Mackday Meldrew - Leeds United FC


AC Mack

Striker
I don't usually do a report for mid-week matches that I can't make, however I'll make an exception due to the interim head coach being in charge and the impact that might have had on the win. It'll be brief though!

For anyone who didn't see the game, and after all the speculation about who out of Seelt, O'Nien and Hume would replace Ekwah in midfield, well the answer was none of them. We switched to a back three/five with Seelt and O'Nien as wide centre backs, Hume and Huggins as wing backs, Neil and Jobe in the middle with Ba, Pritchard and Clarke across the front.

In short, we looked as though we'd played like this all season, against arguably the best attackers in the league. Leeds never really had a sniff, and the discipline shown from each player was formidable. Summerville is possibly Leeds' best player, and although he looked a threat at times, he had both Seelt and Huggins to deal with. Leeds only really threatened when Spence joined Summerville and we lost a bit of shape, but it was rare. Then when we lost Seelt and had to reshuffle, it was always going to be difficult with Clarke at wing back against Gnonto, but we coped. We did seem to emphasise their left as a major threat with the way we set up, and it worked a treat.

We played some good football at times, and the pass and move combination between Neil and Pritchard in the build up for the goal was delightful. The whole move was excellent, and it was a really clever touch from Pritchard at the end to set up what was a great run from Jobe. Cracking goal.

Looking at things more generally, if we're to use this shape in the future, the obvious benefits are that it makes us stronger at the back numerically, allows us to easily transition into a 3-2-5, with either the wing backs getting forward and the inside forwards cutting in, or the two central midfielders pushing into the half spaces and the wide attackers keeping the width. This would allow the two full backs to play narrower and become our central midfielders, something Hume is familiar with, and also allows them to quickly get back into their defensive shape if needs be.

Both wide centre backs like to be on the ball and this shape allows for that - I think it could really suit O'Nien and Seelt, with Ballard keeping things together centrally. Hume can play there, as can Alese and Cirkin when fit. It also negates that desire to have a singular holding defensive midfielder as it's not necessary in this shape - you can play two central midfielders in there knowing the have the third centre back as cover.

I imagine though that we'd only see it when Dodds felt we were up against it, and that won't always/often be the case. Plus, we've no idea how many games he'll be in charge.

Patterson - one excellent save early on then no other saves to make but was solid. 7

Hume - solid in both positions and back in form. 8

Seelt - gave a few free kicks away early on but grew quickly into the game. He was massively tested this evening and passed Kath flying colours, both on and off the ball. 8

Ballard - just remains vital to us if we're to have a successful season. 8

O'Nien - as said earlier, this role tonight probably suits him better than being in a two, and he excelled in a similar vein to Seelt. 8

Huggins - I love his energy. He can put himself about like Hume, and is all over the pitch as well as being technically good with the ball at his feet. He's becoming an important mainstay of the side. 8

Neil - disciplined, tidy and composed. Excellent for the goal. 7

Jobe - not quite as composed or assured in his decision making on the ball as Neil, but probably more willing to get forward (or more natural) than Neil when they play alongside each other. Should have done better with a header earlier but I love that he's a threat aerially, and timed his run and finish for the goal perfectly. 8

Ba - way off the pace, looked low on confidence and the one player who didn't quite seem to get his role in the team. As he was drifting centrally quite a lot, I actually think Aouchiche could have played that role, although Roberts was the more obvious swap. 5

Pritchard - led from the front superbly, keeping the ball and dictating the game when we had it. Another assist and pretty much 90 minutes under his belt. 8

Clarke - ripped Gray to pieces first half, and despite not impacting the key moment of the game, he got us up the pitch and caused them problems all first half and parts of the second too. 8

Subs - Roberts was a big improvement on Ba, and Ekwah was a welcome and clever addition as it meant we could move Hume and it not affect our game too much. It didn't feel like a game to be bringing on inexperienced foreign players, so the subs were sensible with the game in mind.

I don't think anyone stood out ahead of the rest, it was just a really good job done by the whole team.

Leeds - comfortable on the ball and they have good players for this level, but they were a bit like what we've seen from us on many occasions - plenty of the ball with the opposition in front of them but unable to break down an organised and disciplined defence. Went down like fannies particularly first half, and barely created a thing. When we empty our back pockets tomorrow morning we'll find ten Leeds players tucked away safely. They resorted at the end to throwing all their attackers on which I thought was a bit of blessing, as all it did was congest the space in that area even more and meant they had nobody to really feed them with chances either.

I'll have missed loads no doubt as I only watched on TV, but that's how I saw it.
 
Evening mate, decent assessment, yes Ba was way off the pace. One sub at a time was good stuff, didn't lose shape. Bringing Dack on at the end shows what Dodds thinks of the forward "selection box"! Dack held the ball up really well at Millwall so I'm good with that sub.
You normally mention the ref. I thought he had a great game, my only doubt from my North Stand seat was 09's yellow card did not look too bad, other than that 👏👏👏
 
I find I miss less watching it on TV.
This. I can barely see the far touchline at the match for example.

TV you get the benefit of replays and in game analysis.

I prefer being there mind!
I wanted to leave early this evening due to school runs etc but watched the lot. Great performance.
You don't get a clear picture. I don't really watch the ball that much when I'm there, but that's the focal point on TV.

@SAFC1962 completely missed the ref. I thought he was decent.
Nothing really controversial happened which helped the ref. Good use of his cards to be fair.
 
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Not a fan of 3 at the back but it allowed them to pick up their front three well with the wingbacks and forwards rotating to give us that 5 when we needed it.

Compressed space between lines really well and we controlled overloads in the quarters both with a without to pin them and isolate other side quite similar to how Deniz has his sides side up.

Second half we compacted more without the ball but gaps for passing seemed to lengthen so we gave up possession more, but we held shape more rather than overload the quarters like we had first half.

Gave them nowt and suffocated them. Night and day to Mowbray tbh. One of the most astute and organised performances I’ve seen from is in a long time.
 
I don't usually do a report for mid-week matches that I can't make, however I'll make an exception due to the interim head coach being in charge and the impact that might have had on the win. It'll be brief though!

For anyone who didn't see the game, and after all the speculation about who out of Seelt, O'Nien and Hume would replace Ekwah in midfield, well the answer was none of them. We switched to a back three/five with Seelt and O'Nien as wide centre backs, Hume and Huggins as wing backs, Neil and Jobe in the middle with Ba, Pritchard and Clarke across the front.

In short, we looked as though we'd played like this all season, against arguably the best attackers in the league. Leeds never really had a sniff, and the discipline shown from each player was formidable. Summerville is possibly Leeds' best player, and although he looked a threat at times, he had both Seelt and Huggins to deal with. Leeds only really threatened when Spence joined Summerville and we lost a bit of shape, but it was rare. Then when we lost Seelt and had to reshuffle, it was always going to be difficult with Clarke at wing back against Gnonto, but we coped. We did seem to emphasise their left as a major threat with the way we set up, and it worked a treat.

We played some good football at times, and the pass and move combination between Neil and Pritchard in the build up for the goal was delightful. The whole move was excellent, and it was a really clever touch from Pritchard at the end to set up what was a great run from Jobe. Cracking goal.

Looking at things more generally, if we're to use this shape in the future, the obvious benefits are that it makes us stronger at the back numerically, allows us to easily transition into a 3-2-5, with either the wing backs getting forward and the inside forwards cutting in, or the two central midfielders pushing into the half spaces and the wide attackers keeping the width. This would allow the two full backs to play narrower and become our central midfielders, something Hume is familiar with, and also allows them to quickly get back into their defensive shape if needs be.

Both wide centre backs like to be on the ball and this shape allows for that - I think it could really suit O'Nien and Seelt, with Ballard keeping things together centrally. Hume can play there, as can Alese and Cirkin when fit. It also negates that desire to have a singular holding defensive midfielder as it's not necessary in this shape - you can play two central midfielders in there knowing the have the third centre back as cover.

I imagine though that we'd only see it when Dodds felt we were up against it, and that won't always/often be the case. Plus, we've no idea how many games he'll be in charge.

Patterson - one excellent save early on then no other saves to make but was solid. 7

Hume - solid in both positions and back in form. 8

Seelt - gave a few free kicks away early on but grew quickly into the game. He was massively tested this evening and passed Kath flying colours, both on and off the ball. 8

Ballard - just remains vital to us if we're to have a successful season. 8

O'Nien - as said earlier, this role tonight probably suits him better than being in a two, and he excelled in a similar vein to Seelt. 8

Huggins - I love his energy. He can put himself about like Hume, and is all over the pitch as well as being technically good with the ball at his feet. He's becoming an important mainstay of the side. 8

Neil - disciplined, tidy and composed. Excellent for the goal. 7

Jobe - not quite as composed or assured in his decision making on the ball as Neil, but probably more willing to get forward (or more natural) than Neil when they play alongside each other. Should have done better with a header earlier but I love that he's a threat aerially, and timed his run and finish for the goal perfectly. 8

Ba - way off the pace, looked low on confidence and the one player who didn't quite seem to get his role in the team. As he was drifting centrally quite a lot, I actually think Aouchiche could have played that role, although Roberts was the more obvious swap. 5

Pritchard - led from the front superbly, keeping the ball and dictating the game when we had it. Another assist and pretty much 90 minutes under his belt. 8

Clarke - ripped Gray to pieces first half, and despite not impacting the key moment of the game, he got us up the pitch and caused them problems all first half and parts of the second too. 8

Subs - Roberts was a big improvement on Ba, and Ekwah was a welcome and clever addition as it meant we could move Hume and it not affect our game too much. It didn't feel like a game to be bringing on inexperienced foreign players, so the subs were sensible with the game in mind.

I don't think anyone stood out ahead of the rest, it was just a really good job done by the whole team.

Leeds - comfortable on the ball and they have good players for this level, but they were a bit like what we've seen from us on many occasions - plenty of the ball with the opposition in front of them but unable to break down an organised and disciplined defence. Went down like fannies particularly first half, and barely created a thing. When we empty our back pockets tomorrow morning we'll find ten Leeds players tucked away safely. They resorted at the end to throwing all their attackers on which I thought was a bit of blessing, as all it did was congest the space in that area even more and meant they had nobody to really feed them with chances either.

I'll have missed loads no doubt as I only watched on TV, but that's how I saw it.

Good assessment, when I first saw the team I feared the worst. It kept on getting worse the more I looked at it.

Shows what I know. Great team performance tonight.

Pritchard just pipping the rest for motm. His passing and movement for the goal and for about 5 mins building up to it were sublime.
 
This. I can barely see the far touchline at the match for example.

TV you get the benefit of replays and in game analysis.

I prefer being there mind!
I wanted to leave early this evening due to school runs etc but watched the lot. Great performance.

Nothing really controversial happened which helped the ref. Good use of his cards to be fair.
I can't remember anything either - so why were the Leeds manager and players surrounding the ref at full time? 🤔
 
Good assessment, when I first saw the team I feared the worst. It kept on getting worse the more I looked at it.

Shows what I know. Great team performance tonight.

Pritchard just pipping the rest for motm. His passing and movement for the goal and for about 5 mins building up to it were sublime.
Pritchard and Clarke are premier league level players.
 
I feel like I might be in the minority here with Ba, I think he was playing the exact role he was being asked to and drifting in the middle wasn't a decision he was making on his own, you could see Dodds actually tell him at times, and it looked like when he was doing that Hume pushed up that little bit more and Seelt slotted in at right back and we shifted as a team, Pritch also was able to come looking for the ball because of it. I also think, like every player tonight, he put an absolute shift in.
 
I feel like I might be in the minority here with Ba, I think he was playing the exact role he was being asked to and drifting in the middle wasn't a decision he was making on his own, you could see Dodds actually tell him at times, and it looked like when he was doing that Hume pushed up that little bit more and Seelt slotted in at right back and we shifted as a team, Pritch also was able to come looking for the ball because of it. I also think, like every player tonight, he put an absolute shift in.

Me too about Ba..... he did the job asked of him, he put himself about a bit but quality was certainly lacking.... and when Roberts came on, the defence must have thought oh, ferk put them on the back foot a bit. It's better than Roberts running out of steam and bringing Ba on late 🤔
I also like the way Dodds is a lot more animated in the game than TM. Dodds looks much more positive and confident, TM looked worried 99% of the time, not a positive look for the young'uns 🙄
 
I feel like I might be in the minority here with Ba, I think he was playing the exact role he was being asked to and drifting in the middle wasn't a decision he was making on his own, you could see Dodds actually tell him at times, and it looked like when he was doing that Hume pushed up that little bit more and Seelt slotted in at right back and we shifted as a team, Pritch also was able to come looking for the ball because of it. I also think, like every player tonight, he put an absolute shift in.
Ba did well putting himself about defensively, our boy pointed it out. Looked out of sorts up the pitch but did a shitload getting in their faces as they attacked.
 
I feel like I might be in the minority here with Ba, I think he was playing the exact role he was being asked to and drifting in the middle wasn't a decision he was making on his own, you could see Dodds actually tell him at times, and it looked like when he was doing that Hume pushed up that little bit more and Seelt slotted in at right back and we shifted as a team, Pritch also was able to come looking for the ball because of it. I also think, like every player tonight, he put an absolute shift in.

I'm sure he was playing the role asked of him, I'm just not sure he executed it very well. The drifting inside is why I felt Aouchiche could have been an option, but maybe Ba offers a bit more defensively.
 
Another cracking summary @AC Mack.
I thought we were tremendous tonight.
Disappointed with Ba as we were effectively playing with 10 men, he was that poor.
The rest were outstanding
 

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