnel. Man City prefer to play centrally so our system on the day moved them out wide. Against Arsenal Arteta tried to play a way to exploit our Man City setup by pushing his fullbacks on, but we matched their front 3 with our 3 and our wingbacks dealt with their fullbacks.

 

Leeds play with a lot of energy so it's really annoying that Castagne is out, because engine room players like him would be very important in a game like this.

[Pliskin]

Odd game. They will leave tons of space in behind for us to exploit, but in the same breath they can quite easily take our withered back four apart.

 

We need to be clever on this one, Leeds aren’t actually that good, but they can soon overwhelm you and leave you red faced through pure effort and bollocks. We need to allow them enough room to be a pest, but also leave themselves open to being attacked. 

[Vacamion]

 

Put Steve Howard up front.