We have another guest from the opposition giving us his thoughts on the performance of the Leeds United players. This time it`s Palace fan Ell Hutchins who was hoping for a positive result for Palace as he lives in Leeds and his misses and family are all huge Leeds fans.
Goalkeeper – Schmeichel 8
His save from Ambrose`s free kick at the end of the first half was brilliant and he kept us out really well, I thought.
I don`t think he had a massive amount to do but what he did do, he did nothing wrong. I know from the past he has been prone to a few silly mistakes but it was a solid performance from him and I think he will just get better and better.
Defence
Bruce – 7
McCartney – 6
O`Brien – 6
Hughes – 6
I thought your defensive unit as a whole was pretty strong but as most teams in the division, couldn`t cope with the runs of Zaha. I know the defence is your weakest spot and we didn`t exploit it as we should have done. Bruce lived up to his reputation and from what I could see was trying to rough our players up a bit. McCartney was solid as was O`Brien. Andy Hughes was pretty absent from most of the game but didn`t really much wrong.
Midfield
Kilkenny – 7
Howson – 9
Johnson – 5
Gradel – 8
I thought Bradley Johnson was struggling to be fair and so did most of the people around me. I`ve seen him before and when he joined from Northampton he was a wonderful talent but hasn`t quite come to fruition yet. Neil Kilkenny provided some great build up play I thought they were all completely over shadowed by Jonny Howson. I`ve seen Howson play several times before but I thought he was absolutely stunning. His playmaking ability is fantastic and he has the ability to create chances either for himself or for the strikers from absolutely nothing. I`ve heard he might be on his way to Villa but if you manage to keep hold of him, he will be very important to your promotion bid.
Max Gradel caused us no end of problems in the first half but then petered out a bit. I thought he played wonderfully.
Forward – Becchio 7
Becchio didn`t do a great deal, I thought throughout the game. Tested Speroni once or twice but was definitely in the right place at the right time for both of the goals. I`ve heard his contract is up in the summer and now he`s beginning to show some form. If he`s thinking about a dream move to the premiership then if I was him, I`d be worried. He should definitely sign a new contract with Leeds.
Summary
I was expecting a tough gritty game but actually got quite a fluid open game which at times both teams were outplayed by the other.
I thought that we were getting absolutely battered in the first 10-15 minutes of the game and I really thought it was going to be another 5-0 but thankfully it wasn`t that bad. I think after that, we got better and better throughout the first half and you guys were lucky not to go in 2-0 down (but then the same could be said for us really). After half time, I think we carried on where we left off but, as has happened so many time this season, we became complacent, Leeds went up a gear and we lost it. I think it`s something like 15 points we`ve lost in the last 10 minutes of games this season now. By full time it looked like Men v Boys.
I think overall, a 2-2 draw would have been a fair result as I don`t think either team was overall better than the other, which says something about our false position in the league, as you boys didn`t play badly at all.
I think Leeds will definitely be there in at least the playoffs come the end of the season as you have that ‘last minute win` attitude.
Having a crowd behind you like you have at Elland Road is a massive bonus.
Good luck for the rest of the season except for when you come to Selhurst in April
Thanks Ell for your thoughts, its always great to have the oppositions perspective of the game.
I hope you haven`t had to much stick since Saturday.
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