With 15 games left to go, nerves are starting to kick in for fans of the top 6 clubs, however it always seems to feel worse if you support Leeds. I try to stay optimistic at this stage of the season, but can’t help but believe it’s all going to fall apart. Since I’ve starting watching Leeds, I don’t recall a season like this one. You always go into the season with hope, but expect it to dissolve within a matter of months. However, this year we still have hope. We have a team which fights to the death in every game, a team which is united, rather than a team full of individuals. From Heckingbottom to Bielsa, has the club turned another corner which could lead us on the golden path?
Sitting 3rd in the league, with a game in hand to take us top again, no one knows in this crazy league where we will end up. As a kid I was excited by the prospect of watching Leeds play top flight football, as I never experienced it first hand. My Dad and his friends have been watching for over 40 years now, and have seen the golden years of our club. European football under the lights at Elland Road, international footballing stars playing in the white jersey, it feels like a lucid dream.
Since my first review, the big talking points have been predominantly off the field. ‘Spygate’ stole the headlines in world football, and ultimately made us all sick off hearing about it. From this, we gathered that Frank Lampard is a crybaby, and that the EFL are doing all they can to keep us in this league. (Photo below is me spying at the Derby game)
In terms of the football, after the West Brom thrashing, we ended up going on a 7 win streak, which saw us come back and win against both Aston Villa and Blackburn with seconds left, and gave most Leeds fans mini heart attacks. However, since being on top of the world, results have starting turning, after losing 4 games in 7.
Fans are starting to question squad depth once again. After the signing of Dan James fell through on Deadline Day, most were upset with the lack of recruitment by Orta and Radrazzani. Your typical Leeds fan however will moan about anything, and even with the signing of REAL MADRID PLAYER Kiko Casilla, fans clearly wanted more. In some ways I was content but also upset at the same time with the business done. We needed to bring in a Goalkeeper and that’s what they did, but being in the position we were in, you kinda hoped that we did everything to ensure that this was the year. After recently seeing DJ play for Swansea, you can’t help but think it was a massive opportunity to bring in a really talented player, and although it was Swansea who ultimately called off the deal,I can’t help but feel more could have been done by Leeds to get the deal over the line even days before the deadline, no matter what cost.
Looking at the Injury list, we have a lot of key players who are starting to return to training. Izzy Brown has starting a number of games for the U23s and is on the verge of first team football. Bamford has started the last two in the league, and although he has failed to score in both, we have seen signs of his potential already this year and hope he can deliver. The possible big miss now for the rest of the season will be Kemar Roofe. After pictures circulated on social media this week claiming that he has a knee injury, fans are worried it could be season ending. Roofe’s goals have been one of the main reasons for us being in the position we are now.
A couple more injuries include Barry Douglas who has been out of form in his last few games, and hasn’t really shown the quality of the season he had with Wolves. In addition, Berardi and Dallas are set to return, which bring more experience back to the squad, which has been a big miss for the bench in the last month.
As with the last review, I pick out my star performers from the season, and who I hope can deliver in the last 1/3 as well.
The first player has got to be the Yorkshire Pirlo himself Kalvin Phillips. As mentioned in the first review, KP has become a centre point of the Bielsa Ball style and has improved massively since last year. He has become a bully in the defensive midfield position, and each play goes through him. On a couple of occasions, he has struggled, especially when having to cover in defence, for example when a poor challenge saw him receive a straight red at Forest. But since then, his return to the team has been massive for us, and his goal at Boro was a massive confidence boost for fans and the players.
My next standout player has to be the impact of Jack Clarke. He has gained a lot of attention this season, and was linked with a number of clubs in January. He has show his talent in big games this season, with 2 goals and an assist from the bench. He has definitely left a mark on this league and will hopefully be a starter for this club in years to come.
Finally, the pairing of Pontus and Coops has been incredible all year, but due to injuries we have yet to see it as much as fans would have liked. After fans labelled him ‘League One Liam’, Coops has become a outstanding captain for this club, and has become one of my players of the season. Pontus has also been an important leader on the field this year, and has been in fine goal-scoring form of late, not to mention his birthday goal last game against Swansea.
In conclusion to part 2 of 3, there is no need to panic just yet, and hopefully when the end of the season comes I will be reflecting on a successful season rather than another disappointing one.
MOT
-Will
Sitting 3rd in the league, with a game in hand to take us top again, no one knows in this crazy league where we will end up. As a kid I was excited by the prospect of watching Leeds play top flight football, as I never experienced it first hand. My Dad and his friends have been watching for over 40 years now, and have seen the golden years of our club. European football under the lights at Elland Road, international footballing stars playing in the white jersey, it feels like a lucid dream.
Since my first review, the big talking points have been predominantly off the field. ‘Spygate’ stole the headlines in world football, and ultimately made us all sick off hearing about it. From this, we gathered that Frank Lampard is a crybaby, and that the EFL are doing all they can to keep us in this league. (Photo below is me spying at the Derby game)
Fans are starting to question squad depth once again. After the signing of Dan James fell through on Deadline Day, most were upset with the lack of recruitment by Orta and Radrazzani. Your typical Leeds fan however will moan about anything, and even with the signing of REAL MADRID PLAYER Kiko Casilla, fans clearly wanted more. In some ways I was content but also upset at the same time with the business done. We needed to bring in a Goalkeeper and that’s what they did, but being in the position we were in, you kinda hoped that we did everything to ensure that this was the year. After recently seeing DJ play for Swansea, you can’t help but think it was a massive opportunity to bring in a really talented player, and although it was Swansea who ultimately called off the deal,I can’t help but feel more could have been done by Leeds to get the deal over the line even days before the deadline, no matter what cost.
Looking at the Injury list, we have a lot of key players who are starting to return to training. Izzy Brown has starting a number of games for the U23s and is on the verge of first team football. Bamford has started the last two in the league, and although he has failed to score in both, we have seen signs of his potential already this year and hope he can deliver. The possible big miss now for the rest of the season will be Kemar Roofe. After pictures circulated on social media this week claiming that he has a knee injury, fans are worried it could be season ending. Roofe’s goals have been one of the main reasons for us being in the position we are now.
A couple more injuries include Barry Douglas who has been out of form in his last few games, and hasn’t really shown the quality of the season he had with Wolves. In addition, Berardi and Dallas are set to return, which bring more experience back to the squad, which has been a big miss for the bench in the last month.
As with the last review, I pick out my star performers from the season, and who I hope can deliver in the last 1/3 as well.
The first player has got to be the Yorkshire Pirlo himself Kalvin Phillips. As mentioned in the first review, KP has become a centre point of the Bielsa Ball style and has improved massively since last year. He has become a bully in the defensive midfield position, and each play goes through him. On a couple of occasions, he has struggled, especially when having to cover in defence, for example when a poor challenge saw him receive a straight red at Forest. But since then, his return to the team has been massive for us, and his goal at Boro was a massive confidence boost for fans and the players.
My next standout player has to be the impact of Jack Clarke. He has gained a lot of attention this season, and was linked with a number of clubs in January. He has show his talent in big games this season, with 2 goals and an assist from the bench. He has definitely left a mark on this league and will hopefully be a starter for this club in years to come.
Finally, the pairing of Pontus and Coops has been incredible all year, but due to injuries we have yet to see it as much as fans would have liked. After fans labelled him ‘League One Liam’, Coops has become a outstanding captain for this club, and has become one of my players of the season. Pontus has also been an important leader on the field this year, and has been in fine goal-scoring form of late, not to mention his birthday goal last game against Swansea.
In conclusion to part 2 of 3, there is no need to panic just yet, and hopefully when the end of the season comes I will be reflecting on a successful season rather than another disappointing one.
MOT
-Will
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