Leeds (A) Pre Match

[sacreblueits442]

3 minutes ago, Clever Fox said:

That's the lineup I'd go with. Playing Nacho in the 8 role and Madders in the 10 role with liberty to exchange positions.

..am I missing something here!!! 

Nacho in the #8 position strikes me as strange, is this a typo? 

 

[Finnegan]

2 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

..am I missing something here!!! 

Nacho in the #8 position strikes me as strange, is this a typo? 

 

 

I assume he means 9 and 10.

[moore_94]

Dean Smith Pre-Match Press Conference vs Leeds United

 

Barnes?

“He’s available for selection. He’ll train again today and if there are no after effects, he’ll be available.

 

Evans and Maddison?

“Tomorrow will be too soon for Jonny. Madders did a gym session and will train today. I’d expect him to be available.”

 

Vardy?

“His ankle is fine. He’ll be training this morning. He’s available for selection which is important for us. He went into areas where we wanted him to go. We saw the runs he made for Tete’s chance and for the penalty. They’re the sorts of runs he needs to make.”

 

Win brings lift?

“It’s not a big lift because there’s still work to be done. We did our debrief and we’re now focused on Leeds.”

 

Coming from behind?

“At this stage, just to get a win, however we got it, was important. Coming back from a goal deficit was good too. We don’t need to panic, we can come from behind. But I’d much rather take the lead.”

 

Fixtures?

“I looked at the fixtures in general and excluding Man City there were games you get points. There are tough ones in there, Newcastle away and Liverpool, but there are games you can compete in. Elland Road is a great place to play football.”

 

Leeds?

“They’ve had a bit of a struggle. They’ve been on the back of heavy defeats at home, but they will see this one as a big one to try to pull away from where they are, just like us.”

 

Selection?

“I’ve been pleased. We wanted to be aggressive on Saturday. We wanted to get supporters behind us. I’ve been told people were surprised by the selection but I wanted pace. The players have reacted well and it hasn’t surprised me how they’ve taken to the instructions.”

 

“I did to a certain degree. We got overrun after they scored. It was a risk to play Pato on the left. But we had a lack of options with Harvey injured. We felt it was a risk worth taking. He’s got pace to burn. We knew he could be a threat and he had a couple of big chances.”

 

Momentum?

“Most of our players are international footballers so they’re used to playing games every three or four days. This isn’t a problem. It might be a problem to some but there are an awful lot of robust characters who want to keep playing.”

 

How big could a win be?

“We’re 25 per cent gone so these games are really important. It’s crucial because it’s a team around us. If we beat them we go above them. We’ve looked at Leeds and analysed them. Ultimately it’s about us and how we do it.”

 

How to beat Leeds?

“We can’t give them any reason to get lifted. We can’t give cheap free-kicks away and cheap goals. We have to keep them quiet for as long as we can.”

Edited 24 April 2023 by moore_94

[joachim1965]

4 hours ago, Finnegan said:

Iversen

Castagne, Faes, Soyuncu, Kristiansen 

Tielemans, Soumare

Tete, Madders, Barnes

Iheanacho 

 

 

That's a straight up top six team if properly managed all year and confident. Jesus, on the evidence of this season it'd push top four. 

Yep, and yet the media still jump on the Rodgers hype train, absolutely criminal the way he managed those players.

[indierich06]

4 hours ago, volpeazzurro said:

                  Iversen 

Castagne Faes Soy Kristensen 

   Mendy Maddison KDH 

  Tete Iheanacho Barnes 

 

If wanting to be a bit more conservative at the start, Ndidi for KDH (with no licence to roam 🤣). We need to be on the front foot again for 3pts.

Would swap out KDH for Soumare - he deserves to stay in the side after that performance. I still think Smith will stick with Tielemans over Mendy too, but he needs to find some form quickly.

[Chelmofox]

5 hours ago, volpeazzurro said:

                  Iversen 

Castagne Faes Soy Kristensen 

   Mendy Maddison KDH 

  Tete Iheanacho Barnes 

 

If wanting to be a bit more conservative at the start, Ndidi for KDH (with no licence to roam 🤣). We need to be on the front foot again for 3pts.

That feels like a Rodgers selection (minus Cags of course!). I can't see Smith dropping Youri or starting KDH over Bouba. I think he goes in to this one without a defensive midfielder again.

 

From the press conference i think they are going to start Vardy again. 

Edited 24 April 2023 by Chelmofox

[Tomlcfc133]

Iverson

Castagne Cags Faes Kristansen

Soumare Youri

tete Maddison Barnes

Iheanacho

[LVFox]

Great news on Madders and Barnes. We will cause them real problems with those two fit and Kel looking in good form. Just need to keep our heads and turn their fans against them.

[Lesterlad]

It would be very Rodgers to drop Soumaré after such a brilliant performance Saturday. 2nd half was prime Viera. The pass for VK was sublime. That was what we had been hoping he would bring but never thought he could. 
 

Amartey always gives 100% but is the type of player you use as a stop gap such as cover for injury or as a sub nit starting over your best central defender. That was criminal. 
 

it became apparent Ward was dreadful after couple of games as 1st choice why persist with  him until last month?

 

Dean Smith and co gave us hope and belief on Saturday with that performance after months of mundane football. Rodgers had killed the team and the fans. I think we will win the next 2 then need one win from 4. 

[Gamble92]

Interesting that Smith still went with what he wanted despite not having Barnes available. Rodgers ditched his plans for a tactic we'd worked on all summer because Barnes become unavailable.

 

I'm really like everything from Dean Smith so far.

[Chelmofox]

Just now, Lesterlad said:

It would be very Rodgers to drop Soumaré after such a brilliant performance Saturday. 2nd half was prime Viera. The pass for VK was sublime. That was what we had been hoping he would bring but never thought he could. 
 

Amartey always gives 100% but is the type of player you use as a stop gap such as cover for injury or as a sub nit starting over your best central defender. That was criminal. 
 

it became apparent Ward was dreadful after couple of games as 1st choice why persist with  him until last month?

 

Dean Smith and co gave us hope and belief on Saturday with that performance after months of mundane football. Rodgers had killed the team and the fans. I think we will win the next 2 then need one win from 4. 

His pass to Nacho later was even better. Nacho should have done better really and was a bit criminal that sort of pass didn't even register a shot.

[An Sionnach]

22 minutes ago, joachim1965 said:

Yep, and yet the media still jump on the Rodgers hype train, absolutely criminal the way he managed those players.

The media will always push the fake propaganda that suits their agenda whether it be politics, business or football. You have to know it for what it is and in a world of A.I. you don't believe anything. If you are stupid enough to believe then I hope you can handle the disappointment when reality barges in.

[sacreblueits442]

16 minutes ago, Gamble92 said:

Interesting that Smith still went with what he wanted despite not having Barnes available. Rodgers ditched his plans for a tactic we'd worked on all summer because Barnes become unavailable.

 

I'm really like everything from Dean Smith so far.

...he would have loved to have a Lookman in his team!!!

[pmcla26]

2 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...he would have loved to have a Lookman in his team!!!

So would have Rodgers but we couldn't get the deal done due to the financial situation. 

[lcfc278]

Whatever happens with us the rest of this season and with DS, it's just nice to listen to a manager speak and actually be clear with his answers to every question. With BR there was so many generic or vague and obscure answers to questions, you could take any of his pre-match press releases and play them before any game over his tenure and you probably wouldn't know the difference.

[UniFox21]

43 minutes ago, Tomlcfc133 said:

Iverson

Castagne Cags Faes Kristansen

Soumare Youri

tete Maddison Barnes

Iheanacho

I wonder if it'll be Maddison swapped with Daka/Vardy if he's only done a gym session yesterday. 

[UniFox21]

Not a surprise Evans is still out. 

Surely it's time for him to call it on his career either at the club or altogether.

[LVFox]

3 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

I wonder if it'll be Maddison swapped with Daka/Vardy if he's only done a gym session yesterday. 

I'd go Madders for an hour with Vardy replacing him for 30 minutes of scrapping 

[Spudulike]

7 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

Not a surprise Evans is still out. 

Surely it's time for him to call it on his career either at the club or altogether.

Think that he's one of the eight out-of-contract in June anyway. 

[stb1996]

Don't think Iheanacho works as a 10 with Maddison off the right, they'll both occupy the same spaces and get in each other's way. Also not convinced about the high praise from some on Vardy - he made 2 good runs all game, and we looked a lot more solid when he was off the pitch. 

Iversen

Castagne       Faes       Soyuncu       Kristiansen

Tielemans      Soumare

Tete           Maddison      Barnes

Iheanacho

 

Leaves plenty on the bench to freshen things up. Tete off for Praet, Daka/Vardy for Iheanacho/Barnes depending on state of the game, KDH and mendy if we need control

[RumbleFox]

3 minutes ago, stb1996 said:

Don't think Iheanacho works as a 10 with Maddison off the right, they'll both occupy the same spaces and get in each other's way. Also not convinced about the high praise from some on Vardy - he made 2 good runs all game, and we looked a lot more solid when he was off the pitch. 

Iversen

Castagne       Faes       Soyuncu       Kristiansen

Tielemans      Soumare

Tete           Maddison      Barnes

Iheanacho

 

Leaves plenty on the bench to freshen things up. Tete off for Praet, Daka/Vardy for Iheanacho/Barnes depending on state of the game, KDH and mendy if we need control

I think this is the team. Unless of course Maddison isn’t fit and then I’d go Vardy up top and Iheanacho No. 10. That team really really should have more than enough to stay up. Not that I want to get complacent. Fvck we really need to win this. 

[SuperMike]

52 minutes ago, LVFox said:

Great news on Madders and Barnes. We will cause them real problems with those two fit and Kel looking in good form. Just need to keep our heads and turn their fans against them.

Agreed. Those two playing (and finding form) and we win this. Without them I would be worried, fearing a Leeds backlash after two home disasters!

[Gerard]

28 minutes ago, Pete52 said:

So would have Rodgers but we couldn't get the deal done due to the financial situation. 

 

Rubbish.

 

Lookman was another squad player and someone who didn't improve the first XI, if Lookman was good enough to get in the first XI we would have bought him.

[volpeazzurro]

1 hour ago, Chelmofox said:

That feels like a Rodgers selection (minus Cags of course!). I can't see Smith dropping Youri or starting KDH over Bouba. I think he goes in to this one without a defensive midfielder again.

 

From the press conference i think they are going to start Vardy again. 

Yes, I omitted Bouba in error. I later confessed and changed my mind like a big girl 😁

[Jobyfox]

Just now, Gerard said:

 

Rubbish.

 

Lookman was another squad player and someone who didn't improve the first XI, if Lookman was good enough to get in the first XI we would have bought him.

I was a bit neutral on Lookman when I thought we might sign someone else and was hoping we’d do better ….. but we didn’t sign anyone else!

 

You don’t think that Lookman would improve our current first choice X1. Really? He’d either be in or, at the very least, first reserve