Just got home, stayed in Leeds…

In my opinion, best ground in the Prem and the Leeds fans were superb throughout. First 10 mins they were very vocal and it was hostile. Cheered them off like they’d just won the cup. After those 10 mins we were probably marginally the better side but didn’t do enough to earn the win. A draw would have been the fairest result. Improved performance from the Villa game, just a minor blip in form, keep the faith in PV.

Thought Mitchell and Kouyate were great. Both won a lot of tackles and looked composed on the ball.

Ward struggled a bit with Raphinia’s (?) pace, but did ok. Zaha and Gallagher not quite up to their high standards. Zaha’s loss of pace is becoming a problem for him and he’s nowhere near his best (doubt he ever will be again). Edouard held the ball up well first half but faded as the game went on, we looked far more dangerous when Big Ben came on. Hughes made a few good touches and showed signs of promise, looking forward to seeing more of him.

For me, our stand out player was Ayew. Thought he had a blinder. Strong on the ball, physical in the tackle, made some dangerous runs, wins some free kicks and was a constant thorn for Leeds. The gamble to replace him with Olise and go for the win backfired sadly, but I think most were in favour of that call at the time.

Bloody long way to go midweek for a loss like that. Oh well, onwards and upwards, we’ve got the strength in depth now to make the necessary tweaks. The early season optimism seems to have fizzled out over the past 3 games, but this was also going to be a building season.

I too stayed in Leeds after the game and travelled back yesterday. I take my hat off to those who did a round trip to an 8:15pm kick off away at Leeds on a cold November Tuesday evening.

Firstly, a good atmosphere but sadly a crap view for us away fans situated towards the back of the stand - John Charles Upper (think Arthur Waite and TV gantry)

Leeds really were nothing great and I actually thought we had the better goal scoring chances during the course of the game.

Ayew yet again played very well and entirely justified his place in the starting eleven. Wilf was AWOL (again) and that lack of pace and not taking his man on that we’ve been bemoaning for the past 18 months was all too evident. Also not a shred of acknowledgement to the travelling fans from him after the final whistle, despite the players tunnel being right in front of where we were positioned.

I agree with a lot of the other comments already made about positives for Kouyate and Gallagher looking tired but still a standout performer for us. Mitchell is showing promising signs of improvement and I think he could turn out quite decent in the end.

Joel however is just not up to it at this level. I absolutely love his commitment and desire and what he has done for us over the years but have been saying for a while now that he is nowhere near good enough anymore and last night just re-I forced this. He was skinned time and time again by James, his distribution was extremely poor and he offers us absolutely NOTHING going forward. We just have to upgrade our RB position if we are to see meaningful improvement on the pitch. We currently have no outlet at RB and that places far to much pressure and expectation on the rest of the team.

And finally Benteke…makes Kouyate’s first touch and ball control look like Messi, passes continually under-hit and misplaced and yet again another absolute howler of a miss. For someone ‘allegedly’ soooo fantastic in the air he fails to hit the target way too often. We should’ve been 1-0 up with only 15 minutes to go and Leeds offering very little. Instead he misses a gaping goal whilst completely unmarked and we then pay the price for Guehi losing his man at a stoppage time corner and he gives away a needless penalty.

The walk back to Leeds City centre, surrounded by home supporters, was not a pleasant one I can tell you!

Here’s to an unexpected 3 points against United.