Second time lucky? – Oppo Profile Friday, 8th Nov 2024 11:38 by Clive Whittingham Beaten in the Wembley play-off final last year, Leeds have made a strong start to the new season as they attempt to bounce back to the Premier League at the second time of asking - Nico Franks and Gruev Armada (@timmsy_ks) gave us the latest. So far so good for Leeds, what have you made of it so far? GA: After the summer sales which caused a lot of worry and resentment we appear to have landed on our feet. There have been some shaky performances, especially to start the season and aberrations like the Sunderland equaliser but we seem to be trending in the right direction through a combination of good form, the lack of a Leicester or Ipswich to punish every dropped point, surprisingly solid defence and some really astute transfer business. Leeds in the league so far… Is it more sort of... functional than particularly brilliant or entertaining? I mean, first world problems of course. Perhaps a product of the attacking talent you lost in the summer? GA: You could argue we are a more well rounded and balanced team than last year. The loss of Summerville and Rutter as attacking threats could only make us more functional but the football hasn't been awful and some of the players we've brought in have been excellent. Any loss of attacking fireworks has been offset, some by decent replacements like Ramazani, some by players already here like Gnonto, Piroe, James and Aaronson and the rest by a seemingly rejuvenated defence and midfield Latest public opinion on Daniel Farke? GA: I've always been quite ambivalent about Farke and still feel that he should have done better last season but given the departures he's done really well to get us together and towards the top two which is the expectation for a squad like this. In the summer the realisation that it could be far worse kept me just about in the Keep Farke camp and while still occasionally frustrating, he's got good backing from the fans. GA: The summer transfer window felt more disappointing then than it actually was. Selling Archie Gray was sad given his home grown status and club-family links, but the departures of at least one, possibly all three of Summerville, Rutter and Gnonto felt fairly inevitable given the pull of the Premier League and our failure to get in it. That said we recruited well enough to fill the gaps with Japanese midfielder Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell for a combined £3million plus loan fee, proving arguably a more effective midfield pair than Gruev and Ampadu, particularly astute signings. Add to that Largie Ramazani: an exciting winger with a lot of potential, the permanent signing of Joe Rodon, return from injury of Pascal Struijk and the redemption arc of Brenden Aaronson and it's arguable that we came out of the window positively although it certainly didn't feel it at the time. Ins >>> Joe Rodon, 26, CB, Spurs, £10m >>> Largie Ramazani, 23, LW, Almeria, £7m >>> Jayden Bogle, 23, RB, Sheff Utd, £5m >>> Ao Tanaka, 25, CM, Dusseldorf, £3m >>> Outs >>> Georginio Rutter, 22, CF, Brighton, £45m >>> Archie Gray, 18, CM, Spurs, £40m >>> Crysencio Summerville, 22, AM, West Ham, £25m >>> Luis Sinisterra, 25, LW, Bournemouth, £20m >>> Glen Kamara, 28, CM, Stade Rennais, £8m >>> Marc Roca, 27, DM, Real Bets, £3.5m >>> Charlie Cresswell, 21, CB, Toulouse, £3.5m >>> Diego Llorente, 30, CB, Real Betis, £3m >>> Robin Koch, 27, CB, Frankfurt, Free >>> Cody Drameh, 22, RB, Hull, Free >>> Kristoffer Klaesson, 23, GK, Rakow (Poland), Free >>> Jamie Shackleton, 24, RB, Sheff Utd, Free >>> Luke Ayling, 32, RB, Boro, Free >>> Ian Poveda, 24, RW, Sunderland, Free >>> Rasmus Kristensen, 27, RB, Frankfurt, Loan >>> Sam Greenwood, 22, AM, Preston, Loan >>> Darko Gyabi, 20, CM, Plymouth, Loan >>> Sonny Perkins, 20, CF, Orient, Loan GA: This is much harder than last season but my personal pick is Ao Tanaka. A ridiculous bargain at £3million from Fortuna Dusseldorf in the 2 Bundesliga, he's the midfield conductor we were crying out for with a fantastic ability to spread play and retain possession. GA: Personally I think the league is not as difficult as last season so perhaps poor form won't be punished as ruthlessly as it was last year by the eventual top two. Arguably the answer to this question would be that the worry is still there especially if we don't add in the January window in certain areas, but I think we're better defensively and a more balanced team, relying less on individual brilliance to win games. GA: The expectation has to be promotion. There's no arrogance there despite it appearing to be. Leeds have a very talented squad, assembled with finances that most championship clubs can't match and a top two finish is the absolute minimum expectation with the resources we have. Links >>> Leeds United official website >>> Yorkshire Evening Post — Local Paper >>> Yorkshire Post — Local Paper >>> The Square Ball — Fanzine >>> WACCOE — Forum >>> Marching on Together — Forum >>> Not 606 — Forum >>> SB Nation — Blog Pictures – Action Images Pictures - Reuters Connect Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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