In the Press

Leeds United news here, transfer rumours, club affairs, players, fans, etc.
Specific match discussions should go in the category below.
IrelandLeeds
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Re: In the Press

Post by IrelandLeeds »

Davycc wrote:
If not registered for the paper here it is...
“What the f*** is going on?” inquired thousands of Leeds United fans. A rare outbreak of honesty and sportsmanship, that was what was going on, a ray of light in a sport of too many dark arts.

What had gone on was Leeds head coach, the right honourable Marcelo Bielsa, instructing his team to allow Aston Villa to equalise after the home side had taken the lead in controversial circumstances.

El Loco had brought some sanity to the English madhouse.

What happened between the 72nd and 77th minutes at Elland Road will be remembered for many a year, a moment when scruples trumped duplicity, and another day when the beatification of Bielsa intensified. Sanctioned earlier in the season for instructing staff to spy on Derby County training, Bielsa’s moral stock soared here. He did the sport a huge favour, showing that the game can involve fair play, that the only way is ethics.

Grassroots and school coaches will be cheering his name and example. Bielsa will probably be given a Fair Play award by Fifa. Whether Bielsa would have demonstrated such mercy had this game carried more chance of sealing an automatic promotion place for Leeds will never be known. Bielsa’s actions have to be taken at face value, as the appliance of proper values, and deserve saluting.

A remarkable sequence of events began when Villa striker, Jonathan Kodjia, collided with Liam Cooper, and lay in the centre circle, motionless. There was no indication of a head injury, no whistle from referee Stuart Attwell, so Leeds played on, with Tyler Roberts in possession, venturing down the left.

John McGinn and Albert Adomah were close to Roberts, beseeching him to put the ball out and allow their team-mate to be attended to.

Roberts initially shaped to knock the ball out but then stabbed it, half-heartedly, down the line to Mateusz Klich.

The Villa head coach, Dean Smith, was yards away, shouting angrily and raising his arms in protest. His defence half-expected Klich to slow up, but he carried on, curling the ball around the distracted Jed Steer, and sending Villa into apoplexy.

“It went crazy after that,” Klich said later, adding that he did not realise that Kodjia was hurt.

“Crazy” is an understatement, and the FA will surely charge Leeds and Villa with failing to control their players. The Villa retribution posse was led by Conor Hourihane, who grabbed Klich. Ahmed Elmohamady got involved. Neil Taylor ran through the mêlée, nudging Klich on the back like it was a game of tag and carrying on, as though heading off in search of a peace envoy.

View football match centre
Leeds reinforcements arrived. Patrick Bamford came flying in, wrestling Hourihane away. The huffing and shoving soon acquired a cynical element when Bamford went down theatrically, holding his face with Anwar El Ghazi in close proximity.

Attwell, was of little use, standing there impotently, and stewards stepped on to the pitch. The brawl briefly subsided before flaring again. Over in the dugouts, which had become almost trenches, the dispute between John Terry, Villa’s assistant coach, and Bielsa that had simmered all game intensified, although it was mainly bad-mouthing and
finger-wagging.

Attwell’s involvement, or initial lack of it, will inevitably come under scrutiny by the refereeing overlords. The official who, with his assistant, awarded a “ghost goal” to Reading against Watford in 2008, had been dropped down to officiate Sky Bet Championship games to rebuild his confidence.

By all accounts, Attwell had been improving but he was far too hesitant here, and had already angered Leeds with one particularly bizarre decision when blowing for half-time with their right back Luke Ayling running unmarked into the Villa box. Bielsa became so frustrated with Attwell’s refereeing in the first half that he was booked.

If Leeds and Villa do manage to reach Wembley for the Championship play-off final, the EFL would be well-advised to ensure that Attwell is elsewhere. When tempers finally cooled, Attwell simply raised them again on the Villa side by showing a red card to El Ghazi, which Villa immediately appealed afterwards, and a yellow to Hourihane. Attwell must have raised a smile among those of a Leeds persuasion by only booking Bamford, the master simulator. Bamford could get booked for panto for such theatrics.

The Leeds No 9 is a good player, not quite clinical enough as a finisher but hard-working and a useful focal point. He is certainly too good to stoop to such antics. A distant relative of the JCB chairman certainly dug a hole for himself here.

Negotiations continued between the dugouts. Smith called on Bielsa to allow them free passage to goal. Bielsa had already decided and was imparting instructions to his players. When a semblance of peace was restored, Villa kicked off and Adomah dribbled through, weaving past Leeds players, who just stood there, obeying their head coach’s orders, all except one player.

Pontus Jansson is one of the game’s more forceful characters, a heavily tattooed Swedish centre back who led the Malmo Ultras in a chant when his former team played at Chelsea this season. Jansson was having none of football’s Geneva Convention and tried to close down Adomah.

The Ghana winger kept his composure. These are not the situations that studying decorative finishing and industrial painting at the College of North West London — as Adomah did during his non-League days — prepares you for. At least, the decorative finishing part came in useful as Adomah kept his balance and his footing and placed his shot past Kiko Casilla, who made no attempt to make a save.

Once the Leeds fans realised that the Villa equaliser was approved by Bielsa, they greeted the final whistle by telling the visitors, “We gave you a goal, now f*** off home”. With their team looking more confident, Leeds supporters certainly found their voice after the numbing Easter period of two damaging losses allowed Sheffield United to pass them and take the second automatic promotion slot behind Norwich City.

In thrall to Bielsa, Leeds fans were inevitably here in force. Two hours before the noon kick-off they were congregating in huge numbers at Bremner Square, stretching out their arms in salute to the statue of Billy Bremner. It is 50 years since Don Revie’s team, including the dynamic Bremner, were crowned champions for the first time and one fan even brought his tiny match book of coupon tickets from that season to this game. They cherish their history here, and dream of Bielsa bringing the great days back.

The talk was all of Bielsa, of whether the beloved head coach would stay if Leeds failed to secure promotion. The consensus, certainly the prayer, was that Bielsa would be loyal. As one fan remarked: “He has fallen in love with Leeds.” English football fell a little bit in love with Saint Marcelo today.
Excellent article on a bizarre sequence of events. Good analogy about JCB and Patrick Bamford.
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SiMamu
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Re: In the Press

Post by SiMamu »

Not sure where else to post this, but TiFo always produce great videos on the way teams play - and they’ve done one on us. Think the point about Roofe is spot on and we’ve missed his movement up top, and the way it creates space for others.

https://youtu.be/g0USaDHrc7c
"A man with new ideas is a madman. Until his ideas triumph."
judy
Allan Clarke's tissue supplier
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Joined: 03 Aug 2015, 14:39

Re: In the Press

Post by judy »

Simamu, I enjoyed watching that. Let’s hope the team can finish the season with promotion. I think Bielsa and the team deserve it. They really need to find their goal scoring boots though!
Deleted User 5081

Re: In the Press

Post by Deleted User 5081 »

I really enjoyed that too SiMamu, Thanks. Some really good insight into the way we play and how a team of mid table players can be transformed into a team of the collective and are allowed the freedom to create and be inventive as well. I have often thought if this system is suited to players like ours (medium talent based) and if it would work with a team full of very good talented stars....
Deleted User 5081

Re: In the Press

Post by Deleted User 5081 »

IrelandLeeds wrote:
Davycc wrote:
If not registered for the paper here it is...
“What the f*** is going on?” inquired thousands of Leeds United fans. A rare outbreak of honesty and sportsmanship, that was what was going on, a ray of light in a sport of too many dark arts.

What had gone on was Leeds head coach, the right honourable Marcelo Bielsa, instructing his team to allow Aston Villa to equalise after the home side had taken the lead in controversial circumstances.

El Loco had brought some sanity to the English madhouse.

What happened between the 72nd and 77th minutes at Elland Road will be remembered for many a year, a moment when scruples trumped duplicity, and another day when the beatification of Bielsa intensified. Sanctioned earlier in the season for instructing staff to spy on Derby County training, Bielsa’s moral stock soared here. He did the sport a huge favour, showing that the game can involve fair play, that the only way is ethics.

Grassroots and school coaches will be cheering his name and example. Bielsa will probably be given a Fair Play award by Fifa. Whether Bielsa would have demonstrated such mercy had this game carried more chance of sealing an automatic promotion place for Leeds will never be known. Bielsa’s actions have to be taken at face value, as the appliance of proper values, and deserve saluting.

A remarkable sequence of events began when Villa striker, Jonathan Kodjia, collided with Liam Cooper, and lay in the centre circle, motionless. There was no indication of a head injury, no whistle from referee Stuart Attwell, so Leeds played on, with Tyler Roberts in possession, venturing down the left.

John McGinn and Albert Adomah were close to Roberts, beseeching him to put the ball out and allow their team-mate to be attended to.

Roberts initially shaped to knock the ball out but then stabbed it, half-heartedly, down the line to Mateusz Klich.

The Villa head coach, Dean Smith, was yards away, shouting angrily and raising his arms in protest. His defence half-expected Klich to slow up, but he carried on, curling the ball around the distracted Jed Steer, and sending Villa into apoplexy.

“It went crazy after that,” Klich said later, adding that he did not realise that Kodjia was hurt.

“Crazy” is an understatement, and the FA will surely charge Leeds and Villa with failing to control their players. The Villa retribution posse was led by Conor Hourihane, who grabbed Klich. Ahmed Elmohamady got involved. Neil Taylor ran through the mêlée, nudging Klich on the back like it was a game of tag and carrying on, as though heading off in search of a peace envoy.

View football match centre
Leeds reinforcements arrived. Patrick Bamford came flying in, wrestling Hourihane away. The huffing and shoving soon acquired a cynical element when Bamford went down theatrically, holding his face with Anwar El Ghazi in close proximity.

Attwell, was of little use, standing there impotently, and stewards stepped on to the pitch. The brawl briefly subsided before flaring again. Over in the dugouts, which had become almost trenches, the dispute between John Terry, Villa’s assistant coach, and Bielsa that had simmered all game intensified, although it was mainly bad-mouthing and
finger-wagging.

Attwell’s involvement, or initial lack of it, will inevitably come under scrutiny by the refereeing overlords. The official who, with his assistant, awarded a “ghost goal” to Reading against Watford in 2008, had been dropped down to officiate Sky Bet Championship games to rebuild his confidence.

By all accounts, Attwell had been improving but he was far too hesitant here, and had already angered Leeds with one particularly bizarre decision when blowing for half-time with their right back Luke Ayling running unmarked into the Villa box. Bielsa became so frustrated with Attwell’s refereeing in the first half that he was booked.

If Leeds and Villa do manage to reach Wembley for the Championship play-off final, the EFL would be well-advised to ensure that Attwell is elsewhere. When tempers finally cooled, Attwell simply raised them again on the Villa side by showing a red card to El Ghazi, which Villa immediately appealed afterwards, and a yellow to Hourihane. Attwell must have raised a smile among those of a Leeds persuasion by only booking Bamford, the master simulator. Bamford could get booked for panto for such theatrics.

The Leeds No 9 is a good player, not quite clinical enough as a finisher but hard-working and a useful focal point. He is certainly too good to stoop to such antics. A distant relative of the JCB chairman certainly dug a hole for himself here.

Negotiations continued between the dugouts. Smith called on Bielsa to allow them free passage to goal. Bielsa had already decided and was imparting instructions to his players. When a semblance of peace was restored, Villa kicked off and Adomah dribbled through, weaving past Leeds players, who just stood there, obeying their head coach’s orders, all except one player.

Pontus Jansson is one of the game’s more forceful characters, a heavily tattooed Swedish centre back who led the Malmo Ultras in a chant when his former team played at Chelsea this season. Jansson was having none of football’s Geneva Convention and tried to close down Adomah.

The Ghana winger kept his composure. These are not the situations that studying decorative finishing and industrial painting at the College of North West London — as Adomah did during his non-League days — prepares you for. At least, the decorative finishing part came in useful as Adomah kept his balance and his footing and placed his shot past Kiko Casilla, who made no attempt to make a save.

Once the Leeds fans realised that the Villa equaliser was approved by Bielsa, they greeted the final whistle by telling the visitors, “We gave you a goal, now f*** off home”. With their team looking more confident, Leeds supporters certainly found their voice after the numbing Easter period of two damaging losses allowed Sheffield United to pass them and take the second automatic promotion slot behind Norwich City.

In thrall to Bielsa, Leeds fans were inevitably here in force. Two hours before the noon kick-off they were congregating in huge numbers at Bremner Square, stretching out their arms in salute to the statue of Billy Bremner. It is 50 years since Don Revie’s team, including the dynamic Bremner, were crowned champions for the first time and one fan even brought his tiny match book of coupon tickets from that season to this game. They cherish their history here, and dream of Bielsa bringing the great days back.

The talk was all of Bielsa, of whether the beloved head coach would stay if Leeds failed to secure promotion. The consensus, certainly the prayer, was that Bielsa would be loyal. As one fan remarked: “He has fallen in love with Leeds.” English football fell a little bit in love with Saint Marcelo today.
Excellent article on a bizarre sequence of events. Good analogy about JCB and Patrick Bamford.
Great read and unbiased which for me is what is rare with the press nowadays. :thumbup:
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kk white
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Re: In the Press

Post by kk white »

CorkWhite wrote:... I have often thought if this system is suited to players like ours (medium talent based) and if it would work with a team full of very good talented stars....
Absolutely Corky, it would work, but for it to do so, it needs to be a team of very good talented players without ego.

Some modern day stars would not take too kindly to triple sessions and being told exactly what they need to change to become a better player or indeed person, which is what MB essentially works on.
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Nic
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Re: In the Press

Post by Nic »

Marcelo Bielsa has instructed his Leeds United team not to kick the ball out of play if an opponent is injured during their Championship play-off semi-final first leg against Derby County.

Bielsa intends to speak with both Derby’s manager, Frank Lampard, and the referee to clarify the issue before Saturday evening’s game in the Midlands. The Argentinian’s decision comes in the wake of last month’s controversy surrounding Leeds’ draw with Aston Villa, which featured an anarchic second-half melee involving virtually every outfield player.

The disorder was sparked when Mateusz Klich gave Leeds the lead at a time when Villa had a player down injured and believed Bielsa’s side were about to put the ball out of play. A truce was called after the Leeds manager instructed his players to permit Villa to equalise straight from the restart but he does not want a repeat. Accordingly, his side will adhere to the letter of the law rather than the etiquette of sporting convention.

“We have reached the common decision with the players, we decide to adapt 100% to the rules and we understand if we have one player [down] we don’t have to put the ball out,” said Bielsa on Thursday. “We also think that if a player from the opposing team is down, we shouldn’t interrupt the play and put the ball out.

“We all know the person that has to take this decision is the referee. Before the game we will tell the referee and the head coach of Derby and the captain of Derby that we will behave like that.”

It is only four months since Lampard accused Bielsa of instructing his staff to spy on Derby’s training sessions and the enduring repercussions of “Spygate” dictated that Bielsa’s centre-half Pontus Jansson has admitted there is no love lost between the two teams.

“They hate us probably and we hate them,” said Jansson before backtracking. “Hate is maybe not the right word but you understand what I mean. That’s just me as a football supporter maybe using the wrong word. Maybe because of everything that happened and maybe because we are Leeds.”

Bielsa’s side beat Derby 4-1 away last August and 2-0 at Elland Road in January but ended the season in poor form as automatic promotion slipped from their grasp. They are without the suspended striker Patrick Bamford on Saturday but, despite a slight ankle injury, Jansson is determined to start. “I’d play in a wheelchair if I had to,” he said.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... f-football

All together now

one player down two players down, Paramedics on
three players down four players down klich will carry on
Klich will carry on
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SCOTTISH LEEDS
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Re: In the Press

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

'A deserved advantage'

Writing in the Guardian, Paul Doyle believes Leeds will rightly take a lead into the second leg.
"Leeds United can almost spy the playoff final after returning from their mission to Derby with a 1-0 win. Kemar Roofe's sweetly taken goal in the 55th minute, following a gorgeous pass by Jack Harrison, gave Marcelo Bielsa's team a deserved advantage going into Wednesday's second leg at Elland Road.

"Once Leeds found their passing rhythm, they took charge.

"The visitors continually forced their hosts backwards, albeit without opening them up. Derby repelled a succession of corners but their strain became increasingly apparent. Leeds looked anything but jaded, although Adam Forshaw had to be replaced by Jamie Shackleton who, as it turned out, added extra thrust to their midfield."

'Pawson caused the most damage to the Rams'
Ian Whittle of The Sunday Times focuses on referee Craig Pawson's decision not to award Derby a second half spot kick.

"Marcelo Bielsa arrived as public enemy number one in the eyes of Frank Lampard and Derby, while Kemar Roofe scored the only goal of this absorbing play-off semi-final first leg, but it was referee Craig Pawson who potentially caused the most damage to the Rams' hope of a Premier League return."
'£200,000 looks like small change now'

A 'spygate' reference from Steve Bates in the Daily Mirror...

"Spygate cost Marcelo Bielsa £200,000 from his own pocket — and that's looking like small change now.

"With Leeds closing in on a £160million Premier League windfall their Argentine coach won't care about a few grand.

"Whatever Bielsa learned from spying on Derby it was surely worth any aggravation, after Leeds beat the Rams for a third time this season."

And regarding the penalty, he writes: "Lampard was livid, but the truth is Derby did not deserve more than they got."

'Premier League return may still become reality'

Jon Culley of The Telegraph harks back to Leeds' emphatic win at Pride Park at the start of the season:

"The zest with which Marcelo Bielsa's team tore Derby apart 4-1 here in August may have seemed like a fading dream to the Leeds fans who had watched their side stumble in the final weeks of the season, yet their vision of a Premier League return after 15 years may still become reality.

"A feisty tie carrying the lingering bitterness of the 'Spygate' affair was spiced up further by the controversy of a penalty awarded and then withdrawn as Derby searched for an equaliser after Kemar Roofe's 55th-minute goal."

'Led out by a ram... played like lambs'

The Mail on Sunday's Ollie Holt also believed Leeds were good value for their victory.

"Leeds deserved the victory and Lampard admitted that his team had been below their best. They were led out by a ram draped in ceremonial garb but they played like lambs. They were aggrieved that defender Fikayo Tomori was headbutted in the chest by Mateusz Klich and Klich only received a yellow card but the game had turned Leeds' way by then."

He also gave his take on the penalty decision:

"Mr Pawson pointed to the spot and the home fans bayed for a red card to be shown to Harrison. But instead the referee walked over to the touchline to consult his assistant, Edward Smart, and after a long exchange, he decided to go back on his decision and award a goal kick to Leeds instead. The home crowd was incensed. It was Derby's last chance."

'Further fuel poured on Bielsa and Lampard's relationship'

The Independent also weighed on on the match's big talking point:

"The ill-tempered and combustible relationship between managers Frank Lampard and Marcelo Bielsa had further fuel poured upon it by referee Craig Pawson in a moment of high controversy at Pride Park.

"But, after consulting assistant Eddie Smart, Pawson reversed his decision, instead awarding Leeds a freekick and adding to Derby's years of frustration and misery in their attempts to win promotion in the postseason."

'Rams second best when it came to chants, too'

Dan King of The Sun picked up on one of the terrace highlights in their match report.

"S**t refs, we always get s**t refs," sang the home fans when Pawson decided to show only a yellow card to Mateusz Klich for a headbutt on Fikayo Tomori," he reports.

"But the Rams were second best when it came to chants, just as their team had been on the pitch in the second half of this first-leg play-off. Even before Leeds scored, their fans had been teasing home boss Frank Lampard about what had happened in the regular season.

"To the tune of Oasis' Stop Crying Your Heart Out, they taunted him with a revamped version that ends, "We beat you at home, we beat you away, stop crying Frank Lampard".

"As the sun shone on their corner of the ground after the final whistle, the away faithful treated Lampard to another rendition."
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SCOTTISH LEEDS
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Re: In the Press

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

Jon Howe's musings about Saturday evenings events:-

Whoever first said top-level professional sport was mainly played in the mind, would find a wonderful case study in Frank Lampard.

And he’s not even playing. The debilitating neurosis that plainly affects Derby County when the name ‘Leeds United’ appears as the next fixture is demonstrated on the psychologically damaged visage of the ex-Chelsea stalwart, who increasingly appears to have Marcelo Bielsa residing in his head in post-match interviews

When this is all over, I might find some sympathy for Lampard, with whom I’ve never previously had a great problem, but for now it’s to our advantage we facilitate him being overwhelmingly consumed by Marcelo Bielsa's hold over his team.

Like a frustrated golfer hacking repeatedly at a bunker with a sand wedge, the harder you try, the less control you have, and the more insane it drives you. And certainly following the 1-0 win United enjoyed in Saturday’s play-off semi-final first leg, it’s undeniable Lampard is struggling for answers.

And yet Derby County are somehow the unwitting victims in all this. The 4-1 victory Leeds enjoyed in August was a textbook exhibition of Bielsaball. A football elixir in its purist form, but everything since has been polluted by the self-inflicted grievance of Spygate, of which Derby County became the casualty merely because that’s where the sensation erupted, and their clumsy reaction to it of course. It could have been any one of the Championship’s clubs which Bielsa brazenly admitted he had been watching.

Five months later and Bielsa has Lampard on strings, and this can only really be attributed to the reaction of Derby to the controversy. Bielsa is the puppetmaster always one step ahead and Lampard has willingly enabled his status as the naïve and guileless upstart with a succession of press conference faux-pas. If the 2018/19 season were to be depicted in cartoon form, we would now be at the stage where Bielsa was rolling painted murals of a long dark tunnel over brick walls and laying out upturned rakes in the grass.

The controversial 76th-minute decision to overturn Derby’s penalty decision was the latest episode to send Frank’s rational thought processes into a tailspin. Like me, you’re probably still musing over the concept of ‘human VAR’ and concluding this was in fact the way association football had been governed since its late 19th century inception. Frank introduced the notion like it was some evil premise from a dystopian Orwell novel and the linesman had been duped by otherworldly forces. Derby defender Richard Keogh too was seemingly transfixed by how Leeds had somehow enacted a Day of the Triffids-style hoodwinking of the officials, delivering a blanket mind-shift which only they were party to.

In truth, it was a decision reached via communication and the insight of an official who had the best view of the incident. We bemoan referees who like to be the centre-stage personality of a game, almost in a jealous rage with the actual players who upstage them, and yet this was a collaborative decision reached where the ‘man in black’ conceded his colleague might know better than he did, making a balanced binary decision based on information given to him, sort of like a human computer. VAR, had it been available for the game, would have likely reached the same conclusion.

There was always likely to be a controversy to stoke things up, and anyone in the Leeds United camp will be happy to let their opponents become further enraged, with a second leg on Wednesday coming around before anyone’s mental state can return to normal. The game too had just the right amount of niggle, which Leeds controlled wonderfully, while also allowing Derby to lose their collective heads further. It warmed the heart to see Leeds being the authoritarian we know they can be.

In the lead up to the game, Derby wouldn’t have been my first choice of opponent, in fairness. I couldn’t believe Leeds would be allowed to overwhelmingly dominate Derby for a third successive occasion, I also felt it would be perfectly ‘Leeds United’ to be the oh-so-willing victim of the media’s ravenous hunger for a revenge story, following the outrageous sensationalism triggered by Spygate.

The salient feature of Leeds United’s 15-year sojourn around the second and third tiers of English football has been the repeated evidence of teams being able to reverse their stuttering form when the Leeds United behemoth comes to town. When the circus rolls up, the bunting comes out, everyone has a great time, three points are won, everyone takes photos for posterity and then life returns to normal and the town-folk wistfully revel in ‘do you remember when we played Leeds United?’ stories while tumbleweed bounces by.

Kemar Roofe’s 55th-minute winner, therefore, was a joyous moment in many ways, not least in providing a complete role reversal as Leeds abruptly halted their woeful run of form and made Derby fans wonder where their late-season run-in of 14 points from a possible 18 had come from. The playful chant of “can we play you every week?” has never felt so apt and the Indian sign Leeds clearly have over Derby, and particularly Frank Lampard’s Derby, was stronger than I or most of us anticipated.

After 20 minutes, the demons in Lampard’s head were evidently screaming “it’s happening again” and him watching Leeds dominate possession was football as Chinese water torture. And yet, of course, it is not over and Leeds only lead 1-0 with another 90 minutes left to play. We know too much as Leeds United fans, and without the need for evidence from the past week, to see the second leg as a foregone conclusion already.

However, it is undeniable Leeds have the upper hand and, mentally, have as much control over a situation as I can ever remember us having. I’m sure Lampard hasn’t given up on this yet, but his post-match comments didn’t help his cause. Stating many of his players were “…in their first full season and it showed” was not exactly throwing them under the bus, but was certainly leading them to the kerb and introducing the possibility. Given their experience level won’t change dramatically between now and Wednesday night, it was barely the confidence boost they needed, however Lampard tackles training this week.

Leeds meanwhile, with a squad including players in their first full season, and to-a-man enjoying a first full season producing football anywhere near this level, found their stride at just the right time and delivered a mature performance personified by Jamie Shackleton playing a masterful role in a patchwork line-up.

A role reversal is in play here, because Leeds aren’t supposed to follow the logic of the third-placed team taking control in the play-offs as their status suggests they should. The form book has gone out of the window and the surety and composure and the overwhelming sense ‘this feels different’ we once felt under Marcelo Bielsa may have returned. If it has, it is timely and very, very welcome.
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MyNameIsMark
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Re: In the Press

Post by MyNameIsMark »

SCOTTISH LEEDS wrote: ....Five months later and Bielsa has Lampard on strings, and this can only really be attributed to the reaction of Derby to the controversy. Bielsa is the puppetmaster always one step ahead and Lampard has willingly enabled his status as the naïve and guileless upstart with a succession of press conference faux-pas. If the 2018/19 season were to be depicted in cartoon form, we would now be at the stage where Bielsa was rolling painted murals of a long dark tunnel over brick walls and laying out upturned rakes in the grass....
:lol: :lol: :clap: :lol: :lol:

That was a really good read. Thanks!
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