The more I think about it the more I have come to the conclusion that Bowyer out thought Bielsa tactically.
Yes they are a team of higher quality than us - we were never gonna play them at their own game and win. And yes we had a fair bit of luck - the goal and some of their misses/our blocks. And yes it was backs to the wall for much of the game. But tactically we got it bang on.
All the talk before the game was Phillips dictates play from deep for them and that they attack from wide so their winger and full backs will double up on our full backs.
Bow countered both of these by going with the split strikers and William's as a false 9. Bonne and Leko spent a lot of time in the channels which kept their full backs occupied and stopped the double up on Solly and The Cat. It also caused confusion with the centre backs as they didnt know whether to follow or stay. Our front 2 also did a fair amount of tracking back to the fullback areas. Williams was all over Phillips, caused him all sorts of problems and stopped him getting in the game. He dropped deeper and deeper but still had no space.
Then the move to a back 3 after 15/20 mins with Pratley dropping in completely shut then out for a period. Forced then into speculative shots from distance.
When we scored their heads went and they didn't do much for a while after.
The fact that they went 352 at half time to match up with us says a lot.
The other factor was that we just wanted it more, it kept us right in the midfield battle and frustrated them. As I said previously we won every 50-50 and Gallagher won plenty he had no right to.
Obviously the game got fraught in the last 15 mins. Losing Williams and Gallagher, both of whom looked like they were struggling with something stopped us from linking defense and attack. It became real backs to the wall but again we wanted it more.
What a performance from every single one of them. Leeds can moan all they like about how much possession they had and everything else. With the resources they have they are entitled to dominate games. Tough.
Bamford is overrated and not good enough for a side that has serious ambitions of winning the championship. One good season at Middlesbrough a few years ago and average in every other.
Obviously i don't watch Leeds much, but Nketiah must be shocking in training if he doesn't get a start ahead of him.
Agreed, bang average. His goal scoring ratio for Leeds is nothing special when you consider the number of chances they make and the possession they have
How long will Leeds give Bielsa and Brentford give Frank before deciding that a change is required given what they have each spent whilst achieving nothing yet . Concerned that either of them will want Bowyer
Watched on a Leeds stream which was as biased as you’d expect. Enjoyed the commentary team getting more and more frustrated.
Not seen it mentioned but there was a shot first half that Leko blocked. The commentators were ‘right behind it’ and Phillips was beaten had Leko not been there. I didn’t see it but saw Dillon praising Leko after it. Fair play to our forward tracking back that far!
First game of the season for me. Not a bad one to start off with!
Everything already said but have to say Solly, Lockyer and Gallagher were absolutely immense today. The rest weren't far behind.
2 things did make me laugh. First time I have seen Aneke in the flesh. Blimey, he's a lump and surely a stone overweight. Watching him trying to outrun a defender was amusing!
Secondly, I couldn't help but laugh at the Leeds supporter who had obviously tried to make a quick getaway in his car (complete with Leeds sticker in the back window and scarf on parcel shelf) down Harvey Gardens and got stuck outside the shop when the crowds presumably started coming out. Poor sod had to sit there and be abused by hundreds walking past! I suspect Charlton may not now be one of his favourite teams!
First game of the season for me. Not a bad one to start off with!
Everything already said but have to say Solly, Lockyer and Gallagher were absolutely immense today. The rest weren't far behind.
2 things did make me laugh. First time I have seen Aneke in the flesh. Blimey, he's a lump and surely a stone overweight. Watching him trying to outrun a defender was amusing!
Secondly, I couldn't help but laugh at the Leeds supporter who had obviously tried to make a quick getaway in his car (complete with Leeds sticker in the back window and scarf on parcel shelf) down Harvey Gardens and got stuck outside the shop when the crowds presumably started coming out. Poor sod had to sit there and be abused by hundreds walking past! I suspect Charlton may not now be one of his favourite teams!
Red Astra?
If that was the one he was lucky he never knocked anyone down the speed he tried to get out at.
Conor Gallagher by his honest approach to Football helped 2 players not be sent off. By taking the free kick quick against Birmingham, Davies didn't get his 2nd Yellow because the Ref then forgot about it and the blatant kick by Bamford would surely have seen Red if Conor had rolled on the ground longer.
First game of the season for me. Not a bad one to start off with!
Everything already said but have to say Solly, Lockyer and Gallagher were absolutely immense today. The rest weren't far behind.
2 things did make me laugh. First time I have seen Aneke in the flesh. Blimey, he's a lump and surely a stone overweight. Watching him trying to outrun a defender was amusing!
Secondly, I couldn't help but laugh at the Leeds supporter who had obviously tried to make a quick getaway in his car (complete with Leeds sticker in the back window and scarf on parcel shelf) down Harvey Gardens and got stuck outside the shop when the crowds presumably started coming out. Poor sod had to sit there and be abused by hundreds walking past! I suspect Charlton may not now be one of his favourite teams!
The guy who was driving totally knew what he was doing - car windows wound down & a "bring it on " attitude.
Loads of Charlton fans giving him & his passenger some friendly abuse especially when he couldn't drive any further, surrounded by our lot & with a couple of policemen approaching. I bet he was thinking he'd be lauding it following another 3 points for his team.....lol.
One young man, who shall remain nameless, took his wad of chewing gum out of his mouth & lobbed it through the window onto the driver's lap.
Bet the Leeds guys wished their strikers had such good aim today !
Imagine what would of happened to them if they done that down Millwall.
Reading everyone’s reports I’m getting a bit emotional , it really was an epic(I fucking hate that word) performance . I can’t believe how much graft went in to it , I’m knackered just thinking about it ....
A Leeds mate just informed me that our goal was the first goal they had conceded in the first half all season, not sure how true that is but well done boys.
First game of the season for me. Not a bad one to start off with!
Everything already said but have to say Solly, Lockyer and Gallagher were absolutely immense today. The rest weren't far behind.
2 things did make me laugh. First time I have seen Aneke in the flesh. Blimey, he's a lump and surely a stone overweight. Watching him trying to outrun a defender was amusing!
Secondly, I couldn't help but laugh at the Leeds supporter who had obviously tried to make a quick getaway in his car (complete with Leeds sticker in the back window and scarf on parcel shelf) down Harvey Gardens and got stuck outside the shop when the crowds presumably started coming out. Poor sod had to sit there and be abused by hundreds walking past! I suspect Charlton may not now be one of his favourite teams!
The guy who was driving totally knew what he was doing - car windows wound down & a "bring it on " attitude.
Loads of Charlton fans giving him & his passenger some friendly abuse especially when he couldn't drive any further, surrounded by our lot & with a couple of policemen approaching. I bet he was thinking he'd be lauding it following another 3 points for his team.....lol.
One young man, who shall remain nameless, took his wad of chewing gum out of his mouth & lobbed it through the window onto the driver's lap.
Bet the Leeds guys wished their strikers had such good aim today !
Imagine what would of happened to them if they done that down Millwall.
Just seen Bamford's assault on Gallagher. How on earth did he not get a straight red? Gallagher did him a right favour by getting straight up. If Bamford had been on the receiving end, he'd still be on the floor.
Just seen Bamford's assault on Gallagher. How on earth did he not get a straight red? Gallagher did him a right favour by getting straight up. If Bamford had been on the receiving end, he'd still be on the floor.
Was sat right above that incident....RED all day long the ref bottled it as it was right in front of the Leeds bench.
Leeds won't be getting rid of Bielsa any time soon and I'm really not sure Bowyer would go to Brentford
This is Bielsa’s last year at Leeds if they don’t go up. He almost left at the end of last season. He is on a crazy £6M per season in The Championship and the club can’t keep that up much longer if they don’t get promoted.
I wasn't there yesterday, but after conceding two fairly basic goals from set pieces against Wigan it was really heartening to see us keep a clean sheet yesterday. Huge credit to Bowyer and the defence for tightening up so quickly.
Apart from the late chance where I thought it was going to be a goal, Leeds were pretty toothless throughout. I have never seen a team with that much possession fashion so few decent chances.
Comments
Yes they are a team of higher quality than us - we were never gonna play them at their own game and win. And yes we had a fair bit of luck - the goal and some of their misses/our blocks. And yes it was backs to the wall for much of the game. But tactically we got it bang on.
All the talk before the game was Phillips dictates play from deep for them and that they attack from wide so their winger and full backs will double up on our full backs.
Bow countered both of these by going with the split strikers and William's as a false 9. Bonne and Leko spent a lot of time in the channels which kept their full backs occupied and stopped the double up on Solly and The Cat. It also caused confusion with the centre backs as they didnt know whether to follow or stay. Our front 2 also did a fair amount of tracking back to the fullback areas. Williams was all over Phillips, caused him all sorts of problems and stopped him getting in the game. He dropped deeper and deeper but still had no space.
Then the move to a back 3 after 15/20 mins with Pratley dropping in completely shut then out for a period. Forced then into speculative shots from distance.
When we scored their heads went and they didn't do much for a while after.
The fact that they went 352 at half time to match up with us says a lot.
The other factor was that we just wanted it more, it kept us right in the midfield battle and frustrated them. As I said previously we won every 50-50 and Gallagher won plenty he had no right to.
Obviously the game got fraught in the last 15 mins. Losing Williams and Gallagher, both of whom looked like they were struggling with something stopped us from linking defense and attack. It became real backs to the wall but again we wanted it more.
Can't fault any of them.
Lee Bowyer = tactical genius!
Not seen it mentioned but there was a shot first half that Leko blocked. The commentators were ‘right behind it’ and Phillips was beaten had Leko not been there. I didn’t see it but saw Dillon praising Leko after it. Fair play to our forward tracking back that far!
I can’t believe how much graft went in to it , I’m knackered just thinking about it ....
Every Saturday we follow .....
How on earth did he not get a straight red?
Gallagher did him a right favour by getting straight up. If Bamford had been on the receiving end, he'd still be on the floor.
Bloke's a sore loser with the same touchline etiquette as Steve Evans.
No words to describe! A massive effort from all the lads. Thankyou to all the fans for their support & kind words! We continue.... #CAFC
Big win yesterday at The valley
top team performance and unreal support from the fans 
on to the next one 
#CAFC
#TheProcess