Holmes_and_Watson

With Alcaraz going so deep, we had absolutely noone able to be on the end of anything Sulemana was supposed to be crossing in there. Fortunately, Sule saw that too, and we faffed around on that side for a minute. No real out ball available from that.

Manning and Stu's passing not accurate and sometimes by rote rather than deliberation. Alcaraz looks lively if we can get it too him centrally. He may be able to create for Sulemana and Arma.

We're not quite connecting enough here. We're doing it in some moves, but not consistently. We are switchign it up though, That was a nice direct run from Alcaraz who brough Sulemana's pace into it. Obviosuly we give away from the throw in and are back defending. But still... 🙂

Nice block from Smallbone there. We had to close down that space sharpish.

Arma trying those narrow angles again.

Decent cross in from them. I was worried for a moment there. header down taking all the power out of it. whew.

Nice move. Stu was looking to get onto that, had the pass to him just been a little different.

oooooh Sulemana. Just needed it palmed out for a touch in. Nice Saints passing move there. More of that please.

Nice to see our opponents scramble around at the back for a change.

Oooh nice touch form Sulemana

Oooft Baz! Smallbone concedes a corner a bit needlessly too.

Congratulations! If we win tonight, be sure to tell him that it's generally relentless misery, and not to get carried away. Never too early to learn. 🙂

Insubstantial

This page has more posts on it than GB has viewers.

Kwarteng and Zahawi? 🙂

But how many passes out of the hundred in the build up, did he make? 🙂 Good to see him do well.

Insulate

Just to agree with much of the above. Impressed not only with the accuracy of the distribution, but with the weight of the delivery. I've seen many a 'keeper get it too the player, but with a pace that they struggle to control, by which time the advantage of getting the ball out to them has been lsot. Baz gets it to the player in a way they can actually do something with it. Nice to see. Less out from the back again yesterday too. The full backs didn't post missing and we had a lot more effort in covering each other. All of which will hopefully offer him more protection. Nothing he could do for the goal. I'd have been looking at any of the crowd in front of him first anyway.

Good to stop the slide of the last four games, brining with it a confidence boost as well as the three points. We had a very effective opening spell, moving the ball with more intent than we’ve shown for a while. The players were working hard for each other and to keep the shape that Martin was looking for. We pressed well as a unit, keeping them pinned back and getting us the momentum in the match. Martin’s changed a few things, which is good to see. He has made some tweaks before, but as results have slipped at least he’s not been bloody mindedly going down with the ship. We did see a lot of the things he’s been trying from the start of his time here too, so it’s not as though he’s jettisoned everything either. AA took both his shots really well. They were from tough angles and pleased to see an outcome from all the hard work he puts in. I was a little doubtful at the team, not seeing Adams or Charles in there. Smallbone and Stu in there might leave us a bit light defensively, while AA in the front three might make him tracking back a bit tougher. But there was a lot of players interchanging going on, with a more solid back four. When KWP did cut in, he was more supported in doing so. AA did a huge amount of work. We saw a good game from Stu, supporting, being direct and being solid when he needed to be too. It was a reminder of why we were so much better when he was in Ralph’s teams, and hopefully he’s getting back to his best. Smallbone is key to a Martin team and has been for a while now, even in the defeats. He provides an outlet across the pitch for the others, always taking up space and being available for the pass. In this game we saw him switch more with Alcaraz effectively. One area to work on is defensively. He was breezed past on a couple of occasions, was in the pack who failed to block their goal, and can’t seem to get a key foot in to stop their attacks as often as you’d like. But lots of positives apart from that. Alcaraz’s pace made him more dynamic than Adams when we needed to get back. Smallbone can put in a cynical tackle when needed, as well as getting a very good goal, from taking up a good position. Leeds didn’t push up much, so we didn’t get to see too much of Sulemana’s pace. But he’s clearly going to be key in our attacking line. He had the vision to tee up his teammates. To balance some of the above, Leeds were probably one of the few teams in the division who like to play towards a philosophy of their own, as Farke showed at Norwich. They didn’t try to out muscle us in midfield, they didn’t close down Bazunu much (or the key stumbling point of the player who gets it right after that in our own half) and they didn’t exploit the gaps in behind our fullbacks the way previous opponents had either (although we left less space there than previously anyway). We did manage to make a few unforced errors at the back, such as Manning standing on the ball in our penalty area or Bednarek making a poor pass across the back. Nothing that Leeds got to capitalise fully on. it was comforting to see we had more players back than normal, for such scenarios, offering cover further up too and at our own attacking corners for a change. Lots of positives, and we’ll see how it stands up to dealing with teams who set up with a more direct, physical style.

The future of moderation... Carte D'Or Carte Blancmange Carte Blanche I like to think that the reaction of the fans, not just to the worst of Martin's tactics, but to SR's buy in of yet another doomed revolutionary project, acted as a spur to bring in some prompt pragmatism.

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