Leeds United v Aston Villa Post match thread.

[Toronto Villa]

If Gollini is going to commit to punching it then he simply has to get there first. That's not to take away from the move and cross that preceded it because it was very good. As I said in my summary, it was a poor team performance so as much as Gollini is to take his share of the blame for both goals the rest of the team performed poorly also. We looked very flat and the tactics employed by the manager in my opinion were wrong and more negative than they needed to be.

[Steve67]

Gollini just didn't look like he had any conviction when he came out to punch.  He needs to flatten everything in front of him.  Other than the two goals, he had nothing to do, so it's really disappointing.  I wish we would exploit our own potential instead of deploying tactics to stop the opposition from playing.  We have far better attacking players that most of the sides I've seen so far, including Leeds, but we looked to nullify yesterday instead of getting stuck in to them.  I still think we are carrying too many players at the moment and hope we can bring in at least three in the transfer window. Even if we just replace Westwood and Elphick from yesterdays team, we are easily good enough to get in to the play-offs.  Am I being greedy by asking for a left winger too?

[SoccerHQ]

It is a really mediocre league isn't it? The quality is poor. I wouldn't fancy any team I've seen in the premier league, maybe Newcastle but I don't think they're great

Part of me thinks we'd be better off having two years down here - Bruce should be capable of turning us into a title winner next year and we'd be better placed to stay up with a better team

The other part thinks we'd lose some of our few premier league quality players if we did stay down here one more year and it would be even harder

I agree with that.

If the relegated trio are going to be Hull, Sunderland and Swansea I don't see why we couldn't dominate next season in the way Newcastle and Brighton have so far.

I do still think we'll make the top 6....but I'm not unconvinced we have the bottle and resilience to actually win them. Probably I've been scarred down the years in league and cup games when it comes to the crunch so not convinced it will be any better at a lower level.

Yeah we'd probably lose Amavi and Ayew....but neither are exactly firing us to promotion atm anyway, Ayew isn't even a regular starter under Bruce.

[SoccerHQ]

When I saw the team news yesterday, I immediately thought of Brighton away, the only difference being the ineffective gestede for the ineffective agbonlahor and elphick for the injured baker. Some questions for Bruce...
Why did you set your team up in the same way as you did for a game 2 weeks ago? It wasn't perfect then (the performance only started to come together after agbonlahor went off vs Brighton) so why would it work against Leeds? Besides championship players don't have the consistency to transfer performances between away fixtures.
Do you believe in playing your best/in form players in their best positions? If so why didn't the best forward (Kodjia) currently at the club start as the main striker?
If you're prepared to give an old has-been like agbonlahor game-time why are you not prepared to give hungry talented players like Murphy and greene game time also, or do you have an aversion to youth?
What are you doing to get the best out of Tish? Surely if managed /coached properly he is better than
some of the dross you have in midfield?
I like what Bruce has started to do, but there's a long way to go and the more games Bruce manages the more responsibility he has for the performances/results.

Well obviously you need to rotate in this division....it's impossible to have an unchanged team for 46 games.

I think SB has looked at it and doesn't trust Ayew and Jack in away games yet. If you look at it both have started the home games so far but both have rarely started away from home.

Think SB is looking at it as 3 points at home and 1 away should be a formula to eventually get us in the top 6.

The trouble is playing the workmanlike midfields away from home mean we struggle to create many chances.

We are still struggling to win away games so it's not a magic formula either.

[KevinGage]

If that's his strategy (and I suspect it is - we were seemingly still playing for a point even when we were 1-0 up against B-lose) it is giving the absolute toss in this division too much respect.

Leeds were like countless other teams we have played this season; nervous, respectful and standing off us early on. But we let them grow into the contest.  You know the opposition is limited when Westwood is calling the shots in the centre of the park.

The only teams who have impressed me so far were Wednesday, Newcastle (first half) and Wolves (second half).

[eamonn]

Bruce said recently that any point away from home is a great result. I thought he was trotting out an age-old cliché but the way he sets us up away does suggest he buys into it, regardless of the quality of the opposition which is a shame as others have said, considering our arsenal.

[Ron Manager]

Gollini just didn't look like he had any conviction when he came out to punch.  He needs to flatten everything in front of him.  Other than the two goals, he had nothing to do, so it's really disappointing.  I wish we would exploit our own potential instead of deploying tactics to stop the opposition from playing.  We have far better attacking players that most of the sides I've seen so far, including Leeds, but we looked to nullify yesterday instead of getting stuck in to them.  I still think we are carrying too many players at the moment and hope we can bring in at least three in the transfer window. Even if we just replace Westwood and Elphick from yesterdays team, we are easily good enough to get in to the play-offs.  Am I being greedy by asking for a left winger too?

Remember when Bosnich flattened Klinsman.? A few have forgotten he also sent McGrath flying as he came out. That is the kind of keeper I want. Decisive and  ultra confident

[London Villan]

I'm trusting Bruce's judgment for getting out of this division at the moment. He must see we have a poor selection of midfielders and hopefully a couple of new ones are on his Christmas list.

[Chris Smith]

Bruce said recently that any point away from home is a great result. I thought he was trotting out an age-old cliché but the way he sets us up away does suggest he buys into it, regardless of the quality of the opposition which is a shame as others have said, considering our arsenal.

Our previous manager had that attitude that could just steamroller teams and look where that got us. That kind of arrogance has a habit of biting you on the arse, they might not be the strongest opponents but most sides have players who can hurt you given the chance as Leeds showed. Yes, it was poor defending but the cross and run by the scorer where both very good.

I think Bruce has decided to make us more solid and up until yesterday it had worked, that instills confidence and gives us something to build on in the second half of the season.

[Tayls_7]

I'm trusting Bruce's judgment for getting out of this division at the moment. He must see we have a poor selection of midfielders and hopefully a couple of new ones are on his Christmas list.

Total faith in Bruce. He'll buy the right players at the right price in January.

[b23]

What a rubbish, shit hole Elland Road is.

Their Eastern Stand is impressive from a distance. The three other sides are shite.

I'm glad i went to the game.

Good parking, but I'll never go there again.

Villa Park. We don't realise how fantastic it is.

I'll be interested to see how many Leeds fans turn up at Villla Park.

[Pete3206]

I'll be interested to see how many Leeds fans turn up at Villla Park.

They'll fill their end with ease

[brentastonb6]

I know that nobody will agree with me but I thought Westwood was one of our better players

Just to prove you wrong- I agree with you,I was showing my youngest son ( 6 years old ) who seems to be jumping on the anti Westwood bandwagon
that nearly every time a Leeds player was in possession Westwood was there chasing them down. Agree with most other comments - Elphick a disappointment, Rudy only a sub ever, no creativity with Ayew and Jack on the bench , fine margins of winning and losing, we were the better of two average teams until they scored,never looked like getting back into the game afterwards,  Gollini should have punched player and ball into next year.... but one loss in eight ... only three more defeats until the end of the season if we can keep that ratio up ( Wolves, Toon and Norwich away ? ) can we win the others , why not ? I am still up for us finishing second especially with Brighton as our last home game .... winner goes up 

[Scratchins]

The day started well, no traffic hold ups, friendly greetings from the police and stewards and the gates & bar in the ground were open at 3:30.
Once pitchside though it was a different matter. No one was happy with their view from the overpriced seats. Those at the front had the security staff standing blocking sight of the pitch and in the main chatting and laughing, not needed for crowd control. Others told of restrictions to the view including in the disabled area, duplicate tickets causing extra areas to be opened , and spurious evictions including I am told one for throwing tinsel around.
The applause for the Chapecoense disaster was distasteful and inappropriate, everyone else appeared to have managed a period of silence. You don’t applaud 71 people dying.
Then we lost and the behaviour of some of our fans was not what we want Aston Villa to be known for.
And it’s still a second rate stadium. I am tired of journalists telling me of the joys of ‘atmospheric’ grounds, they don’t get a poor view or fight to get near the toilet whilst being ripped off over prices.

[UK Redsox]

What a rubbish, shit hole Elland Road is.

Their Eastern Stand is impressive from a distance. The three other sides are shite.

I'm glad i went to the game.

Good parking, but I'll never go there again.

Villa Park. We don't realise how fantastic it is.

I'll be interested to see how many Leeds fans turn up at Villla Park.

The stand we were in was very poorly laid out. Not enough turnstiles to get in, a complete crush to get up the stairs, the commentary/camera gantry hanging down and various poles/cables obstructing the view.

However, that "Pavilion" set up was very good. I was in there with some of my Leeds mates for around an hour (after they'd tried and failed to get me into the Peacock beer garden).

I haven't parked that close to a ground since the late 90s when my mate had a permit for the North Stand car park. On the motorway within five minutes of getting in the car and back home by 11pm.

Considering the 400 mile round trip, it couldn't have gone any better (apart from the result)