Rich

Say what now?

I worry about you sometimes. One of the most inept performances in a while. Easily the tubbiest. He was constantly letting them rattle into us in the press (Adams in particular) but as soon as we brushed one of theirs he’d be whistling early doors. He did then seem to try and let more go, but that’s not good refereeing if it’s not consistent.

ASM and Wilson in for Longstaff and Wood. Genuinely no idea about the outcome but a point would be magic, so I’ll go score draw . Feel like we’re due another bumming from VAR, mind.

Jesus, that was a great display. So inventive and executed perfectly. Maroon and blue one in the future?

Think he deserves a start now, like. His last two meaningful cameos have shown what he brings and that he is adapting his game to look for teammates more. We were so, so poor at getting the ball to him though. Love how they switched Ayling due to his booking and the sub couldn’t get near Maxi. Absolutely rinsed him a few times, despite being fouled. Switch Willock to the right and drop Joelinton back, I reckon.

Of course some criticism is valid and I’ve said myself that he did fall below his incredibly high standards in the second half. The nonsense quoted above, though? Totally OTT and just plain wrong. “Rawkish narrative control”, btw . I’m trying to use stats, video, and my own “eye test” to debate the fact that he wasn’t as bad as has been said. What should I be doing if I disagree with someone in future?

Targett would almost certainly have come on yesterday, had he been fit, as he almost did in the Bournemouth cup game in similar circumstances. Genuinely love Burn as a bloke, but he’s vying with Longstaff in the “weakest link” stakes at the minute in terms of his overall contribution to our play. We’re only going to encounter more opponents like Leeds, so having more capacity to attack down the left is going to be critical. He had 72 touches yesterday, trailing only Trippier, Schär, and Bruno. You don’t really want someone so limited having so much of the ball. I understand that defensively it’s impossible to argue with the collective performance of the back four, but I think the way we play and how good Pope is has almost as much to do with the clean sheets as anything.

Don’t even think this is the case, sadly. He averages one tackle a game and less than one interception away. That’s about a third of Joelinton’s defensive output and about half of Bruno’s. He’s even trailing Willock comfortably overall, who typically offers a bit more otherwise as well. Yesterday was the first time he’s really been exposed, though. The two misses and then how it impacted his ability to take the third shot when it came show why he’s the first player we need to be upgrading. He’s a grand fifth or sixth choice CM, but shouldn’t be starting every game.

Had an absolute shitter. Should have been taken off set pieces. Floated everything to Meslier. Shit today. Utter shite, should be working for Evri. https://www.nufc.co.uk/nufc-tv/highlights/leeds-h-highlights-22-23/ Nah. No way.

Wonder if we’ll have Franck Kessie in our thoughts? Being linked with Spurs for around £15M. Might be a loan-to-buy to be done.

Not sure using Twitter to back up your point is the greatest move, mind. Had a look, some truly abysmal comments there from some utter morons. I recall the first groan-inducing delivery of his coming about midway through the second half, and even then it wasn’t like he put it straight out of play or hit the first man. He hit a canny ball that Meslier came and gobbled up. It then happened a time or two again, if I’m remembering rightly and my eyes were working. We were noticeably less inventive with the corners, too, probably owing to the fact that Leeds are typically so poor at defending them. So he was whipping more in than he typically would. Would’ve been good to see more variation. Given he still created so much and was very sound defensively in the main, up against their most dangerous individual, I think it’s mad to be singling him out for criticism. In a game where he had over 100 touches and took around 20 set pieces he was probably guilty of falling below the incredibly high standards he’s set for himself in terms of consistency. I doubt he’s chuffed with his performance, given the character he is, but to say he had a “shitter” or to chuck woeful Evri crack at him is a bit much.

Not if the owner of the eyes is clueless, surely?

Wrong fred

They are such a bunch of legends. Ah can’t spake highly enough of them.

Been waiting for this one. He would be immense as the left-sided CM and also can cover all forward positions too. Seems right in our sweet spot in terms of age, league, price, and international reputation.

Let them crack on, I reckon. It won't end well.

I'm more concerned with his username.

On the finances, it's a bit of a wank question when Leeds themselves have a net spend of around £175M over the last three seasons. We're now at £270M. Our total transfer spend is identical in that period, just a massive chunk of theirs was funded by Raphina and Phillips' sales. We could've spent what each of us has spent under Ashley if we'd had any assets to shift. You'd think PIF had pumped in £1B the way people go on.

Good to hear that he was in training yesterday. Might not be 100% by tomorrow, but should at least be on the bench.

At least a two-goal victory.

“The Chelsea midfielder’s stats for the Euros as a whole are also insane. He was a mainstay for his side, playing in all seven of their matches (alongside only Leonardo Bonucci, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Chiesa) and topped their charts for both passes - 519 attempted, 93% success rate - and also defending - 48 balls recovered and 25 interceptions. The average distance Jorginho covered per game in the Euros was second only to Spain’s Pedri, at 12.35km, as was the total distance covered in possession, 33.12km.” “Jorginho made nearly 13 passes under pressure per 90 last season, which ranks in the top 2% of defensive midfielders in the world of football.” He’s a world-class DM, whichever way you slice it. Though you would imagine he’s on the way down now and I dread to think what he’s on salary-wise.

“The Italian, 31, has six months left on his deal and the Blues are reluctant to negotiate fresh terms. That has alerted Newcastle, with insiders seeing the rationale in bringing in a player of experience in a deep-lying role, especially if a relatively minimal fee could be agreed.” If there’s truth in this and Howe’s on board, I’ve got no doubt he’d be quality for a season or three. Massive “if”, though.

Same people every window

Goalkeepers Pope Darlow Karius Gillespie Defenders Trippier Manquillo Krafth ? (2-4 months) Schär Lascelles Botman Burn Targett Lewis Dummett ? (1-2 weeks) Midfielders Guimarães Shelvey ? (6-8 weeks) S. Longstaff Anderson Joelinton Willock Almirón Murphy Ritchie Saint-Maximin Fraser Attackers Isak ? (1-2 weeks) Wilson ? (2-3 days) Wood -- This is where we're at heading into the January Transfer Window. Gillespie and Krafth aren't currently registered but everyone else is. Barely Featured Gillespie (0') Karius (0') Krafth (39') Lewis (51') Manquillo (76') Darlow (90') Dummett (90') Ritchie (92') Shelvey (122') Isak (244') Anderson (259') Lascelles (264') Fraser (311') Of that list, it's clear one of the backup goalkeepers needs to go now that all of them are fit. Gillespie, for me, provided Karius is happy staying and battling to be #2 with Darlow. Then, we've surely got to be looking at shifting Lewis and Manquillo. Though Manquillo will need replacing, of course. It does seem we're onto that already. Dummett and Ritchie have to be off in the summer regardless due to their contracts expiring, but it does seem Ritchie might go in January. Can't see Dummett leaving early. Shelvey might have fucked it with this latest injury and is probably off in the summer as well. He's going nowhere in January, obviously. Anderson probably needs to get out on a decent loan to The Championship where he'll start every game. However, he's currently the fifth choice in CM due to Shelvey's injury and so he's another that'll need replacing if this is to happen. Finally, it does seem that Fraser wants away and will be allowed to go if a decent offer comes in. If that happens, we absolutely need a new winger as well. TLDR (OUT) Gillespie Manquillo Lewis Ritchie Anderson (loan) Fraser TLDR (IN) Right-back Central Midfielder Winger Though that's six out and three in, we'd need to replace a grand total of 789 minutes from the opening part of the season. Not hard to do if we're signing two starters and a backup. If we register Krafth and the RB isn't U21, we'd still hit the full 25-man quota.

No chance. Strongest XI, please. They basically only had to play 45 minutes yesterday and there's a very decent gap between that and this.