I thought that was just great!

[Montymagic]

It surprised me how many people walked out as soon as Leeds made it 3-1 (I've never had so much room around me during a game), given that we had a go at Leeds, a better performance than we put in against Portsmouth and Hull.

It was the top 2 clash and only our 2nd loss in our last 6 games, with the other 4 games being wins.

Walked out because wilder threw the fucking game away with his daft subs

 

[Selly]

I think what irritates me most is that the killing blow came so late - yet again Leeds showed a staying power (as they had with Sunderland last week) that is so flipping annoying.

The xG indicates it was broadly even and a draw would probably have been a fair result on the xG alone - but the split between the 1st and second half showed the differential - we managed (according to Footmob) 0.13 xG in the second half, whereas in teh fist half we were at 1.09 with 2/2 "big chances" missed.

In the second half we had no "big chances" - Leeds had 3 and scored 2 of them.

We needed to capitalise in that first half...

 

[The Bear]

Question is can we go for 90 mins at Wembley just saying like

120 then JLT to send Simmo satellite 2 into orbit

 

[Champagneblade]

The biggest difference in the two sides that I could see was their width play. Solomon & James were a level above & I thought their left back was very good too.

Fine margins but that’s what you come up against week in week out if you’re promoted.

It was a great game for the neutral & if we play like that every week until May then we’ll go up.

They were better out wide than us.

But then let’s have a look how much money they are being paid.

 

[Blade58]

It was great until wilder fucked us over second half. He is right about Leeds being best side in division. Just a shame he didn’t go for it all game

I think he did. A combination of players running out of steam and Farke changing his formation tactically at H/T meant we were on the back foot from then on,

Now why players seemed to be on their last legs last 20 minutes is a different question. Either not fit enough, or as fit as we can get them I don’t know?

Looking back, there’s been many occasion this season where half the team look fked last quarter of the game. How that is addressed I’m not sure?

 

[loyalblade95]

In the second half we had no "big chances" - Leeds had 3 and scored 2 of them.

Even that big chances stat is a bit odd at times (in how they class them as a big chances).

The three chances that stood out for me in second half what could have changed the game for us.

1) BBD's run through the middle where their CB only just cut out the ball to stop BBD going 1v1 for a certain goal, understandably they won't count that as a big chance as there wasn't a shot.
2) Souza had a shot from edge of the box through the crowd of players, had he put it higher, Meslier might not have saved it.
3) the big one for me, was that Robbo header that went wide with half the goal to aim at, think Anel flicked it on for him and Meslier was rooted to the spot, if Robbo flicked that on to Anel, you'd bank on him scoring that in his recent form.

While they won't be classed as big chances in the stats, they are the best chances (especially that 3rd one) we had in the second half in my opinion.

 

[AWetFlannel]

Nothing better than watching your manager throw the game away.

Highly recommend, it's definitely got me wanting to see more for sure..


Said no sane fucking person ever.

You're right, no sane person would watch that last night and conclude that our manager threw the game away.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

They were better out wide than us.

But then let’s have a look how much money they are being paid.

Yep, £25m for James. Solomon is far too good for the championship I’m not sure what he’s doing in it. Gnonto is worth £30m plus. They paid Aaronson £25m & £15m for Firpo from Barcelona.

It’s not a bad set up.

Other clubs will say the same about us when we play them and it’s completely valid. Leeds should have gone up last season with their squad.

 

[ColinHill]

Not too sure why the criticism of Wilder and second half is coming from tbh. We were good for 25 mins, rest of first half was even with leeds down their left getting stronger and stronger. He sorted that at half time and leeds then focussed on going down the right hand side. Second half was fairly even until they scored. The equaliser was a carbon copy of a chance they had 5/10 mins before when BBD let the left back run past him. First one he put wide, second one he buried, with BBD nowhere to be seen.

Campbell, who played well, was done and Cannon offered a lot of willingness to run around. Hamer for rak sakyi and moving to left was fine too.

My only grumble would be once we'd gone to 1-1 and going into the last ten i felt Keiffer Moore could have come on for Hamer to a) gives us chance to stick the ball up top as Cannon was outnumbered and b) help us defensively with corners free kicks.

 

[Selly]

2) Souza had a shot from edge of the box through the crowd of players, had he put it higher, Meslier might not have saved it.

Is that the one that Anel nearly got a flick on? EDIT - no that was Burrows shot

3) the big one for me, was that Robbo header that went wide with half the goal to aim at, think Anel flicked it on for him and Meslier was rooted to the spot, if Robbo flicked that on to Anel, you'd bank on him scoring that in his recent form.

Anel flicked it on and Robbo should have flicked it on again to Anel? Is this the once where he glanced it wide - I thought at the time he should have one back across goal

 

[Balham]

The biggest difference in the two sides that I could see was their width play. Solomon & James were a level above & I thought their left back was very good too.

Fine margins but that’s what you come up against week in week out if you’re promoted.

It was a great game for the neutral & if we play like that every week until May then we’ll go up.

Leeds' left back is €20m, £30k per week Júnior Firpo, formerly of Barcelona and Real Betis. A player with that heritage should be absolutely dominating Ipswich Town's third choice right back. Add in £60k per week Manor Solomon and £25m signings Dan James and Brenden Aaronson and it's no surprise that Leeds are top of the league.

Maybe with better choices on the night we could have been two goals ahead or maybe held out for the point but there is no shame in losing to one of the most expensive Championship squads ever assembled. Putting that in context, James and Aaronson pretty cost as much as our entire squad last night.

 

[loyalblade95]

Is that the one that Anel nearly got a flick on?

Anel flicked it on and Robbo should have flicked it on again to Anel? Is this the once where he glanced it wide - I thought at the time he should have one back across goal

Ah, I meant to put that if it was the other way around, as in if Robbo flicked it onto Anel (instead of Anel flicking it onto Robbo), you'd back Anel to bury that header in his recent form.

You'd probably back him to score even if he hadn't scored 2 in his last 2 games.

 

[loveWalrusDaveTheBlade]

It surprised me how many people walked out as soon as Leeds made it 3-1 (I've never had so much room around me during a game), given that we had a go at Leeds, a better performance than we put in against Portsmouth and Hull.

It was the top 2 clash and only our 2nd loss in our last 6 games, with the other 4 games being wins.

I was not surprised, but I was embarrassed. Sulking off with their tails between their legs.
Yes, I know that it's horrible watching the Dirties celebrate with their fans ( who made more noise after the final whistle than they did in the first 80 mins), but surely it's worth 10 minutes of our precious time to stay back and say thanks to our players, who gave it everything they had.

 

[dublin 10 blade]

Question is can we go for 90 mins at Wembley just saying like

Nar mate we’re out of the cup this season already

 

[TJB.]

What makes you say that mate? Not a dig, genuinely curious because I don't have a clue. My best guess is they have a decent bit of change to pump in and the bigger issue will be FFP restrictions.

I think get BBD, Holding and Hamza signed on perms - they know the club, won't require time to bed in and have PL experience which will be vital. We need a striker in the mould of Kieffer Moore (but not Kieffer Moore!), had my eye on Delap long before Ipswich got him and I was confident he'd be a success. If they go down would be great to sign him but I can see a Villa going for him.

Need a decent winger. I've been on the fence with JRS but made my mind up last night he's not good enough (has the ability but no consistency) and I don't think he'd have the right mentality for a dogfight.

A good CB, or two if possible. Tanganga is PL quality IMO and then maybe Dunne or Darling. Would give us an armoury of 4 CBs, Anel and Tanganga being 1st choice.

Obviously the squad needs a lot more work than just that but these are key areas for me.

Ipswich had a net spend of £107m after signing ten players. It looks like they're going to come up just short in regards to staying up and it's not like they've bought a load of total shit. That's the sort of money we're talking about these days. Even if we had it, which I don't imagine we do, we'd probably fall foul of PSR rules (will Ipswich?).

Of course you could say fuck off to the rules and do a Forest and spend what you like. Their gamble paid off. Would ours? I wouldn't fancy finding out.

 

[100% part time blade]

I wouldn't describe our play last night as exciting. I thought it was heavily on the functional side still. We were playing for the 1-0 but just like the prem days if you sit deep and allow the opposition to start to dictate the tempo you'll get punished. There was some nice interplay at times but we faded in the 2nd half. That was a play it safe display but without the result.

Before their second goal, I saw us bombing forward to join a counter-attack started on our left, which then was broken up by Leeds who attacked rapidly. At the time I turned to the lad sitting next to me and said it was becoming a bit of a basketball game, which I would probably back Leeds to win due to the quality of their attack. I was wanting us to play a bit safer. There were times when we were penned in. I don’t think there was ever an instruction from the bench to sit deeper.

 

[TJ blade]

Ipswich had a net spend of £107m after signing ten players. It looks like they're going to come up just short in regards to staying up and it's not like they've bought a load of total shit. That's the sort of money we're talking about these days. Even if we had it, which I don't imagine we do, we'd probably fall foul of PSR rules (will Ipswich?).

Of course you could say fuck off to the rules and do a Forest and spend what you like. Their gamble paid off. Would ours? I wouldn't fancy finding out.

Wouldn't mind playing to Man City's rules

 

[SUFCinks]

Before their second goal, I saw us bombing forward to join a counter-attack started on our left, which then was broken up by Leeds who attacked rapidly. At the time I turned to the lad sitting next to me and said it was becoming a bit of a basketball game, which I would probably back Leeds to win due to the quality of their attack. I was wanting us to play a bit safer. There were times when we were penned in. I don’t think there was ever an instruction from the bench to sit deeper.

I might of totally misunderstood your original post. Are you suggesting that if we had put in a dull performance where we we’re slow in transitions and more functional/defensive we would’ve got a better result?

Our best spells of the game and most productive were when we were up and at them. Playing dynamic attacking football and pressing well. This caused them real issues.

I don’t see the relationship between putting in a dull performance and getting a safe 1-0. Would we have scored if we hadn’t shown threat, dynamic play and desire to go forward? Would we have conceded less than 3 if we had parked the bus? I think the longer you defend the more likely you are to concede and the longer you attack for the more likely you are to score.

So if your question is, ‘would being less exciting win us the game?’ i don’t think so. I don’t think we would’ve scored and we would likely concede. This is the story of our Prem years. Try and keep them out but eventually they get through and their quality will overcome us.

 

[100% part time blade]

I might of totally misunderstood your original post. Are you suggesting that if we had put in a dull performance where we we’re slow in transitions and more functional/defensive we would’ve got a better result?

Our best spells of the game and most productive were when we were up and at them. Playing dynamic attacking football and pressing well. This caused them real issues.

I don’t see the relationship between putting in a dull performance and getting a safe 1-0. Would we have scored if we hadn’t shown threat, dynamic play and desire to go forward? Would we have conceded less than 3 if we had parked the bus? I think the longer you defend the more likely you are to concede and the longer you attack for the more likely you are to score.

So if your question is, ‘would being less exciting win us the game?’ i don’t think so. I don’t think we would’ve scored and we would likely concede. This is the story of our Prem years. Try and keep them out but eventually they get through and their quality will overcome us.

In the original post, I was just picking up the theme of what people do (or don’t) enjoy about watching a match. I wasn’t suggesting a more dull style of play would have been a better option against Leeds.

In the post you replied to, I was just referring to the last 15 minutes of the game where I thought we were looking tired and should maybe look to play a bit safer as they would easily exploit the big gaps appearing.

 

[finlaytheblade]

For a neutral it was probably fantastic.

I thought it was shit to be honest and we totally threw the match away by bringing on unfit players for erm... knackered players.

Your right about the Knackered players, The style of recruitment means that was always a danger! Not Wilders fault as he spent his budget wisely! Having re-built the squad on peanuts we are competitive.
A lot of the recruits came here late in the window so pre-season fitness levels wouldn't have been at the level Wilder would have wanted.
As the season progressed towards Christmas the lack of conditioning kicked in and small squad + players running on empty told! Niggling injuries and losing 2 big cogs in our team hit hard.
January window and the same scenario took shape! Good recruits but most lacking game time means getting up to speed and getting wins was tough although we have got some great wins undeserved in some but we take em.
So basically we have a new team built in two windows with most recruits after signing needing to get up to speed! Not great position to be in.
Maybe the best is yet to come when all players have that extra % to maintain levels better.So we have had two windows bringing in good players but behind the fitness levels required
We will or should be better fixed in the run in with this squad of players.

 

[SUFCinks]

In the original post, I was just picking up the theme of what people do (or don’t) enjoy about watching a match. I wasn’t suggesting a more dull style of play would have been a better option against Leeds.

In the post you replied to, I was just referring to the last 15 minutes of the game where I thought we were looking tired and should maybe look to play a bit safer as they would easily exploit the big gaps appearing.

I absolutely misunderstood your post. My bad chap.

 

[djbaldken]

I want us to go up because it's the best thing for the club, but last night was a little reminder of the sorts of games that await us even if we do strengthen dramatically (which we'd absolutely have to). It becomes draining and hard to watch as a fan.

Sums up my feelings exactly.

As for strengthening dramatically, which we'd absolutely have to, rest assured, we absolutely wont. We never do.

 

[Tony Currie]

Your right about the Knackered players, The style of recruitment means that was always a danger! Not Wilders fault as he spent his budget wisely! Having re-built the squad on peanuts we are competitive.
A lot of the recruits came here late in the window so pre-season fitness levels wouldn't have been at the level Wilder would have wanted.
As the season progressed towards Christmas the lack of conditioning kicked in and small squad + players running on empty told! Niggling injuries and losing 2 big cogs in our team hit hard.
January window and the same scenario took shape! Good recruits but most lacking game time means getting up to speed and getting wins was tough although we have got some great wins undeserved in some but we take em.
So basically we have a new team built in two windows with most recruits after signing needing to get up to speed! Not great position to be in.
Maybe the best is yet to come when all players have that extra % to maintain levels better.So we have had two windows bringing in good players but behind the fitness levels required
We will or should be better fixed in the run in with this squad of players.

This is exactly right, remember Farke has had his team for two years and two preseasons while no rebuild was required.