If getting comprehensively turned over by a bottom six side who lost almost half their team to injury and suspension before kick wasn't bad enough, losing to them when you're supposed to be pushing for promotion and cementing your place in the top two is inexcusable. In fact its laughable when you consider we've passed up similar opportunities this season on at least half a dozen occasions. All of this tempered on Saturday afternoon by living 200 yards form Spotland and having to listen to Rochdale fans celebrate promotion (very meekly it must be added).
Its at this point where I'd usually claim "Never before have I seen a Leeds side so spineless etc" but unfortunately its a trait that has become synonymous with the white shirt in recent years, its not just the high profile collapses in Cardiff or Wembley (or any fixture that contains the word 'Final'), invite more than 30,000 people to Elland Road and every Leeds player suddenly realises they've left there vertebrae in their other kitbag!!
I believe that the term 'Leeds United are too big for League One' does hold some water. Now before all the Norwich City and Swindon Town fans get upset again I'd like to explain myself by updating the statement; 'Leeds United are too big for League One players!' I think its fair to say that fans of any club expect 100% commitment, 100% of the time. At Elland Road that just isn't enough, players are expected to perform consistently and effectively whilst playing their part in a successful team, and rightly so. No disrespect to the likes of Swindon but their fans are surely delighted to be the dark horse this season and had a play-off place been offered back in August a large majority of all connected with the club would surely have been ecstatic. Fans at Elland Road would have broke down in tears...
Leeds players are paid well above the average for this league and enjoy some of the top training facilities in Europe. Unfortunately that doesn't make them better players, give them more mental strength nor does it mould players who can handle the expectation heaped upon them and use it as a catalyst to excel themselves... I'm not sure those players exist in the bottom half of English football's 'top heavy' pyramid. As a result, for Leeds United to get out of League One (should we not squeeze into The Championship this season) surely we have to do away with the ridiculous game plan of trying to achieve promotion 'on the cheap', Southampton have proved this season that investment in quality players really does work and this league isn't just about battling your way to promotion. Its not a coincidence that the last three winners of Coca-Cola League One have all been excellent footballing teams; Swansea, Leicester and now Norwich. The former two now in the upper echelons of The Championship. At the end of the day it comes down to a massive lack of investment... but that's an argument for another day!
My recent article on the amount of players Leeds United have loaned in the last six seasons just serves to underline the problem and prove that no football club achieves anything purely on tactics, attendance figures, history or borrowing players that other clubs have deemed surplus to requirements. Players either have the ability to cope with the pressure of a demanding crowd or they don't. Unfortunately the players that can cost money and are rarely available for loan.
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again ego we are in this league cauuse we deserve to be just cause we use to be in the premiership doesnt give us direct right to say were to small for this league, there are teams in this league who i matched our abilities on the field are you saying there two big for this league, stupid stupid post over confidence is what cost us our place after christmas. we go up we go up we dont then the player olny have themself to blame so pls stop posting this type of stuff your giving some of us leeds supporters a bad name,
ReplyDeleteEvery team in the top six deserves to be there, leeds have only got themselves to blaim they have this idea that every other team should look up to them! why? they are no better than the likes of millwall, swindon or charlton if they were they would have been promoted by now!I'd love to see a leeds - Huddersfield final there would be only one outcome HUDDERSFIELDDDDDD!
ReplyDeletepure comedy from a leeds united fan again!
ReplyDeleteI think that is the problem...some of the players are out of their depth at Leeds. They may be good but only when they go back to a club who struggle to fill a garage and know most of their fans by name, do they feel cosy and comfortable enough to play freely with nothing too much expected of them.
ReplyDeletepooor babees
I think some of you have missed the point completely! I haven't once claimed that Leeds are bigger than any club in this league or that we deserve to be any higher than our current position. I'm pointing out that the current players we have are just not up to the pressure that comes with playing for Leeds United. Robert 'One good game in five' Snodgrass could move to the likes of Plymouth and be player of the year even though they're in a higher league. Its the same principal that meant Diego Forlan could be Europe's top goalscorer after being laughed out of Manchester United...
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post....the players cant stand the heat or the preassure and after a couple of seasons in this league, fans are getting frustrated and in turn taking it out on the players.....normally players named Beckford..... Along with Uncle Ken squeezing every penny out of the club and fans paying premiership prices its all rather unsavoury isnt it
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I can remember our season collapsing many times when we were in the premiership even. I think as fans we need to take some of the blame. Not for lack of passion or commitment because I know there is plenty of that about but because we have this habit of heaping too much pressure onto the players no matter how skilful they are on the pitch. We perform best when we're underdogs, (just look at spurs and scum this season) and this is definitely partly because us, as fans, put too much pressure onto the players when we're the favourites, which, in this league, we invariably have been (and not because we're a bigger club for any fans of other clubs who feel like having a go but because we've consistently been one of the best teams these past three seasons).
ReplyDeleteYea agree totally with the sentiments in this article you just have to look at the players we have sold or let go like Robbie Blake,Clark Carlisle or any number of Championship players who go on to play at a higher level but who looked ordinary when with us.We need players with a tough mentality to get out of this poxy league.
ReplyDeletegood post.new owners and new team required or this nightmare will go on and on and on.losing the faith.
ReplyDeleteam i the only leeds fan who could have quite happily given our players a good kick in the bollocks last saturday afternoon.????like they keep doing to us...never mind big wages...a swift kick in the nuts in the center circle every time they put on a show like that..slip it into their contracts asap .
ReplyDeleteStevo
ReplyDeleteYeah, I like that one, swift kick in the stones, top job. Can I join the queue to administer the same to Uncle Ken? It might not make any difference, but it sure would make a man feel better!
I totally agree with the posts that say we put too much pressure on our players.
ReplyDeleteI have said in previous posts that if I was a manager of a team coming to Leeds i would make sure my team start the game well, so that the Leeds fans will become impatient and get on the players backs. This increasing the pressure on them. I am not saying we should not have an opinion, but they should be saved till after the game. Once promotion is assured, it's the managers job to identify the bottleless culprits and make sure they don't play in the next division up next season. We all know who they are!
I completely agree with the post and had a bloody good chuckle reading it too (well done Dirty Leeds). As many times as i have seen the team implode at Elland road when the chips are down they also do this very often away, Go back to Cheltenham, Hereford etc. Without sounding disrespectful you would think the lesser capacity grounds would give them a little less pressure? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteDead right, when the pressure is off against Man Utd and Tottenham we play like we really know how to pass and create some good chances, then when everybody expects us to trounce a team that is getting beaten 4-0 every week we collapse.
ReplyDeletebe good to send the post to the changing rooms ready for the next 3 games.
ReplyDeleteA terrible defeat on Saturday thanks to comical defending. To be fair, the backbone of our season has been Kisnorbo and we were always going to miss him. The big question for me is what has Rui done wrong? Is Collins really any better than him? Does Naylor deserve to be picked on Saturday?
ReplyDeleteAlso, has Higgs justified SG's decision to replace Casper after one bad game? There are more questions than answers at the moment. Even SG doesn't seem to be sure of his strongest side any more.
I don't think lack of bottle is the problem, it's just that the players aren't as good as many of our fans think they are.
ReplyDeleteThe over reaction of our fans when we lose a game (for some reason we think this should never happen) mystifies me and is accompanied by accusations of lack of effort and being gutless etc.
We are a League 1 club playing league 1 teams and sometimes we will get outplayed and sometimes we will actually get beat. We as fans need to accept this and get behind the team which often makes the difference between winning and losing.
true to the above but its a bit of both.... this team is good enough on paper to get promotion but i think throw in the added preassure of leeds united and they struggle to cope....you said it yourself that the fans get on the teams backs and does the oppositions job for them...... if we were in the cl then maybe our expectations would not be so demanding. We dont want to be the next Birmingham city and dwell in the lower leagues for decades because our fan base demands more than the team or organisation can chew
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