I made the trip down to the South Coast on Friday night and give my views on the performance of the Leeds United players in the 2-2 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Kenny 8 Star Man
He could do little with either goal but without him in the last fifteen minutes, we would have come away with nothing.
Byram 7
He looked one of only a few players to play well in the game for Leeds. He was a bit naïve for the penalty near the end, when he got the wrong side of Mackail-Smith.
Lees 5
He only lasted forty minutes after getting a poke in the eye. Neither Lees or Pearce had much protection in front of them.
Pearce 5
A hard night for Pearce with the midfield allowing Brighton to come at them far too easily.
Peltier 4
Why was he making a needless tackle in the area for the penalty when Pearce looked in control of the situation?
Tonge 4
He doesn`t look fit and he was holding his shoulder for most of the second half. He helped out defensively but never gave us any options in attack.
Austin 5
Not the player who started the season so well for Leeds. He hasn`t had the same zest since the draw at Bolton.
Brown 5
He got his customary yellow card and he could quite easily have had a red. He was the one midfielder who was trying to get stuck in, even though he reigned himself in slightly following an early yellow card. It was his shot that earned Leeds the draw and would have probably have gone in, even without the deflection of Becchio.
Varney 5
He won everything in the air and worked hard up front closing down but he had very little to work off.
Diouf 6
In the first half, along with Byram, he was the one player who gave Leeds a little spark. He drifted out of the game in the second half as the frustration seemed to be getting the better of him.
White 4
He did little in the game, as the game seemed to pass him by.
Subs
Pugh 4
He replaced Lees in the first half and he was poor apart from one good clearance. I would have preferred to have seen White go back into the left back spot and Hall given a chance.
Becchio 5
He is claiming the goal like all good strikers would. He needs to learn how to hold the ball up more when we need an outlet.
Norris 5
He came on late on as Warnock looked happy to settle for a point.
Summary
I have once again come away from a game asking myself – How did we get a point from that?
The things we saw early season, with players quickly closing down the opposition, is no longer there. We are standing off and allowing the opposition to pick their passes. We have scrambled points in five of our last six games, when playing poorly.
I suppose this is a good thing but we are not going to be anywhere near the promotion places come the end of the season.
We desperately need something in the final third, a bright spark to give everyone else a lift. Watching Mackail-Smith lead the line for Brighton, a player who we wanted in the summer, is exactly what we need. I cannot see us getting him in January now though.
Time for Warnock to give Hall, Gray and Green a go, we have too many players playing injured or running on empty.
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