A question of balance ..

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Deleted User 728

A question of balance ..

Post by Deleted User 728 »

Football is all about balance.

Unless you're Kevin Keegan, then it's all about front-loading your team and hoping for the best ..

The majority of managers, players and directors understand that for every Allan Clarke, there has to be a Norman Hunter, for every Eddie Gray, there has to be .. a Frankie Gray .. you know what I mean.

I'm now getting a bit worried about the new season.
I've been quite sanguine about the whole thing, arguing that things would happen after the World Cup but at this point in time I'm beginning to question just how much of our budget has gone on our superstar head coach in relation to what might be spent on players.

If the rumours are true and he's on £6m pa, that works out at about £115k pw - or enough for three or four excellent players in this division, ie the exact level of investment we've all been crying out for.
How many times have you read "We need three or four really good players to be able to challenge" in that squad discussion thread ?

I can't help question AR's judgement : it's like being able to afford a Lamborghini before realising you barely have enough money for fuel let alone any maintenance costs.

I hope I'm wrong.
I hope we really do see some activity this week.
I'm coming up to the home game against Stoke in three weeks from now. I can't help but thinking we're gonna get thumped if we don't see something happening in the next couple of days ..
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johnh
Bielsa's English Teacher
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Re: A question of balance ..

Post by johnh »

I pretty much agree with the above. We do appear to be going into the new season with, mainly, the same team as last year. We know that this is a mid-table team. Even if our new coach is able to get them playing better I think we are talking about an improvement of four or five places in the league. Certainly not anywhere near the play-offs. We all know the problem positions which need sorting, if they don't get sorted it will be another ordinary season.
I once played against Don Revie.
Deleted User 728

Re: A question of balance ..

Post by Deleted User 728 »

You're bang on about only squeezing another four or five places improvement up the league, John - at this rate you'll be playing centre-half yourself :D
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PhoenixUnited
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Re: A question of balance ..

Post by PhoenixUnited »

The sensible way indeed is to strike a balance. In the alternative World there is the “Doing a Leeds” way.

In the last handful of years “Doing a Leeds” is essentially a practiced impression of running on the spot at worst. At best, it is about appearing to do what those players whose team was in the lead and were substituted did in the World Cup 2018 - which is looking like they were making their way towards the touchline quickly but in reality they were gently meandering their towards it taking in the sights & sounds, waving, shaking as many hands as is possible, hugging & kissing everyone in sight before finally reaching their destination.

I really have no confidence in Messrs (proper messers they are!) Radrizzani, Orta and Kinnear being able to steer us in the right direction and, to be sure, their track record to date is urine poor. :thumbdown:

We have shifted deadwood right enough but at the same time we have imported in average, low budget players mostly that are destined or have the potential to end up on the ever present deadwood pile. :roll:

This management team got caught with their pants down when Monk decided to leave (boy were they shocked!) appointed the clueless Christianson and took a completely wrong turn in appointing Heckingbottom. The jury must obviously be out on Marcello Bielsa but what even he might be able to do with the squad as it currently stands is worrying. It would not surprise me if Bielsa quits. :o

There is definitely something about the Close Season and being a Leeds United fan. Makes one a basket case in no time! :crazy:
Keep The Faith / WAL
DominanceUK
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Re: A question of balance ..

Post by DominanceUK »

If it's true regarding Bielsa being on £115k a week then he truly has hit the jackpot, he's in a win-win situation. He could easily get sacked and get the rest of his money owed or he could walk away if he doesn't get any help on the transfer front. Let's be honest, it's the Leeds way isn't it, sacking managers every 6 months or so?! My patience, like some others, is wearing a bit thin but there is a few weeks left and the loan window shuts at the end of August. If we don't sign any quality beforehand then we are gonna finish mid-table or below. There was a huge air of optimism once the season ended and we signed Bielsa, possible transfers of quality coming in, investment from the 49ers etc. We were all suddenly longing for the season to start. Now that optimism has been shot a little and we're now not sure what we're gonna get from this season.
Deleted User 3289

Re: A question of balance ..

Post by Deleted User 3289 »

It could be that the 3 Musketeers believe they have invested enough in the squad over the last couple of years to get us promoted. I may be wrong but it does show a trend that whenever a manager (Monk, Heckinbottom) tells them what will be required and possibly how much needs spending, its time to get someone else in with no experience of the Championship and who possibly thinks they have enough in the squad to gain promotion. (Christiansen, Biesla)

We shall see. Christ it will be another long season if we don't hit the ground running again. Fans will give players time if we are bedding players in, but at present we will be
fielding virtually the same team.
Deleted User 2988

Re: A question of balance ..

Post by Deleted User 2988 »

It’s not a perfect squad or team by any stretch of the imagination, and we’re definitely a bit unbalanced in terms of certain positions (we all know where), but really I don’t think the squad is as bad as people make out. Yes, we need certain additions, but we’ve culled some of the dead wood which is a start.

For me, last season was never going to be an instant success because of the sheer volume of overseas players we signed. They needed experience of the English game and time to gel. They have that now.

The other issue was the managers - Christiansen was not perfect, and at times was naive, but for his first season he was doing as well as could be realistically expected, given the circumstances. Heckingbottom was just a disastrous appointment, full stop.

I wasn’t, and I’m still not, convinced Bielsa is the man, but it’s reassuring that he’s prepared to work with the players rather than sell them all off and start again. That’s what we do with every manager now, they all want their own bloody players and when we sack them within six months the cycle starts again.

On form, Ayling, Hernandez, Jansson, and Saíz would all walk into 90% of teams at this level. Alioski and Forshaw are very decent, too. Blackman has proven himself in the Championship last season in a strong Sheffield United side. Phillips and Vieira are still learning and improving, and Peacock-Farrell and Pearce both had good ends to the season. We’ll never know what happened with Klich last season, but his Dutch loan proved there’s definitely a player in there. Ideguchi and Roberts are unknown quantities at this point but could be rough diamonds. Shaughnessy may be perfectly suited to Bielsa’s system as a midfielder converted into a centre half. Roofe has proven he can sporadically perform at this level - Bielsa seems to like him so maybe now we’ll finally start to see him perform consistently. Dallas and Berardi are comfortably steady at this level, and again, may both benefit from a change in formation - Berardi in a three man defence, and Dallas in a wing back role. Cooper may also benefit in a three man defence. De Bock and Anita’s futures are less than certain, but Anita is a proven championship performer in the right position and De Bock was once on the verge of the Belgian national team.

Add to that a few promising youngsters in Rey, Diaz, Edmondson, and Dalby, not to mention Baker who I’ve neglected to mention entirely.

We need work, but it’s nice to see a manager willing to put in the effort on th training ground rather than waste yet more money.
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Selby White
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Re: A question of balance ..

Post by Selby White »

kiwi wrote:It’s not a perfect squad or team by any stretch of the imagination, and we’re definitely a bit unbalanced in terms of certain positions (we all know where), but really I don’t think the squad is as bad as people make out. Yes, we need certain additions, but we’ve culled some of the dead wood which is a start.

For me, last season was never going to be an instant success because of the sheer volume of overseas players we signed. They needed experience of the English game and time to gel. They have that now.

The other issue was the managers - Christiansen was not perfect, and at times was naive, but for his first season he was doing as well as could be realistically expected, given the circumstances. Heckingbottom was just a disastrous appointment, full stop.

I wasn’t, and I’m still not, convinced Bielsa is the man, but it’s reassuring that he’s prepared to work with the players rather than sell them all off and start again. That’s what we do with every manager now, they all want their own bloody players and when we sack them within six months the cycle starts again.

On form, Ayling, Hernandez, Jansson, and Saíz would all walk into 90% of teams at this level. Alioski and Forshaw are very decent, too. Blackman has proven himself in the Championship last season in a strong Sheffield United side. Phillips and Vieira are still learning and improving, and Peacock-Farrell and Pearce both had good ends to the season. We’ll never know what happened with Klich last season, but his Dutch loan proved there’s definitely a player in there. Ideguchi and Roberts are unknown quantities at this point but could be rough diamonds. Shaughnessy may be perfectly suited to Bielsa’s system as a midfielder converted into a centre half. Roofe has proven he can sporadically perform at this level - Bielsa seems to like him so maybe now we’ll finally start to see him perform consistently. Dallas and Berardi are comfortably steady at this level, and again, may both benefit from a change in formation - Berardi in a three man defence, and Dallas in a wing back role. Cooper may also benefit in a three man defence. De Bock and Anita’s futures are less than certain, but Anita is a proven championship performer in the right position and De Bock was once on the verge of the Belgian national team.

Add to that a few promising youngsters in Rey, Diaz, Edmondson, and Dalby, not to mention Baker who I’ve neglected to mention entirely.

We need work, but it’s nice to see a manager willing to put in the effort on th training ground rather than waste yet more money.
Nice to read a positive post, well said Kiwi :thumbup:
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
Deleted User 3289

Re: A question of balance ..

Post by Deleted User 3289 »

I guess its how you judge ambition. By trying to polish a turd :D or spend a competitive amount of money and give it a real go. For me the squad has good players, but lacks depth, muscle & height and 4/5 solid championship experienced players that would mean spending some decent money and not wasting it again on untested foreign imports.

There's still time of coarse. When all the players have already found other big clubs like Derby.
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SiMamu
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Re: A question of balance ..

Post by SiMamu »

https://www.mikethornton.xyz/chat-leeds-united/

Interested read, up to you whether you believe it of course. But I think that the club is definitely trying to do the right deals, it's just that things are proving frustrating, and I think it's correct to want to do deals the right way.
"A man with new ideas is a madman. Until his ideas triumph."
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