Having watched in horror (and the rain) on Tuesday, as The Whites were systematically dismantled by a League Two team, that are nothing more than promotion hopefuls, I can honestly say I wasn’t looking forward to the upcoming season. For the first time since 2007, I was confronted with the possibility that we were going to be out of our depth in The Championship.
Despite calls from all quarters that my initial reaction, was indeed, an overreaction, the ease in which United were cut open time after time still haunted me. I was scathing in my assessment of our midfield, a midfield that looked more dysfunctional than a Gallagher family portrait. Snodgrass, Howson and in particular, Bradley Johnson all appeared to be basking in the glory of promotion.
For all the negatives that were taken from the display at Bury, and there were many. Grayson hoped that it would be a “wake up call” for everyone, and that a performance of a team playing under little pressure, free from the restraints of a promotion race, would be just around the corner.
Despite my scepticism, or perhaps pessimism, after 70 minutes of Saturday’s friendly at Hartlepool United, Leeds were 5 goals up and cruising, after a display that suggests I had indeed, overreacted…
Leeds put Hartlepool to the sword from the opening minute, with an excellent team display, punctuated with some fine individual performances. Snodgrass, Howson and Johnson all got themselves on the score sheet, not a bad return from three players who appeared to struggle with the mere basics of the game at Gigg Lane.
Hopefully this is the level of performance that United can maintain this season… but it was only a friendly, and friendlies mean nothing – right!?
My initial reaction to the debacle at Bury can be found here - Cause for Serious Concern...
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I'm still confused as to wether grayson has put a decent championship side together or we are going to struggle all season,i realy do think Gradel has looked good in pre season and i hope with a little more experience and after his ban he becomes a quality striker,wolves next still non the wiser ??
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