So after beating Coventry 3-2 at the weekend, Leeds have drew against Hull 2-2 on a cold Tuesday night at Elland Road. They were winning and Hull had midfielder John Bostock (on loan from Spurs) sent off yet Hull were still able to equalize through an own goal about ten minutes from the end. Even though they didn't lose against their Yorkshire rivals like they did against Barnsley (OK they aren't really big rivals, just from the same county), I'm glad I didn't go to be freezing sitting on the plastic seats. In my view only hardcore fans and season-ticket holders (which are basically the same category anyway) would go and do such a thing.
Does this show a lack of commitment? Not really, I live a couple of hours away in Shropshire (now at Stoke) and as an University student at is far too busy studying to even contemplate freezing to death. That's not to say I never went to a football match where the weather wasn't nice. I remember putting my replica shirt over a jumper or a hoody just to make it obvious that I was a young Leeds supporter in the stands full of erm...Leeds supporters.
The last Leeds match I attended was 8 months ago in March against Brentford, obviously when Leeds were still in League One. It was a great treat for my girlfriend to buy two tickets and want to watch the match with me. The match ended 1-1 which was a bit disappointing because Brentford were a team we were expected to beat. It was quite an even match but Brentford scored first and Leeds managed to hit the post deep in injury time but there are some things that I distinctly remember which I feel the need to bring up now. Below is a picture of my view of the pitch at the Brentford match, we were quite early hence the largely empty stand opposite but it did full up as it got closer to kick off. Even with Leeds amazing support I doubt it was as full on a cold Tuesday night.
Wojciech Szczęsny - The guy couldn't sound anymore Polish if he tried and I bet if I ever tried to pronounce his name out loud, I will get it wrong but he was in goal for Brentford that day. Last season he was on loan there from Arsenal. He was magnificent, pulling off a number of impressive saves and it was clear to see he was destined to play at a higher level. After returning to his parent club this season, he found himself third choice behind Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski. Since Almunia got injured he's been on the bench and played the odd Carling Cup match, performing well against Newcastle. At least he was in front of Vito Mannone who has since been loaned out to Hull of all teams, although he was only sitting on the bench at Elland Road, possibly getting very cold. From that performance alone, I would have suggested to Simon Grayson that he try and sign him for this season if he hadn't signed somebody with the calibre of Kasper Schmeichel (Yes Peter Schmeichel is his Dad). Especially seem as the Leeds goalie last season, fellow Dane Casper Ankergren seemed incapable of taking a decent Goal Kick against Brentford, continually kicking it back to Brentford players until the fans around me starting groaning and dreading the next time the ball went out of play.
Does this show a lack of commitment? Not really, I live a couple of hours away in Shropshire (now at Stoke) and as an University student at is far too busy studying to even contemplate freezing to death. That's not to say I never went to a football match where the weather wasn't nice. I remember putting my replica shirt over a jumper or a hoody just to make it obvious that I was a young Leeds supporter in the stands full of erm...Leeds supporters.
The last Leeds match I attended was 8 months ago in March against Brentford, obviously when Leeds were still in League One. It was a great treat for my girlfriend to buy two tickets and want to watch the match with me. The match ended 1-1 which was a bit disappointing because Brentford were a team we were expected to beat. It was quite an even match but Brentford scored first and Leeds managed to hit the post deep in injury time but there are some things that I distinctly remember which I feel the need to bring up now. Below is a picture of my view of the pitch at the Brentford match, we were quite early hence the largely empty stand opposite but it did full up as it got closer to kick off. Even with Leeds amazing support I doubt it was as full on a cold Tuesday night.
 |
| Leeds v Brentford 6th March 2010 |
Wojciech Szczęsny - The guy couldn't sound anymore Polish if he tried and I bet if I ever tried to pronounce his name out loud, I will get it wrong but he was in goal for Brentford that day. Last season he was on loan there from Arsenal. He was magnificent, pulling off a number of impressive saves and it was clear to see he was destined to play at a higher level. After returning to his parent club this season, he found himself third choice behind Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski. Since Almunia got injured he's been on the bench and played the odd Carling Cup match, performing well against Newcastle. At least he was in front of Vito Mannone who has since been loaned out to Hull of all teams, although he was only sitting on the bench at Elland Road, possibly getting very cold. From that performance alone, I would have suggested to Simon Grayson that he try and sign him for this season if he hadn't signed somebody with the calibre of Kasper Schmeichel (Yes Peter Schmeichel is his Dad). Especially seem as the Leeds goalie last season, fellow Dane Casper Ankergren seemed incapable of taking a decent Goal Kick against Brentford, continually kicking it back to Brentford players until the fans around me starting groaning and dreading the next time the ball went out of play.
Jermaine Beckford - Our star striker from last season looked disinterested in the Brentford game. He didn't even bother making a run for some of the long balls which shows how much of a lazy forward he can be. That day he reminded me of a poor man's Emmanuel Adebayor which definitely isn't a compliment. Again the crowd were getting a bit restless but he did score the equalizing goal eventually but everybody knew he was going to leave at the end of the season after refusing to sign a new contract after feeling destined for bigger things and he did. Leeds didn't sell him last January because they were more likely to get promoted with his firepower and we did, just. He can now be found on the bench for Everton, a team who are constantly running low on strikers mainly due to injury. Occasionally he comes on as a sub and fails to score. How times change.
No comments:
Post a Comment