Mighty Leeds Weblog

The FA have today, released the following statement: "Leeds United AFC and Barnsley FC have been fined £25,000 and £7,500 respectively for breaching FA Rule E20.1 during their EFL Cup fixture on Wednesday 24 August 2022. "The clubs admitted that they failed to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion during the 67th minute of the fixture. Both clubs admitted a non-standard charge and requested a paper hearing where the fines were imposed by an independent Regulatory Commission."

Of the young hopefuls aiming to stake their first-team claim during Leeds United's Carabao Cup tie against Barnsley, Cody Drameh's opportunity was perhaps the greatest. By Flora Snelson While the Whites' attackers collectively reach what Jesse Marsch termed 'the form of their lives' and the question of central midfield looks finally to have been answered, full-back remains a position of concern, with one side outright underserved and the other occupied by a new signing who is still getting to grips with the Premier League. Months after receiving Young Player of the Year award on loan at Championship club Cardiff City, Drameh was well placed to make a case for displacing Rasmus Kristensen against League One opposition at Elland Road on Wednesday night. And the 20-year-old held absolutely nothing back from his Leeds United homecoming - inside the first minute, Drameh announced himself with a sliding tackle on former Thorp Arch prospect Clarke Oduor. Drameh...

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE Written by: Rob Conlon Luis Sinisterra knows patience is a virtue. As a teenager in 2017, Sinisterra posted a farewell message to his club in Colombia, Once Caldas, and boarded a plane for Brussels. He was expecting to be greeted with a four-year contract at Club Bruges. Instead, he landed in Belgium, and was told to go back to South America because the transfer had collapsed. As reported by Phil Hay in The Athletic, Sinisterra’s coach Francisco Maturana messaged his young protege. “You did not go there for (nothing),” Maturana said. “You have a lot of talent. Things didn’t happen but you were there.” A year later, Sinisterra was flying back to Europe, turning up in Holland to sign for Feyenoord, overdressed in a suit that made him look like he was attending a wedding. He got laughed at for his attire, but after the disappointment of the failed move to Bruges, he was determined to make the best possible impression at Feyenoord. Nobody was laughing at him on...

ALL WRONG, ALRIGHT Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman The Carabao Cup always feels wonky and broken. A cup final in February, for crying out loud. Winter is not the time for cup finals, and the feeling that everything is in the wrong place in this competition lasts from the early rounds to the end, not that Leeds United ever get to the end. Bowing out at the start saves Leeds’ exposure to this misshapen tournament, but makes it even more jarring when somebody turns out to be playing somebody at Wembley at the end. In February. The things in the wrong place at Elland Road for this second round tie begin with the absence of former Football League chief executive Shaun Harvey, once the under-slitherling of Ken Bates in this parish, who on nights like this should be placed in stocks by the side of the pitch so clubs can raise a little funding by selling soft fruit and rotten eggs to fans for throwing at him. Other things in the wrong place include the following. For the first fi...

Luis Sinisterra starred as Leeds United eased past Barnsley in the Carabao Cup but the winger must fight his way into the Premier League line-up according to René Marić. By Graham Smyth Jesse Marsch's assistant saw plenty of room for improvement from the team in general after a 3-1 win that came courtesy of a Sinisterra wondergoal and Mateusz Klich's double, the reward for which is a trip to Wolves in the next round. "I think in general the performance was was good, but we could have done better," said Marić. "We were not as consistent over 90 minutes as we wanted to be. We always had some situations where we allowed the opposition to come into defensive third, things that we don't want to do. "We had phases at the start of the second half, at the end of the second half, in the middle of the first half where we played more like what we want to do - pushing them into their half to keep them there and just be dominant in every phase." Mars...

WHILE Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch is stepping firmly out of Marcelo Bielsa’s shadow, the shadow of a relegation campaign has stalked Barnsley at times in the early stages of the 2022-23 campaign as they come to terms with their new reality in League One. By Leon Wobschall Speaking beforehand, Marsch’s Barnsley counterpart Michael Duff spoke about this Yorkshire derby representing a ‘free hit’ for his Reds side, handed an early-season bump and reality check against Wycombe Wanderers at the weekend as Leeds surfed the crest of a wave versus Chelsea. Duff added the proviso that you only enjoy nights like Wednesday if you compete and perform well, while sensibly not going public in predicting a shock. Even accounting for some surprise results in this competition so far. The start and the end of the first half provided a certain enjoyment from his perspective as Barnsley showed no lack of confidence and took the game to Leeds and weren’t cowed. The bit in the middle of th...

Mark Walker Luis Sinisterra stole the show on his full debut as Leeds beat Yorkshire rivals Barnsley 3-1 to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup. The Colombia winger, signed from Feyenoord for a reported £22.5million, scored a brilliant first-half opener and had a hand in Leeds’ two other goals. Sinisterra won a first-half penalty, converted by Mateusz Klich, and after Mads Andersen had headed Barnsley back into it before the break, the South American’s deflected cross was turned home by Klich. Barnsley, relegated to Sky Bet League One last season, made a real fight of it after a much-changed Leeds side – head coach Jesse Marsch made nine changes – threatened to blow them away. Callum Styles saw his first-half penalty hit a post and felt he should have had another spot-kick in the second period. Sinisterra gave Leeds a 21st-minute lead, turning inside and curling a right-footed shot into the top corner. Klich converted a 32nd-minute penalty after Sinisterra had been h...

Leeds 3-1 Barnsley: Jesse Marsch's side march on into the Carabao Cup third round after a Luis Sinisterra stunner and Mateusz Klich's brace proves to be too much for the Tykes The hosts got off to a good start with summer signing Luis Sinisterra scoring Mateusz Klich doubled the lead 11 minutes later for Leeds from the penalty spot However, it didn't take long for Barnsley to respond through Mads Andersen Barnsley had the chance to make it 2-2 but Callum Styles' penalty was saved Klich then restored Leeds' two-goal lead on the night before the hour-mark By DAVID COVERDALE A month ago, Leeds fans were mourning the departure of one South American winger. On Wednesday night, they were celebrating the arrival of another. Many Whites supporters feared the worst when their Brazilian star Raphinha was sold to Barcelona earlier in the summer. Yet the 23-year-old Colombian they brought in as his replacement, Luis Sinisterra, made an immediate impact on his fi...

Leeds United moved into the third round of the Carabao Cup by winning a Yorkshire derby against League One side Barnsley at a packed Elland Road. The hosts looked in control when Luis Sinisterra scored from 25 yards and Mateusz Klich converted a penalty. But Barnsley pulled one back through Mads Andersen's diving header and then missed a spot-kick of their own as Callum Styles could only hit the post. Klich scored again with a curling shot from 15 yards to seal Leeds' win. Jesse Marsch's team have been drawn away to fellow Premier League side Wolves in the next round with the tie to be played in the week commencing 7 November. Leeds made nine changes to their starting line-up from the 11 that began the 3-0 home win over Chelsea on Sunday, although they still took the lead after 20 minutes. Colombia winger Sinisterra, making his first start for the club since a £21m summer move from Feyenoord, opened his account in style with a brilliantly-struck effort from outs...

INTIMIDATING VOICE Written by: Rob Conlon When Aapo Halme left Leeds United for Barnsley in summer 2019, he posted a perfectly respectable goodbye on Instagram: ‘I would like to thank @leedsunited for welcoming me to English football giving me my debut and welcoming me to this historic football club. ‘Above all I would like to thank all the fans for all the support during my time at Leeds. I wish the club all the best for the future.’ It was in keeping with the little we knew about Halme. Five appearances as emergency cover during Marcelo Bielsa’s first season didn’t tell us much about his ability as a defender, let alone his personality. There were only two things we knew for certain about Aapo Halme: he’s big, 6ft 5in, and not afraid to show it; and he has the earnest face of a kind boy scout. I am using that Instagram post as proof his character is reflective of his appearance. Gjanni Alioski does not have a kind, earnest face. He has a face full of mischief. Smirking, w...

hil Hay Phil Hay As Neil Warnock exited his post-match press conference, a Barnsley supporter in the corridor outside told the Leeds United manager to consider himself lucky. Warnock gave the comment some thought. “The harder you work the luckier you get,” he said. “In that case,” the supporter replied, “you must work harder than anyone.” They both had a point. Barnsley left Elland Road on Saturday aggrieved at the scoreline, the referee and the rub of the green but Warnock saw United’s win in a different context. “That’s our seventh game in about three weeks,” he said. “What we’ve done in that time is quite phenomenal.” If that overstated United’s form then the Championship table did not. Through a tangle of fixtures and multiple injuries, Leeds reached the season’s second international break in seventh position, with as many points as Huddersfield Town in sixth and four fewer than Cardiff City in first. The debate over Barnsley’s misfortune promptly sucked Warnock in. “I don’t t...