I made the trip to the New Den on Saturday to watch Leeds United open their championship campaign at Millwall.
Here I give my own views on the player`s performance.
Silvestre 5
Not at fault for either goal and he made a couple of good saves to keep Leeds in the game. Having seen plenty of him in pre-season as well, the one area he is poor with is his distribution.
Byram 5
Rumblings that he could be off to the Premier League. He is our one player who looks to have any quality about him and I have to say, I wouldn`t blame him if he decided to move on.
Pearce 5
Please find him a partner at the back and quickly because he is being dragged down by Wootton.
Wootton 1
I didn`t rate him last season and his performances in pre-season didn`t change my opinion. We had conceded far too many soft goals in pre-season with most coming from set pieces, so it was no surprise to go behind from a corner. He was nowhere near Beevers for the first goal and at the next corner; the same player who couldn`t keep his effort on target beat him in the air. Centre back signing must be a priority. We need to try to keep them out to get a point, because we aren`t going to score many.
Warnock 3
He was severely exposed down his left, with Millwall enjoying plenty of freedom. I didn`t think he would start for Leeds this season and I would not be bothered if he did not pull on a Leeds shirt again. I would have either Gaetano Berardi or Charlie Taylor in ahead of him.
Austin 1
Totally ineffective. It is no good having one decent performance in ten. He gave the ball away, looked lacklustre as Millwall dominated the midfield.
Murphy 2
The occasional glimpse of something reasonable but he is not strong enough or good enough for the championship.
Tonge 4
The only midfielder who gave us any option but with no help. He had a good chance with a header but failed to get a good connection.
Doukara 4
He had nothing to work off all afternoon, as the midfield was ineffective.
Hunt 1
He huffed and puffed but he just isn`t good enough. A terrible effort in the opening minute of the second half. He lost control and then could only poke the ball goal wards with the keeper out of position. Tommaso Bianchi must replace him in the side now he has his suspension out of the way.
Ajose 5
He looked lively and he did well on occasions. Not sure why Hockaday took him off.
Subs
Smith 4
He was a handful from the moment he came on. He had a good chance with a header and he would have been disappointed not to test the Millwall goalkeeper. Being linked with a move away. At the moment, he is the only player we have who looks likely to score.
Poleon 2
He came close to equalising but for much of the time he looked lazy and not chasing or harrying the Millwall defence. He only played for half hour!
Cook 2
He works hard in the midfield but he was at fault for giving the ball away that led to the penalty. He tried to make up for his mistake by getting back but he was then adjudged to have made the foul for the penalty. Having seen the replays since, it looks like there was no contact. He is going to be a good player; I just hope the rest of the midfield don`t drag him down to their level.
Summary
I have never felt so flat ahead of the first game of the season and it seemed to be having the same effect all around the away end. I have never seen the fans more subdued away from home and this was the opening game of the season. The game was that bad that the bloke behind me on the back row fell asleep and fell off his seat in the second half.
We have brought in seven players in the summer and on this display, we need another seven. We have no spine to the side and we desperately need a centre back, central midfielder, despite having about ten at the club and a centre forward.
We never get anything from Millwall away so nothing new on Saturday but on this performance, we are going to be in a relegation dogfight this season unless things change and quickly.
Accrington Stanley are next up in the League Cup. We need a big performance or Hockaday might not see out the first week of the season.
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