Leeds News

LUFC Fans view v Reading

|
Image for LUFC Fans view v Reading

It was my turn in the fans view hot seat in the goalless draw at Reading.

Schmeichel 7

Had very little to do in the first half but was forced into two good saves in the second half as Reading tried to find a way through.

Connolly 6
Was exposed by lack of support from midfield and picked up a soft yellow card that now means a one-match ban.

Bruce 7 Star Man
Looked solid at the back alongside Andy O`Brien and the two of them and forming a good partnership at the heart of the Leeds defence.

O`Brien 7
Had another good game but was left trailing a couple of times as Shane Long got in behind him.

McCartney 5
McCartney was also left exposed by lack of support from midfield and was consistently skinned by McAnuff and then Kebe.
Unlike him his distribution was very poor and he often found touch.
He did make one great clearance in the closing minutes.

Howson 6
He again looked like the one midfielder who looked to drive us forward but was often left without support as the rest of the midfield went missing.

Johnson 4
The January transfer window cannot come soon enough. If Premiership clubs are really looking at this player then I must be missing something.
He continuously gave the ball away and he was chasing shadows in the first half.

Kilkenny 4
He did not do much at all, again some powder puff tackling as players waltzed past him.

Snodgrass 4 (Subbed Sam 88)
I am a big Snodgrass fan but I thought he had his worst game in a Leeds shirt today. Really struggled to get into the game, didn`t track back to help out Connolly and was another guilty of giving the ball away.
The left back had worked him out and every time he tried to cut back onto his left foot, he lost the ball.

Becchio 4 (Subbed Paynter 76)
Hardly had a sniff all afternoon and most of the balls that eventually came towards him were at head height.
When he plays as a loan striker he needs to midfield to play well and they didn`t today.

Gradel 5 (Subbed McCormack 76)
He looked like Leeds biggest danger in the first half and was a constant threat down the left. Like Snodgrass, he seemed to want to take on the player once too many times that often ended up with him losing the ball.
I thought he had learnt his lesson after being sent off against Bristol Rovers last season but he was a very lucky boy to not make contact with Griffin when he kicked out at the Reading defender.
He drifted out of the game after the incident and was eventually taken off.


Substitutes

McCormack 6

Looked lively when he came on was looking much sharper than he was when he first joined the club.

Paynter 5
Still looks short of match fitness, looked to link up well with McCormack but didn`t see a great deal of the ball as Leeds were under pressure.

Sam 5
He wasn`t really on long enough to make any impression on the game.


Grayson 6
I am sure he was very happy to see Leeds keep a rare clean sheet and would have probably have not been too disappointed with a point.

Glad to see he gave Paynter and McCormack a little more time on the pitch but I feel he could have made the changes even earlier.

Also would have liked to have seen Sam much earlier as Snodgrass was ineffective.

Summary
Although some of my comments will come across as quite negative, if anyone had offered me a clean sheet and a point before kick off I would have taken it.

Midfield was poor in the first half especially and I think we was fortunate to come up against a Reading side who were also having an off day.

First half was shocking with neither side able to string to passes together, the goalkeepers could have brought their flasks and sleeping bags as both hardly had a thing to do.

I feel much more confident of not conceding a goal now with O`Brien and Bruce forming a solid partnership in the centre of defence.

Another good point on the road to extend our unbeaten run and we must now continue our recent upturn in form at Elland Road.



Vital Leeds United is a fast growing Leeds United fan site, with the sole aim of becoming the #1 unofficial website for Leeds United fans everywhere.

The site is regularly updated with news and views regarding all the current events at Elland Road, alongside a fully interactive message forum and regularly looks at the clubs past. Vital Leeds offers everything that a Leeds United supporter could wish for. If you can think of something and suggest it, we`ll put it on the website!


With news and views, along with a forum, polls and article comments, everything you need in a fans site is right here!

You can even win prizes, by posting articles comments, posting on the message forum and voting on the polls.

Vital is also 100% interactive. Not only can you have your say on the articles and the forum but you can also suggest an article or a poll so you can air your views.

So why not join Vital today?

It’s easy to register here and enjoy getting involved

Message Board

To visit the message board, click here.

Get involved

This website is your website and we are looking for people to help run the site. Do you go to most of the games and have an opinion? Why not write a match report? Perhaps you are a budding journalist or even just someone who is very opinionated? Well why not join our team? If this interests you please contact Vital leeds .



Bookmark and Share


Share this article