Mighty Leeds Weblog

I MISS YOU MOST OF ALL Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman Here was a beautiful night for football, August ending with warm hints of autumn coming instead of July’s searing klaxons of the planet’s impending death. Autumn is the season when leaves fall and mulch, but first nature gets its one last rage of joy before winter. The pinkening skies over Beeston and the distinctive smell of washing machine repair made the terraced streets and industrial estates a landscape for fond nostalgia, not fear of the future. I don’t think we’ll ever get to the bottom of what happened in Frank Lampard Junior’s past to turn his life choices so petulant and self-destructive. Given the conditions, and the glory that always feels possible in the sport of football, the sourness of this Everton team was spiteful. Lampard is their manager and he isn’t very good at it, doesn’t seem to enjoy doing it, and doesn’t need to do it. Like billionaires who tweet, if I had his life, I simply would not. Lampar...

The Premier League is at its best not when the super-rich are putting nine goals past an outgunned newly promoted side, but when two teams like Leeds United and Everton go toe-to-toe in a ferocious atmosphere and share the spoils. By Graham Smyth You couldn’t take your eyes off it for a second, on and off the pitch, as the two teams and their respective sets of fans snarled their way through 90 angsty minutes. Here’s the YEP take on an eventful night at Elland Road. Good day Luis Sinisterra – We didn’t see all of his ability and he wasn’t in the game for every minute but he made a telling impact and whetted appetites for his next trick. What a goal. Illan Meslier – Some distribution issues aside, Meslier has already proven his worth this season with some incredible saves. His ability to get the better of attackers in one-v-one situations is remarkable. Leeds will undoubtedly receive expressions of interest over the next 12 months from Champions League clubs if he continues ...

Leeds United's striker situation was not the only story of their 1-1 draw with Everton, but it was by far the biggest. By Graham Smyth This was a game Jesse Marsch and his players lost control of but wrestled back again. It was a game of needle and spite, played out in a raucous, almost feral atmosphere that felt dangerously close to the edge on occasion. This was a game that called for, but did not always get cool heads. It was a game Leeds could easily have won, such were the chances they created, and a game they could have lost late on, had it not been for Illan Meslier. But it was just a game, just one game and when the discussion of Luis Sinisterra's goal, Everton's time wasting and the technical area dust-ups dies down, talk will once again, inevitably, turn to Leeds United, strikers and the 33 games still to come. The club's pre-Everton rationale for not signing a striker was that they already had three very good ones, but by 8.32pm they were down to tw...

AFTER last season’s fine August fixture at Elland Road between these two venerable football institutions, two managerial grandees in Marcelo Bielsa and Rafael Benitez warmly embraced at the final whistle and the old songs appeared to still be the best. By Leon Wobschall How times have changed since. Two of the most recognisable dug-out names in world football are viewing football matches from their respective living rooms these days as Jesse Marsch and Frank Lampard strive to bring in a new order at the passion plays that are Leeds United and Everton. Lampard, hardly beloved in these parts, has not had too much to go his way since heading to Merseyside. In the first half here, plenty did – as he paced up and down his technical area and was never far away from the side of fourth official Andre Marriner as he tried to manage the game from the touchline and succeeded in the main. For Leeds and Marsch, there was undeniable angst. The interval was well-timed after an annoying first ...

Luis Sinisterra scored his first Premier League goal for Leeds as they came from a goal behind to draw with Everton in a pulsating encounter at Elland Road. The Colombian winger, who hit his first goal for the club in the EFL Cup last week following a summer move from Feyenoord, drove in from 18 yards after the break as Leeds piled pressure on Everton. They were much improved after a poor first half when Anthony Gordon scored for a second successive game, keeping his cool to slip the ball through Illan Meslier's legs following Alex Iwobi's through ball. Leeds' top scorer Rodrigo also went off with what Jesse Marsch confirmed afterwards was a dislocated shoulder following an innocuous challenge with Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. But inspired by the impressive Jack Harrison and substitute Joe Gelhardt, Leeds tore into their opponents only to find Pickford in top form, denying both players and Brenden Aaronson. As the game opened up, Everton had late chances to...

Louise Taylor at Elland Road Not for the first time Anthony Gordon demonstrated precisely why Frank Lampard is so desperate to keep him at Everton. Gordon’s goal was not quite sufficient to provide Lampard’s team with a first Premier League win of the season. But a winger much coveted by Chelsea played a key part in securing a hard-won point on an exhilaratingly exciting night when his teammates needed to be streetwise to contain a Leeds side much improved by Jesse Marsch this season. With Luis Sinisterra scoring an eye-catching equaliser and Jack Harrison’s second-half wing play never permitting Everton to relax, a ferocious yet fragile Leeds bristled with menace yet retained a decided vulnerability to counterattacks. “I thought it was less entertaining than it could have been because Everton played to slow the game down,” said Marsch who did not entirely dismiss suggestions that Dan James could join Tottenham by Thursday night. “But in general I think it was a step forward fo...

Leeds 1-1 Everton: Anthony Gordon scored his second in as many games but Frank Lampard’s side again failed to hold on for victory Richard Jolly If taking over from Marcelo Bielsa seemed the most thankless task at Elland Road, replacing Raphinha was not far behind. The Brazilian may have been the most gifted footballer to play for Leeds since the generation who reached the 2001 Champions League semi-finals. Luis Sinisterra was charged with succeeding Barcelona’s £50m buy and his first Premier League goal extended Leeds’ fine start to the season. Even as his team missed the opportunity to break into the top four, Bielsa’s successor Jesse Marsch offered more evidence his overhaul will bear fruit. The chance to become the first Leeds side since Don Revie’s eventual champions of 1973-74 to win their first three top-flight home games of a campaign was eschewed but the Colombian’s strike brought echoes of Raphinha. Sinisterra looked the right man for the job. And yet this was a tale o...

Luis Sinisterra's classy strike on his full Leeds United league debut earned Jesse Marsch's Whites a point as Tuesday night's clash against Premier League visitors Everton ended in a 1-1 draw. By Lee Sobot Everton took the lead through their first attack in the 17th minute as Anthony Gordon coolly slotted the ball past Illan Meslier after Diego Llorente made a mess of trying to clear an Alex Iwobi through ball. Leeds then lost striker Rodrigo to a shoulder injury but Jesse Marsch's side drew level ten minutes after the break through a fine low drive from 20 yards out from summer signing Sinisterra on his full Whites league debut. United made an energetic start but without fashioning a chance in the first 15 minutes, the early highlight being a sublime piece of control and turn from Sinisterra. But an unfortunate touch from Sinisterra fashioned an opening for Everton from which Frank Lampard's side took a 17th minute lead. Sinisterra's interception as...

Jesse Marsch has suggested Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford could make a return to the matchday squad against Everton with his latest comments By Joe Donnohue by Ashley Allen/Getty Images) Jesse Marsch believes Patrick Bamford is ‘really close’ to a return after picking up a groin problem during the Whites’ second fixture of the season away to Southampton. Bamford has missed the home wins over Chelsea and Barnsley, as well as last weekend’s defeat at the American Express Community Stadium against Brighton and Hove Albion. Speaking following his side’s first defeat of the season, Marsch had good news on the fitness of England international Bamford. “Patrick Bamford will be really close for that match [Everton at Elland Road], so we should have options,” Marsch said, however there were fewer positives regarding Liam Cooper who missed out once more at Brighton after playing in midweek. “He picked up a little something in his calf and so we just again decided to be a litt...

CLASS OF 17 Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman A quick poll of pals indicates Thursday night’s were the big games nobody could bear to watch. Congratulations to the Premier League for creating a competition so full of tension and ‘this means more’ drama that its core viewership would rather puke than sit down to watch a game and look at the adverts. I braved these terrible spectacles so permit to tell you how things went. The match between Everton and Crystal Palace had less immediate significance for Leeds United Football Club and Friday morning’s headlines tell you enough about that one. Knowing a win would make them safe from relegation, Everton were pleasantly down 2-0 at half-time, but came back to win 3-2, sending Frank Lampard Junior charging around like a once-a-year racegoer fighting a lamppost. His Palace counterpart, Patrick Vieira, also took a turn around the pitch at full-time, hacking away at the shins of an Everton fan who got more grief back than they had to ...

Leeds United's bid for Premier League survival is out of their own hands heading into the Sunday's final day of the campaign. By Lee Sobot Relegation rivals Burnley sealed a 1-1 draw at Thursday night's hosts Aston Villa which left the Whites back in the drop zone as part of an evening when Everton made themselves safe. The Toffees produced an incredible comeback to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 at Goodison Park having trailed 2-0 at the interval and Frank Lampard's side are now four points clear of the drop zone. The battle to avoid finishing in the division's final relegation place and joining Watford and Norwich City in being relegated is now a two-horse race between Leeds and Burnley heading into Sunday's final day. But United's far inferior goal difference means that the Whites will be consigned to the drop if Burnley beat Newcastle United at Turf Moor, regardless of how Leeds fare at Brentford. Jesse Marsch's side are level on points with the...

Brentford will hold nothing back in their 'cup final' against Leeds United in the last game of the Premier League season. By Flora Snelson That's the message Bees boss Thomas Frank gave after his side's victory over relegation-threatened Everton left the fight for survival wide open. Pascal Struijk's late equaliser for Leeds against Brighton and Hove Albion ensured that the relegation battle will go to the very last day - midweek results for Everton, at home to Crystal Palace, and Burnley, who visit Aston Villa, will not be enough to send United down, meaning Leeds' top flight status will be hanging in the balance when they travel to the Brentford Community Stadium on Sunday - a fact which is not lost on Frank. This season, Elland Road has felt like a sinking ship, with Marcelo Bielsa's historic promotion-winning team disintegrating into mediocrity and possibly taking their hard-fought top-flight status down with them, while Frank's newly-promote...

Leeds United were handed some welcome relief as their relegation-battling rivals Everton were dealt a fresh hammer blow on the back of a seismic Burnley boost. By Lee Sobot Burnley took themselves out of the drop zone at Everton's expense through Sunday's 1-0 win at home to Wolves which put the Clarets fourth-bottom and just two points behind fifth-bottom Leeds. Everton then took on Merseyside rivals Liverpool in Sunday's final Premier League game at Anfield and Frank Lampard's side fell to a 2-0 defeat as the Reds netted twice in the second half through Andrew Robertson and Divock Origi. The result leaves Everton third-bottom, two points behind Burnley and four points behind Leeds, the Clarets having played a game more than both sides. Leeds finally return to action after 15 days off in Monday night's clash at Crystal Palace, a fixture which is followed by consecutive tests against three of the division's top four.

LONG STORY Written by: Moscowhite • Daniel Chapman Leeds United were defeated two ways by Everton at Goodison Park. First they lost the ninety minutes. Frank Lampard sent Everton out with two strikers, so Marcelo Bielsa set Leeds up with three central defenders — two markers, one spare — as he always does. The hitch was that Mateusz Klich was asked to anchor midfield, and Bielsa said this was his most significant mistake of the day. “Sincerely I assigned a task to him that didn’t fit his characteristics,” he said. Adam Forshaw replaced him at half-time and Leeds found some stability, but at 2-0 down they needed more than that. Another apparent mistake, not acknowledged, was relying on the same eleven that played at Aston Villa, even after Bielsa’s pre-match discussion of the degrading impact of playing games so frequently close together, which looked well spoken after their tired show. Mid-game changes in attack didn’t help, though, Dan James fading when he moved to Raphinha’s pl...

It is less than one month since Leeds United produced probably their best display of the season, one of their best full stop under Marcelo Bielsa even. By Lee Sobot Despite an abundance of injuries, the Whites were brilliant in January’s 3-1 victory at West Ham which propelled the Whites nine points clear of the drop zone. One month later, that nine-point gap is down to six and Leeds still have a little bit of breathing space back to bottom three Burnley, Watford and Norwich City. But the Whites will be playing a very dangerous game if they repeat showings like Saturday’s hugely disappointing display at Everton and producing a strong long-term reaction is a must. At their best, Bielsa’s Whites are much better than a team befitting a 15th-placed position and United again showed what they were capable of in large spells of Wednesday night’s clash at Aston Villa. The main problem at Villa Park was that United were too open at the back, albeit Steven Gerrard’s side benefited fr...

A midfield problem that proved insurmountable and further injury woes made it a bleak day for Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United at Everton. By Graham Smyth The early loss of Stuart Dallas, the late knock sustained by the man who replaced him - Leo Hjelde - will be areas of concern for Bielsa this week in the lead up to the Manchester United game. Leeds' head coach has plenty of other concerns, however, in the wake of a bitterly disappointing 3-0 defeat on Merseyside. Here's the YEP take on it all. Good day Anthony Gordon The 20-year-old was mustard, giving Leeds United a horrible time of it from start to finish. He can consider himself very fortunate to have been credited for the third goal but he deserved huge plaudits for his performance. His pace made him a nightmare to stop and he had space in which to build up speed and momentum. Blowing past Diego Llorente as if he wasn't there allowed him to start the move that eventually ended in Seamus Coleman's 10t...