Leeds Pre Match - Friday 3rd November

[Happy Fox]

1 minute ago, Babylon said:

There would be 31 games and 93 points to play for. Can people stop with the "insurmountable" stuff because it's in no way shape or form impossible to overcome. 

 

Psychologically? for those teams trying to catch us. I would rather be in this position than being on the other end trying to catch us.

[Babylon]

17 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

Psychologically? for those teams trying to catch us. I would rather be in this position than being on the other end trying to catch us.

You could argue that psychologically we could switch off. Until there is no longer a chance, there is a chance. And we are SO far away from the end of the season and SO many points to play for, I just hate the assumption it's done. 

[foxfanazer]

12 minutes ago, Babylon said:

You could argue that psychologically we could switch off. Until there is no longer a chance, there is a chance. And we are SO far away from the end of the season and SO many points to play for, I just hate the assumption it's done. 

It's obviously not done but you can't blame people for being confident that we'll get it done, and comfortably so.The manager and players have earned our faith so far

Edited 31 October 2023 by foxfanazer

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, Pliskin said:

I am genuinely concerned about this game. Leeds have the capacity to turn us over if they want. We don’t turn up we could well get slapped. I just hope we can use the home advantage and dominate the game. I just worry that Falke is a smart enough manager to approach the game like Sunderland did, but probably have the players to execute it a bit better. They’re horribly inconsistent, but could raise their game enough to give us a really tough evening. 
 

For me, genuinely the toughest test this season, win it, and I’ll predict we won’t lose a game again this season. Lose, and it could be a psychological blow…..

It's going to be a frenetic game I'd have thought. I share the same fears bit have to put trust in Maresca and these players who have developed an astonishing toughness and resilience in just a few months.

 

We need pace in the back 4 for Friday and play our game and we'll cause them just as many problems as they cause us, if not more.

[murphy]

13 hours ago, nathan. said:

Even with a 17 point gap its still very early in the season and we will hit a blip eventually. 

 

Injury's could still play a huge part and we still have the AFCON coming up.

 

Still 32 games to play and im not taking anything for granted.

 

 

Injuries are already playing a huge part and yet we continue to make serene progress.

 

You could look at it the other way and say that we have Wilf, Praet, Cannon, Doyle, McAteer, Yunus. Braybrooke and Alves to come back.

 

 

Edited 31 October 2023 by murphy

[Ted Maul]

12 hours ago, MGLCFC said:

We will not be the only team that pick up injuries, but our squad is superior to most and we should be able to cope.

I think we lose 4 players to AFCON - Daka will be no loss as Cannon will replace him

Hopefully Cannon and Vardy can rotate once Nacho goes to the AFCON.

Fatawu could be the main loss, but we do have McAteer and Yunus who can play on that wing.

Hoping Praet and Casadei can cover for Wilf.

There is also a transfer window in January where we could strengthen, particularly if we are still well ahead of 3rd place.

I'd forgotten about Praet and, realistically, he should be one of the best midfielders in the league  will he be back by then?

Edited 31 October 2023 by Ted Maul

[Grebfromgrebland]

Have we learned nothing from missing out on top 4 those 2 seasons?

 

Nothing is certain until it's certain.

[Babylon]

9 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

It's obviously not done but you can't blame people for being confident that we'll get it done, and comfortably so.The manager and players have earned our faith so far

Well I think there is a difference between confidence and the arrogance of thinking it's "insurmountable".

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, majaco said:

You make some good points.   I bet their fans find ours insufferable too though.  The predictions of beating QPR 6-0 were a little wide of the mark

 

It is an intriguing game.

I suspect they would and to a degree we are insufferable. If you win 13 out of 14 games in the manner we have, it's to be expected from some. I'm always a bit more cautious and err on the side of negativity but this lot genuinely think they're the bollocks having won half as many games as us, not scored as many as us and conceded more?

 

They've also somehow managed not to score vs Birmingham, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke. If we had mirrored their opening 14 games of the season I'd be wincing at such behaviour from our fans.

[Number 6]

9 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Have we learned nothing from missing out on top 4 those 2 seasons?

 

Nothing is certain until it's certain.

So Sheff Weds could still win the title?

[daddylonglegs]

10 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Have we learned nothing from missing out on top 4 those 2 seasons?

 

Nothing is certain until it's certain.

Completely agree. I actually felt a big sense of 'Norwich 2019' against QPR at the weekend. Looked like we thought we'd rock up and slap them. 

 

Hopefully Enzo gave them an earful at half time and that sparked a change in fortunes in the second half. 

 

It's absurd for people to think even promotion is an absolute lock at this stage. There's about 100 points to play for. 

[Fox92]

3 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

So Sheff Weds could still win the title?

Not a great comparison because Wednesday were never gonna be anywhere near the top of the division anyway, prior to a ball being kicked.

 

Of course anything can happen but you've got take a bit of realism with that comment too.

Edited 31 October 2023 by Fox92

[daddylonglegs]

Also, as much as I love the positivity of us thinking 'we're only in 2nd/3rd gear right now, imagine when we get going'... there's no guarentee that it does all eventually click. 

 

I remember having very similar thoughts after Villa away in 2019 where we beat them 4-1, and the scoreline could've been double figures. The narrative was the same then - 'imagine if we find our shooting boots' etc... and I don't think our performance levels ever got consistently better than Villa away...

[Happy Fox]

4 minutes ago, daddylonglegs said:

Completely agree. I actually felt a big sense of 'Norwich 2019' against QPR at the weekend. Looked like we thought we'd rock up and slap them. 

 

Hopefully Enzo gave them an earful at half time and that sparked a change in fortunes in the second half. 

 

It's absurd for people to think even promotion is an absolute lock at this stage. There's about 100 points to play for. 

we need 17 wins from our remaining 32 games to confirm automatic promotion, so just over half, I think that‘s without hatching the eggs likely.

[daddylonglegs]

1 minute ago, Happy Fox said:

we need 17 wins from our remaining 32 games to confirm automatic promotion, so just over half, I think that‘s without hatching the eggs likely.

A lot can happen in 5/6 games, let alone 32...

 

I'm with you, it's obviously very likely that we go up. Given our history of being unpredictable, I'm just erring on the side of caution....!!

[LCFCABC]

Bore draw written all over it. 0-0

[Happy Fox]

6 minutes ago, daddylonglegs said:

A lot can happen in 5/6 games, let alone 32...

 

I'm with you, it's obviously very likely that we go up. Given our history of being unpredictable, I'm just erring on the side of caution....!!

 

I hear you, and appreciate your way of thinking based on our history. For me our current trends speak volumes, in any given season at this level with our players we would be on 26 points at this stage and closer to the likes of Leeds and Southampton, but we are acing it at this level alongside Ipswich. I think it's okay to be cautiously optimistic 

[Devonfox1884]

I hope the players don’t have the same mentality as some in this thread. There’s every chance we could go on a poor run and be caught. I don’t think it will happen, but to write off the possibility at this stage is at best naive.

[Number 6]

22 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Not a great comparison because Wednesday were never gonna be anywhere near the top of the division anyway, prior to a ball being kicked.

 

Of course anything can happen but you've got take a bit of realism with that comment too.

They finished last season 2 points behind Ipswich.

[Hammo]

If past experience is anything to go by, I imagine a lot of people now boasting that promotion is already a ‘done deal’ (which of course it isn’t even nearly with so much of the season still to go) are doing it so that they can equally boastfully tell the more cautious,  rational and mathematically-minded among us “I don’t know what you were worried about” if and when - as admittedly seems likely given our fantastic start - it does eventually get ‘done’.

[whoareyaaa]

23 minutes ago, Devonfox1884 said:

I hope the players don’t have the same mentality as some in this thread. There’s every chance we could go on a poor run and be caught. I don’t think it will happen, but to write off the possibility at this stage is at best naive.

The manager won’t and that’s what matters

[Happy Fox]

Leeds are on course for 82 points a game based off their PPG 1.78, us PPG 2.78: we are on course for 128 points for us to drop to their PPG average will take some doing, although I suspect Leeds and Southampton will improve their form over the coming weeks. 

[sacreblueits442]

2 hours ago, Happy Fox said:

17 point gap is insurmountable even at this stage, other teams could pick up form other than Leeds but as far as Leeds top 2 aspirations , they aren’t overtaking us, maybe Ipswich. But we aren’t losing 5 games on the spin and them winning 5 games on the bounce to close that gap.

...why are we not showing any respect to Ipswich!!!

  They have been the team of this league so far, reminds me of the championship winning team that we were when we were last in this league. 

 This game against Leeds will be a big test and I feel it has come at the wrong time, but I feel Ipswich will be bigger.

[Number 6]

14 minutes ago, Hammo said:

If past experience is anything to go by, I imagine a lot of people now boasting that promotion is already a ‘done deal’ (which of course it isn’t even nearly with so much of the season still to go) are doing it so that they can equally boastfully tell the more cautious,  rational and mathematically-minded among us “I don’t know what you were worried about” if and when - as admittedly seems likely given our fantastic start - it does eventually get ‘done’.

I think people are just understandably confident. We were favourites to win the league coming into the season, since then:

 

 - We have won 13 of 14 games

 - We have the highest xG and joint highest goals scored

 - We have the lowest xGA and goals conceded (the second best defence has conceded almost twice as many goals as us)

 

Any side that have historically had this good a start (and there hasn't been many) have gone on to win the title, none even in second let alone third. Ironically this record could be broken this season if Ipswich keep up their form as we can't both win the league. 

 

Yes we have AFCON and could get injuries, but we also have Alves, Braybrook, Cannon, Doyle, +more all to come back, and have greater squad depth to deal with injuries than other teams who will also get injury problems. 

 

We won't keep up the current PPG for sure, but it's hugely unlikely that we suddenly drop to mid-table form.

[Ric Flair]

I'll be going through turmoil even with double digits points lead over 3rd far longer than I ought to. However I trust Maresca and the players to absolutely master the confidence, focus and mentality needed to ensure those worries are unfounded.