Boro vs. Leeds (A) 0-0

[diggerlad07 3,695]

Encouraging 2nd half performance, play like that and we will trouble all defences in the league!

[Teacider 108]

A draw at Leeds would have been a good point in different circumstances but no win in our last 5 games now all against teams in the bottom half of the table means to me that this was a must win game (in my opinion). Let's not forget Leeds are 16th with ONLY 4 home wins all season. Yes we did create a few chances but ultimately the final balls and finishing were poor.

 

With all that being said it does seem like we aren't getting the run of the green with all these decisions. You could say that yes fair enough Gibson's second yellow might have been a deserved sending off but on the other side of things there was a high boot in Jordan Rhodes' face that didn't see their player even receive so much as a yellow card and there was another off the ball incident where it appears Jordan Rhodes was hit in the face in the box which went completely unpunished? Not to mention the perfectly legal goal which was wrongly disallowed (for the second season IN A ROW now). I don't need to tell you but you can see from the replay that the ball was clearly in when Nsue played it, and the biggest joke of it all is that the limesman wasn't even in a position to make a decision on the ball being out, he was 15 yards back up the pitch! If he can't be certain the he can't give it can he...

 

I'm not one for blaming the officials on our results, me being a believer in that you make your own luck, but in this instance I am lost for words... You legally put the ball into the back of the net, what more can you do? If it had counted I reckon the Leeds defence would've crumbled.

 

If this was a must win game do we just give up on the season now?

[Tom 2,492]

We're lucky Leadbitter didn't get booked last night as well. At one point he fouled a Leeds player, and the ref played an advantage. The ball then stayed in play for ages, so the ref must have either forgotten or just given Leads the benefit. If he'd have pulled it back for the initial foul, I'm 100% certain he'd have given the yellow as well.

 

All in all from last night, I'm disappointed we didn't win. We did look okay on the whole, but the link up play in the final third was massively lacking.

Adomah showed what a kick up the backside can do for a player, and it was timely too, seeing as Stuani was awful. Thought the full backs played well again.

By the end I was convinced we were going to concede, so to that end I'll settle for the point. Not happy with it, by any stretch, but glad we didn't get sucker punched again.

[Brunners 7,982]

Jordan Rhodes had about 3 years of spare time to move into the box with hi's big chance. Not sure why he thought he had to take it so early :(

[Motor Mouth 255]

All in all I think a draw was fair.

I thought Leeds definitely earned it and were a bit unlucky not to take the win in the end Gibson's tackling was schoolboy stuff and he deserved to walk.

But for a while when we changed things in the game I did see how Leeds defence were suspect.

 

If only AK would start with 4-4-2 instead of waiting till the last 3rd of the game.

This is 3 games on the trot we have seen that we are better playing with 2 up front.

When is he gonna see that we lack bite playing with only one front man.

[Betamaxman 14]

Strange emotions tonight a better performance but still not great. Poor decision making in the final third cost us but overall I can't remember making that many chances in a game in a long while. That said we really didn't test their keeper. At the other end Dimi pulled out a worldie and a top class save.

 

Still second but that safety net has disappeared and this bliiiip is getting longer.

 

Will be cheering Hull on against Brighton

 

I don't think we want any team (other than Boro!!) to run away with it. I also think that we want to have TWO automatic places to scrap for, not just one. With this in mind, I don't think I do want Hull to win tonight.

 

OK... if Brighton win we'll slip to third, but we'll have the game in hand again. We can then go above BOTH of them when we get back to winning ways and win the game in hand!!

 

(We were better last night, and Adomah looked more like his attacking self).

[Downsouth 6,327]

Forget this game in hand stuff, it does not guarantee the points.

 

My concern is the erosion of our magnificent position and points difference over the last few weeks, another sequence that has massively affected our position last season.

 

We have failed to score in a third of our games so far so with that in mind there will still be many games to go where we drop points because of our lack of goals.

 

Hard fact to swallow I know BUT something needs to change

[ladyspite 385]

We can have Rhodes playing in a Blackburn shirt maybe?

[HullBoro 5]

Jordan Rhodes had about 3 years of spare time to move into the box with hi's big chance. Not sure why he thought he had to take it so early :(

 

Could you imagine how many people would be losing their minds right now if that was Nugent?

[BillyWoofs_shinpad 1,884]

It was a pretty dire game on a dreadful pitch, we were unlucky with the disallowed goal, but from where the linesman was stood it would have been difficult to tell if the ball was in or out. It looks like this week Downing is the forum's boo boy, last week Adomah was "finished" and shouldn't play again, this week when he came on he was the one positive. I wouldn't say that we were any more effective playing 442, it just felt more exciting because Albert made a few runs at the Leeds defence. I thought Nugent contributed absolutely nothing, his touch was poor and he didn't look like he knew what his role was.

 

We are missing Friend's attacking runs, at the moment that dimension is missing and Stuani is suffering due to a lack of far post crosses from the left. Nsue seems to be charged with the responsibility of the attacking full back role, but he doesn't tend to interact with Stuani. I thought that Ramirez looked lively, although I was surprised that he dropped so deep at times, almost Tomlinesque and probably had more to do with the way that our Midfield sat back.

 

Fry and Gibson defended well, but we miss the finesse of Ayala's passing, we just couldn't play the ball out of defence. Rhodes could have been a bit more composed in the area, but Leeds defended well and they have to get some credit for that.

 

It's such a shame that we went out of the cup so early, we need games at the moment not 8 days of training the rot started with the Burnley defeat and the logic that we'll be better off getting knocked out of the cup is flawed.

 

As far as I can see, the upshot is; we need to get George fit again, Ramirez needs to be able to play further up the pitch, which means our CM's need to push up a little more, if George isn't fit I'd probably bring in Adomah for Stuani, as we need at least one player who can surge up the wing.

[Brunners 7,982]

Someone said it last night although I forget who, and I echoed it last night.

 

It doesn't matter if we play 4231 or 442 when our cms play like they do.

 

It actually gets a bit worse at 442 because there's more space in the middle to exploit with the cms sitting so deep.

[Garcy27 4]

It was a pretty dire game on a dreadful pitch, we were unlucky with the disallowed goal, but from where the linesman was stood it would have been difficult to tell if the ball was in or out. It looks like this week Downing is the forum's boo boy, last week Adomah was "finished" and shouldn't play again, this week when he came on he was the one positive. I wouldn't say that we were any more effective playing 442, it just felt more exciting because Albert made a few runs at the Leeds defence. I thought Nugent contributed absolutely nothing, his touch was poor and he didn't look like he knew what his role was.

 

We are missing Friend's attacking runs, at the moment that dimension is missing and Stuani is suffering due to a lack of far post crosses from the left. Nsue seems to be charged with the responsibility of the attacking full back role, but he doesn't tend to interact with Stuani. I thought that Ramirez looked lively, although I was surprised that he dropped so deep at times, almost Tomlinesque and probably had more to do with the way that our Midfield sat back.

 

Fry and Gibson defended well, but we miss the finesse of Ayala's passing, we just couldn't play the ball out of defence. Rhodes could have been a bit more composed in the area, but Leeds defended well and they have to get some credit for that.

 

It's such a shame that we went out of the cup so early, we need games at the moment not 8 days of training the rot started with the Burnley defeat and the logic that we'll be better off getting knocked out of the cup is flawed.

 

As far as I can see, the upshot is; we need to get George fit again, Ramirez needs to be able to play further up the pitch, which means our CM's need to push up a little more, if George isn't fit I'd probably bring in Adomah for Stuani, as we need at least one player who can surge up the wing.

 

Nugent was terrible when he caon last night. In paticular he seemed fixated on passing to rhodes but putting it no where near him

[MMC 1,000]

Much happier after last night than I have been recently with our performances, we were absolutely miles better in every department than against Blackburn & Forest.

 

The defence looked a little shaky at times, but we're missing our best CB and LB. Going forwards I thought we created plenty, on another day Rhodes would have had a hattrick or more.

 

Player ratings then:

 

Dimi - 7.5. Some very good stops and a good all around performance

 

Nsue - 5. Caught in dangerous areas a few times. Guilty of ball watching too often and drifting inside which allowed Leeds to play long diagonal balls into dangerous areas without resistance. Didn't get forward as much last night and when he did was often poor with his crosses or passes.

 

Gibson - 6.5. Very good throughout the night but gets a lower rating for a needless second yellow which puts us in a god-awful position if Ayala & Friend are still out for the next game.

 

Fry - 8. I thought young Dael Fry was superb. I can see why he was played over Kalas as Leeds have some big lads who Ayala would usually deal with. Won everything in the air, won his challenges very well, hoofed it a fair few times but I was pleased that he took the sensible option as opposed to trying to be clever & possibly making a costly mistake. Extends his 100% clean sheet record for us ;)

 

De Laet - 6.5. Was very good up and down the left as well, gets marked down for his headless chicken moment where he knocked it against the crossbar.

 

Clayton - 7. Very tidy, worked tirelessly, won the ball and recycled possession again and again.

 

Leadbitter - 6.5. Tireless performance, lots of graft and little product however. Both he and Clayton played a bit more reserved whilst Ramirez drifted into space. Both he and Clayton have .5 knocked off for being daft and getting suspended.

 

Ramirez - 7. Thought he looked very creative, seems a similar player to Downing but more inclined to take on his man and made decisions more quickly. Can see him being a big player for us.

 

Stuani - 3.5. Nothing came off for him, missed several good chances, a volley and header from 6 yards out both going harmlessly over come to mind. Passing was poor, decision making was poor, not his game last night.

 

Downing - 7. Put in a good shift down the left and was able (with De Laet) to constantly put dangerous crosses into the box, all of which were agonisingly wasted.

 

Rhodes - 4.5. Got all of the service and produced none of the end product. Had a few half chances of crosses, but missed 3 big clear cut ones (low cross straight at the keeper which got us a corner first half, header towards the end of the game & the one on one. Link up play was okay, made the wrong decision a few times though. Didn't see the best of him, on another night he'd have had a couple.

 

Also special mention for Adomah who was incredible when he came on. He's been godawful for long stretches of this season, but has been given a pass by a few because he's provided some vital contributions. Last night he looked like a man on a mission, he must have had a kick up the behind as every trick he tried came off, every cross he got into the box was threatening and he actually put in a good shift when defending as well. Hopefully that wasn't just a flash in the pan, definitely deserves a chance to build on that performance in the next game by starting over Stuani.

[Air Resistance 26]

Much happier after last night than I have been recently with our performances, we were absolutely miles better in every department than against Blackburn & Forest.

 

The defence looked a little shaky at times, but we're missing our best CB and LB. Going forwards I thought we created plenty, on another day Rhodes would have had a hattrick or more.

 

Player ratings then:

 

Dimi - 7.5. Some very good stops and a good all around performance

 

Nsue - 5. Caught in dangerous areas a few times. Guilty of ball watching too often and drifting inside which allowed Leeds to play long diagonal balls into dangerous areas without resistance. Didn't get forward as much last night and when he did was often poor with his crosses or passes.

 

Gibson - 6.5. Very good throughout the night but gets a lower rating for a needless second yellow which puts us in a god-awful position if Ayala & Friend are still out for the next game.

 

Fry - 8. I thought young Dael Fry was superb. I can see why he was played over Kalas as Leeds have some big lads who Ayala would usually deal with. Won everything in the air, won his challenges very well, hoofed it a fair few times but I was pleased that he took the sensible option as opposed to trying to be clever & possibly making a costly mistake. Extends his 100% clean sheet record for us ;)

 

De Laet - 6.5. Was very good up and down the left as well, gets marked down for his headless chicken moment where he knocked it against the crossbar.

 

Clayton - 7. Very tidy, worked tirelessly, won the ball and recycled possession again and again.

 

Leadbitter - 6.5. Tireless performance, lots of graft and little product however. Both he and Clayton played a bit more reserved whilst Ramirez drifted into space. Both he and Clayton have .5 knocked off for being daft and getting suspended.

 

Ramirez - 7. Thought he looked very creative, seems a similar player to Downing but more inclined to take on his man and made decisions more quickly. Can see him being a big player for us.

 

Stuani - 3.5. Nothing came off for him, missed several good chances, a volley and header from 6 yards out both going harmlessly over come to mind. Passing was poor, decision making was poor, not his game last night.

 

Downing - 7. Put in a good shift down the left and was able (with De Laet) to constantly put dangerous crosses into the box, all of which were agonisingly wasted.

 

Rhodes - 4.5. Got all of the service and produced none of the end product. Had a few half chances of crosses, but missed 3 big clear cut ones (low cross straight at the keeper which got us a corner first half, header towards the end of the game & the one on one. Link up play was okay, made the wrong decision a few times though. Didn't see the best of him, on another night he'd have had a couple.

 

Also special mention for Adomah who was incredible when he came on. He's been godawful for long stretches of this season, but has been given a pass by a few because he's provided some vital contributions. Last night he looked like a man on a mission, he must have had a kick up the behind as every trick he tried came off, every cross he got into the box was threatening and he actually put in a good shift when defending as well. Hopefully that wasn't just a flash in the pan, definitely deserves a chance to build on that performance in the next game by starting over Stuani.

Completely agree with all of this.

 

Look at the clear cut chances we created. Although Leeds has a few chance, another day we could have had four. You can legislate for the misses from Rhodes and stuani yesterday, could have had a hatrick each.

[Garcy27 4]

Much happier after last night than I have been recently with our performances, we were absolutely miles better in every department than against Blackburn & Forest.

 

The defence looked a little shaky at times, but we're missing our best CB and LB. Going forwards I thought we created plenty, on another day Rhodes would have had a hattrick or more.

 

Player ratings then:

 

Dimi - 7.5. Some very good stops and a good all around performance

 

Nsue - 5. Caught in dangerous areas a few times. Guilty of ball watching too often and drifting inside which allowed Leeds to play long diagonal balls into dangerous areas without resistance. Didn't get forward as much last night and when he did was often poor with his crosses or passes.

 

Gibson - 6.5. Very good throughout the night but gets a lower rating for a needless second yellow which puts us in a god-awful position if Ayala & Friend are still out for the next game.

 

Fry - 8. I thought young Dael Fry was superb. I can see why he was played over Kalas as Leeds have some big lads who Ayala would usually deal with. Won everything in the air, won his challenges very well, hoofed it a fair few times but I was pleased that he took the sensible option as opposed to trying to be clever & possibly making a costly mistake. Extends his 100% clean sheet record for us ;)

 

De Laet - 6.5. Was very good up and down the left as well, gets marked down for his headless chicken moment where he knocked it against the crossbar.

 

Clayton - 7. Very tidy, worked tirelessly, won the ball and recycled possession again and again.

 

Leadbitter - 6.5. Tireless performance, lots of graft and little product however. Both he and Clayton played a bit more reserved whilst Ramirez drifted into space. Both he and Clayton have .5 knocked off for being daft and getting suspended.

 

Ramirez - 7. Thought he looked very creative, seems a similar player to Downing but more inclined to take on his man and made decisions more quickly. Can see him being a big player for us.

 

Stuani - 3.5. Nothing came off for him, missed several good chances, a volley and header from 6 yards out both going harmlessly over come to mind. Passing was poor, decision making was poor, not his game last night.

 

Downing - 7. Put in a good shift down the left and was able (with De Laet) to constantly put dangerous crosses into the box, all of which were agonisingly wasted.

 

Rhodes - 4.5. Got all of the service and produced none of the end product. Had a few half chances of crosses, but missed 3 big clear cut ones (low cross straight at the keeper which got us a corner first half, header towards the end of the game & the one on one. Link up play was okay, made the wrong decision a few times though. Didn't see the best of him, on another night he'd have had a couple.

 

Also special mention for Adomah who was incredible when he came on. He's been godawful for long stretches of this season, but has been given a pass by a few because he's provided some vital contributions. Last night he looked like a man on a mission, he must have had a kick up the behind as every trick he tried came off, every cross he got into the box was threatening and he actually put in a good shift when defending as well. Hopefully that wasn't just a flash in the pan, definitely deserves a chance to build on that performance in the next game by starting over Stuani.

 

Incredible is taking his performance a little out of context. He created, but then he also frutrated too so a mixed back from me. Basics like passing a football infront of someone deserted him, 1 momment sticks in my mind when he he passed it behind Nsue and it went for a throw in.

 

He came on and changed the dynamic of the game, not quite incredible but he was good...