Kun Aguero - Comments

Thank you, there is a lot of story to be told still but not always enough time

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Inconsistency lights up a revolution

September started strongly with a 4-0 dubbing of Southampton but continued with 2 away shock defeats. First Norwich won on Carrow Road 1-0 thanks to a Trincao own goal while Leverkusen pulverized the Whites 3-0 on Bay Arena on the UCL season debut. i am not happy at all loosing but that was just awful. While the PL run started to get some speed after the Norwich defeat the UCL was looking bleak after a draw against Inter at Elland Road.


2 wins against Slavia brought a game of all or nothing against Leverkusen at Elland Road. And what a match it turned out to be. They started strongly and by the 6th min they were one up. Like that was not enough Jesus Vazquez gets himself sent off for 2 yellows in 6 minutes. Harry Kane manages ti equalize just before the break and than he completes his brace 8 minutes after the break. As we are not big fans of doing things the easy way here in Leeds, the Whites loose their advantage in the 67 min. The perfect time for Jadon Sancho to step up and score the winner in the 79 min. The reigning champions continue their quest to keep the trophy at Elland Road after a very shaky start. The group stage ended with another draw against Inter.


At the start of December the PL table was looking like this.


And December was not a good month. In the PL the run of 9 matches won in a row ended after a draw against West Ham. It continued with another draw at Bournemouth and than a defeat against Leicester. I was already fuming and the draw at Crystal Palace was getting my patience to the limit.
As always, Liverpool are my biggest rivals to the PL throne. They came into the last match on the year still undefeated. It seems the transition from Klopp to Pep was done quickly and without too much rhythm loss. The match between the 2 giants took place on Anfield and it was a demonstration of force from the current champions. The 1st half was a tight affair, Jadon Sancho's goal on the 36 min making the difference. The 2nd half started perfect for Leeds with another goal, this time from Cherki. 2 late goals from Trincao and Fabio Silva made the final score to end up being 4-0. A very cruel defeat for Pep's side.


The year started with another win, this time with the Gunners as victims, thanks to a brace from Sancho.
Exactly when i was thinking my December nightmare was finished, the FA Cup 3rd Round trip to Hull opened all my frustration up. Lost 1-0 after a goal from Tyler Roberts, ex Leeds player. And that started the revolution. I was sick of players royally payed to under perform so often. I would expect this kind of inconsistency from young players coming up in the game but not from international players, always asking for new, better payed contracts. So i started selling whatever i could (meaning for the right price)
Ben Chilwell was the 1st one sold to Arsenal for £68M (£80M). He was closely followed on the Emirates by Dele Alli for £90M (new record sale for Leeds). Louis Munteanu was a player i had high hopes to develop into a superstar but i had to admit defeat in the end. Sold to Jeonbuk for £12.25M . Newly arrived Juan Miranda was sold to Napoli for £35M. That will leave space for the younger players to develop in the left side: Jesus Vazquez and Hickey. On the right side, Max Aarons was sold to Watford for £57M. He was approaching the end of his contract and the salary he was asking to renew was obscene in my eyes. The under performing Alexander Isak left Leeds for £45M going to Norwich. He has a release clause that i did not bother to remove from his contract.
There were other players i wished to sell but i could not get the price i asked for so i decided to keep them around. Harry Kane was also on the black list but he got injured for more than a month and that meant he survived the 2nd half of the season with the Whites.
On the arriving list i payed the release clause for a young portuguese striker Ruben Vieira (£12.75M) and got a new winger in the person of Georges Lelievre (£325K) from Lens.
Felt good getting rid all of this well payed players that were not playing at the level i wanted. And the financial situation will look amazing at the end of the season.
This is how the PL transfer window looks like


Stay safe people
MOT

well yes, but actually no. I think you are focusing on the exceptions rather than the whole picture. man city has a squad almost fully based on bought world class players. My Leeds is based on players bought young and developed, freebies or bought because they were transfer listed. Dele Alli, Sancho, Kane were all on the transfer list when i bought them. The prices i paid for them are still a long way from what the other big teams are spending on world class players. for comparison, Liverpool bought Macias from Arsenal for £130M, city bough Martinez for £90M, while chelsea is the spending champion with £131M for Eder Militao. mine is £50M for Sancho. my squad has at the moment 10 club grown players. this is almost half of the 25 players you can register in the PL, real life city has probably only Fodden that enters that category. my Leeds squad has an average age of 23, one of the youngest in Europe and definitely the youngest of the teams performing so well. i googled the average age for city's 2019 squad and i got 27,5.
i also think is good to buy world class players when the price is right. they help you get to the next level, build confidence for the young players and if you bought them cheap you can sell them later for profit so it is also good business. and i need to run a good business as i do not have a wealthy owner to pump money in the club. most of the transfer funds i get are either by selling players or by the money i get from performances.
based on this, i do not see the resemblance between my Leeds and real life city transfer strategies.

can you elaborate a bit on your remark please? i might not understand it completely, so please be more specific.
PS: did you mean Liverpool ?

New Season Build Up

This season will be very interesting in terms of new managers. Liverpool, the big player in Europe for the last 4 seasons have a new coach in the like of Pep Guardiola. Man Utd finally sacked Solskjaer and appointed Marcelino as their new manager. Marcelino is no stranger to the PL, managing Spurs in the 2021-2022 season. Across town, Man City appointed Maurizio Sarri. He also has PL experience after managing Chelsea and is no stranger to Leeds, as he was in charge of Juventus last season in the UCL Semi Final defeat. In London, 2 big managerial appointments. Chelsea named Ernesto Valverde as their new manager. Valverde was in charge of Spanish giant Barcelona for the last 6 seasons, meeting Leeds in 2 separate occasions. Both ended in defeats for the Barca team.
Arsenal went for Vladimir Petkovic. Swiss national manager for 9 years, Petkovic lead them to the final of last year World Cup where they were beaten dramatic at penalties by the England national side.
Liverpool have been made 5-2 favorites to win the PL. Leeds are 2nd, priced 3-1, while Man Utd (7-2), Man City (4-1), Chelsea (9-2), Arsenal (5-1) are next in line in the bookies eyes.

For Leeds, after hitting perfection last season, the question in everybody's mind is how will they proceed? What is the way to go? Will they find the motivation to continue?
So i return to the basics: keep a good financial situation, buy cheap, try to sell as high as possible, give chances to the youngsters. By now, the squad has 10 players that are club grown and 7 home grown.
Squad wise, I do not think a lot of changes are needed. Kiko Casilla has retired so cover for Butland is needed. I already signed Badiashile from Monaco on a free in January, but i was toying with the idea of securing a better option. So i was looking at my options in the pool of players who's contract will expire at the end of the season and found Predrag Rajkovic. He cost the club £2.2M
Another situation That i needed to deal with was Pongracic. Hero of last UCL Final, the croatian's contract expire at the end of the season and he was determined not to sign. In my mind, the main target to replace him was Saliba from Arsenal. All the right attributes and home grown, he would have been the ideal solution. But as i am cheap, i started thinking what would be the best strategy to get him at a lower price, also hoping i can include a player in the deal for that to happen. And than i came across a piece of news that Jean-Clair Todibo is in transfer negotiations with OL. I already know him from my team as the France U23 national team coach so i looked into it. OL's offer accepted by Barca was for £12.75. Needless to say I moved swiftly to sign him.
Going back to Pongracic, I was hoping from all the big teams interested in him, at least one would make a decent offer, but i ended up selling him, ironically, to Barcelona for only £25M.
Others players that i had to move on because of inconsistency and big wages were Jean Pyerre (£51M to Everton), Vinicius Jr (£43.5M to Juventus) and Robert Bozenik (£5M to Udinese)
No other new comer as the squad have enough depth to challenge for the new season.
Strange to see the major transfer window being players transferred outside the PL.


The season started with the traditional curtain opener, the Community Shield. Another Roses Derby. A chance to see how Marcelino has got Man Utd organized.
They played in Marcelino's usual 4-4-2 ans they used the pace they got upfront to opened the score after 19 min, thanks to Greenwood. But Leeds responded immediately thanks to Trincao's goal. Just before half time, Sancho put Leeds ahead and the same Sancho put the result beyond doubt on the 62nd min. After that, Leeds changed to 4-1-2-3 to protect their lead and protect themselves against the quick paced Man Utd forwards. 1st trophy of the season in the bag and another Roses Derby won. Mint!

PL season started against Wolves on Elland Road. Leeds captain Kalvin Phillips had the honor of scoring the 1st PL goal of the season after 18 min. It was a man of the match performance from the captain with 11 key passes. The final score was settled with 2 goals after the 90th min, one from each side. It ended 2-1 and Leeds have the 1st victory in the bag

The Euro Super Cup pitted Leeds against Borussia Dortmund. And the Whites, although being out passed with a possession of only 39%, won 3-0 thanks to a brace by Trincao and a late goal by Fabio Silva. 2 trophies already.
Another 2-1 win on Goodison park before another Roses Derby in front of a packed Elland Road. Leeds opened the score thanks to a Fabio Silva penalty. Gabriel Jesus draw level just before the break. Things took a turn for the worse when Chillwell got his 2nd yellow card on the 49 min. Hakimi replaced Bellingham to go on the left flank while Dele Alli dropped down in the middle in place of Bellingham. And Leeds put up a brave fight to claim all 3 points, Jadon Sancho managing the winning goal on the 76 min.

At the end of the month Leeds remain the only team with 100% win record. Phillips was 2nd place on the Player of the Month award, Fabio Silva took 3rd place in the Young Player of the Month and won Goal of the Month with his marvelous strike against Everton. Leeds also collected the Manager of the month award.


UCL group stage sees defending champions Leeds drawn alongside Inter, Leverkusen and Slavia Prague. Not an easy group but manageable.

Stay safe people
MOT

The Perfect Season 2nd part

The PL resumed at the end of December, against Wolves at home. 2-0 and Leeds maintains 100% wins record. A very hard fought victory at Villa Park got Leeds through to the 4th Rnd of the FA Cup
January started what will be from now on a hectic schedule. The World Cup has most games postponed which means with Leeds still involved in all competitions games will come fast and thick. Congrats to Fabio Silva who was named U21 Footballer of the Year and for the 2nd time European Golden Boy winner


Arsenal had a very good start of the season under new management and they were fighting for 2nd place. But Elland Road is not a place you want to visit this season, especially with the Whites keen to revenge last season defeats.
At things started terrible for the Gunners. 38 minutes and Leeds scored 4 times already. https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/Dje9TIkXCet0GIlo7PLHWd4ZtBBPnXDnC8WGLLnE.jpg
Another brace from Harry Kane at Vicarage Road and Leeds are working towards a PL record for Most consecutive wins.
The chance of a perfect season was growing after another visit to Villa Park in the Carabao Cup and another win, much easier than the one in the FA Cup, back in December
With history in the making Everton did not stand a chance as Leeds claimed the Most Consecutive wins in the PL history.
Man City was next in the Carabao Cup Semi Final who was played in 1 game this season. And while the Citizens are not having such a bad season under Bruno Lage, they did not stand a chance against the Whites.
Craven Cottage was the next stop for the high flying Leeds. First, the FA Cup 4th Rnd, a game that needed extra time but Leeds won 3-1 in the end. 3 days later, the PL match was not so difficult, 3-0 thanks to a great performance from Hakimi.
Leeds ended January with 100% wins intact after a win against Norwich.

In terms of transfer, Leeds sign 2 players, both on free transfers, which means they will join in June when their contracts expire. Loic Badiashile, currently at Monaco and brother of Leeds defender Benoit Badiashile, will join to replace long serving gk Kiko Casilla who announced he will retire at the end of the season
The other addition to the squad will be Juan Miranda, the LB from Barcelona.
Chelsea was the big spender of this transfer window, buying Eder Militao from Real Madrid for £127M. Liverpool is trying to salvage their season with Dani Olmo while Nehuen Perez is following the footsteps of De Gea.


February continued with games coming fast. Crystal Palace came to Elland Road with an upset in mind, but they left beaten 3-0.
Spurs was next. Managed by Zidane, who is doing a good job of rebuilding the team but is still early days and consistency is missing. They have an interesting attacking force with Kulusevsku, Richarlison and Osimhen who was tasked with the difficult job of replacing Harry Kane. It was a hard fought match on Spurs stadium but Leeds managed a win thanks to goals from Fabio Silva and Bellingham. https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/bLtKBwisB16tmFyy8I5tpsUHCZAEgwx7zRPRuzh2.jpg
Rivals Chelsea came next. They were the talk of the transfer window after they bought Eder Militao from Real Madrid for no less than £127M. He joined Frenkie de Jong, £94M signing from Barcelona done at the beginning of the season. With Ihattaren, another dutch wonderkid, and Leeds born Haaland up front Chelsea have one of the strongest squads in the PL. And they put up a great fight at Elland Road, unfortunately for them Trincao had an amazing day, and his brace won the game for Leeds https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/rDjhNq4MD0c26bMvfvgdiuyV60Z0UolOWZJe2ScJ.jpg

2 consecutive matches against Bournemouth took Leeds 100% win in PL to 26 matches. The streak was ended by Liverpool after a 85 min goal from sub Curtis Jones. https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/fPr3GMJZa0lmrMSE92693lHj7X8tYYgqHYeX99YT.jpg A draw that means Leeds remained unbeaten for 27 games.
UCL 1st Knockout Rnd was a rematch of last season's Final. And Barcelona managed to get their revenge but in a very questionable fashion. The Whites sent a 2nd string team on Elland Road that ended up beaten 1-0, with a goal scored in the 90+4 min, with only 3 min of extra time given.
Carabao Cup Final against Arsenal, 2nd place team in the PL, needed extra time but in the end in finished 2-1 for the Whites. The perfect season is still there for the taking, especially after the 2-0 win in the FA Cup 5th Rnd against Southampton 3 days later
At the end of February Leeds have a 13 point lead in front of 2nd place Arsenal


March started with bad news. Isak will miss this month with a hernia. Everton put a brave fight but an energetic half time reaction from the manager was well received by the Leeds players that improved greatly in the 2nd half and won the game 3-1
Crystal Palace and Brighton were next on the victim list, which makes it 30 matches without defeat in the PL. Arsenal stumbled against Liverpool, making the PL title more and more tangible.
The 2nd leg of the UCL 1st Knockout Rnd match against Barcelona was full of drama. Leeds started the Nou Camp match as usual, although they came into it knowing they need to win. Trincao opened the score inside 10 min with a good header from inside the 6 yard box. Things seem to complicate after Dembele equalized in the 23rd min, only for the goal to be chalked off after VAR consultation. Half time and Leeds were still ahead. The game seem to go towards extra time when Harry Kane doubled Leeds lead with a close range header after great work from Trincao on the left wing.
The drama was not over as Griezman managed to pull one back 2 min later but it was too little too late. Leeds are through on the next round, still dreaming of the perfect season.
Chelsea's defeat against Man City was the last game in charge for Frank Lampard who was sacked. His counterpart Bruno Lage is living at the moment with the same pressure.
The month ended with a 3-0 drubbing of Newcastle in the FA Cup Qtr Final
The draws were made and it seems i will spend the end of the season playing against Man Utd. UCL Qtr final, FA Cup Semi Final and a PL match means April will have 4 Roses Derby

Aarons got injured on England duty and will miss a month with a calf strain. With the high amount of matches coming up, this is really bad news. Proud of Trincao and Vinicius Jr finally making their debut for their national sides.


Watford was next after the international break and Leeds did not show signs of slowing down after a 3-0 win.
Before the Roses derby starts coming again, bad news on the injury front. A twisted ankle means i cannot count on Talles Magno for the next month
The 1st leg of the Roses Derby was decided by a screamer from 25 meters from Jude Bellingham. Next was a dismantle of West Brom 7-1, a match that see Shackleton scoring a hat-trick from a RB position.
The 2nd leg of the Roses Derby finished with a victory from Man United. Leeds had gone up 1-0 after a Fabio Silva goal but a late surge from the Reds saw them winning 2-1, not enough to go through though
Pongracic got injured and will miss the next 2 weeks.
Leeds did took revenge of that defeat a few days later, in the FA Cup Semi Final. Gaich cancelled Fabio Silva opener and the match went to extra time. Dele Alli scored what was the winner in the 111 min and Leeds will have the chance to defend the trophy.
The inevitable did happened after all. Jurgen Klopp got sacked by Liverpool. After dominating the last 3 seasons by a mile, this season started too bad to be able to save it and he got the sack. This was good for Leeds, who got another great coach in the person of Pepijn Lijnders joining the backroom staff.
Another 2 victories against West Ham and Wolves meant the title is finally back to Leeds. With a first team squad that has an average of just 23, Leeds were untouchable this season.
Liverpool in the meantime appointed Pep Guardiola as their new manager. Ernesto Valverde will take Chelsea's hot seat at the end of the season, which leaves just Man City managerless.
But there are still 2 trophies to play for, so there is no time to rest.
UCL Semi final 1st leg against Juventus did not start great. Chillwell committed a penalty and Cristiano Ronaldo did not miss. 11 min and Leeds were 1 down. Leeds struggled for the 1st half. The hair dryer treatment at half time and some inspired substitutions helped Leeds turn the tie. Super Sub Fabio Silva and Trincao scored to gave Leeds the win and make them favorites the the 2nd leg on Elland Road.
Another manager casualty after it was announced the sacking of Ersun Yanal and Solskjaer's position is not safe either. Another defeat in the Roses Derby, with Trincao scoring the winning goal in the dyeing seconds of extra time, did not do much to secure his job.
April finally finished, with 9 games played during this month.

May's 1st match was UCL Semi Final Leg 2. Leeds came to Elland Road with a 2-1 lead. Sarri's 4-3-2-1 narrow tactic did not stand a chance on Elland Road's wide pitch. Leeds book their Wembley place after an emphatic 4-0 2nd leg Semi Final. Leeds used a 4-1-2-3 to protect the middle and expose the wide side of Juventus and it worked great.
After the draw against City, Leeds won 4-0 against Southampton to claim to records for the PL : high points total: 101 and high number of wins: 33
The last 2 games of this PL season were defeat unfortunately, against Arsenal and Burnley. Nevertheless, what a PL season it was. But the job was not finished.
Leeds played a week later the Final of the FA Cup against Pep's Liverpool. Trincao opened the score in the 3rd min and things were looking good for Leeds, only for a mistake by Bella-Kotchap to allow Naby Keita to equalize in the 88th min. The match went to penalties and Salah turned into the villain for the Reds. His missed penalty gave the chance to Leeds captain Kalvin Phillips to make himself the hero. https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/hHgTk0WEn8tylHT6vtacieLh2cOdbZkFWyAc59uV.jpg

Last game was of course the Final of the UCL. Surprising as it may sound at the beginning, this year's opponent is RB Leipzig. They claimed extraordinary victories against Inter, Paris SG and Chelsea to be have their chance at the final so they cannot be underestimated. There were some reasons for unrest a day before the final when Jack Butland got injured but luckily it was only a minor scare and he played in the Final.
The Final was a good spectacle. Leeds opened the score after Pongracic managed a fine header from point-blank. Leipzig showed they are no push overs and replied 6 min later thanks to Timo Werner. The goal lifted morale for the Germans, who scored again in the 77 min thanks to a Konate good header from inside the 6-yard box. With 5 minutes left of normal time, Dele Alli seized on a mistake by Pedro de la Vega and score the equalizer. In extra time Konate received his marching orders for a bad tackle and a minute later Pongracic closed the score with another close range header. Leeds managed to defend the trophy, and with it, they celebrate an unbelievable sextuple!!!


Lots of records were broken during this amazing season. Congrats to the U18 team for managing to defend their U18 division1 title.

The Perfect Season

Lots of changes this season, which means a need to adapt to new opponents as Man City and Arsenal, from the big forces, have changed managers. For me, both choices were strange. Man City went for Bruno Lage, SLB former manager to replace Marcelo Bielsa. The difference in class between the 2, in my opinion, is huge. Interesting to see how he will manage the pressure. Arsenal went for another strange choice, Ersun Yanal from Fener, another manager who is untested on the bigger stages. Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd kept their mangers, while Spurs is lead by former Real Madrid Zinedine Zidane.
Liverpool were named favorites to win the PL this season with 5-2 odds, with Chelsea (7-2), Man Utd (4-1), Man City (9-2) coming next. Leeds are on a 5-1 odds on 5th place
As always, Leeds strategy on the transfer market is to deal as early as possible so all the players have a proper preseason.

After the magnificent win of the UCL, the Whites also started climbing the stature ladder, which means now can attract different class of players. The first player to arrive was Achraf Hakimi, transfer listed by Real Madrid. He costs the club £35M. Another transfer listed player joined next and surprisingly it was Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. His purchase is a new record for Leeds.

Next piece of business was securing the signature of Spurs captain Harry Kane, another listed player. He cost the club £25M and Theo Hernandez. Still, at 28, i think he is just the answer to my inconsistent strikers.

Leeds finished the transfer activity with the £22M acquisition of Vinicius Junior from Real
On the out, with Hakimi coming in, the club sold Piccini to Bournemouth. Jarrod Bowen left for Arsenal after the Gunners payed the release clause while Emi Buendia was sold after his attitude towards training and game approach became complacent.
There were some big moves in the PL, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City spending big


The first bad news was Nohan Kenneh, the Leeds wonderkid, will miss the preseason with a calf strain 3-4 weeks. That means more playing time for Moriba, the former Barcelona player who joined on a free transfer.
Started the season with the traditional curtain raiser: the Community Shield final against Liverpool. It took 4 minutes for Harry Kane to make his mark. He finished with a brace, while a superb long shot from Bellingham and a goal from captain Phillips ended the story https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/LYfQFTkkK0XauqiHD467WPMMy7NYqZPouEtVACt7.jpg

The PL started with a shock. Current champions Liverpool were defeated by Crystal Palace. For Leeds, Brighton was the 1st opponent. It took a bit of time to break them down but eventually Sancho managed to do it. Trincao and newcomer Vinicius Jr were also on the score sheet
Next game was another showing in the big rivalry rekindled between Liverpool and Leeds. A lot of pressure for Liverpool, who started this season with a shock defeat at Crystal Palace. Trincao opened the score shortly after the break with the 2nd place Goal of the Month and Isak rounded off the victory in the 78th min https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/cGcdZrJy0px2nw3UEebNjL4DI7ZiKFzh9csm7fJs.jpg
Lost Jean Pyerre for about a month with a sprained ankle ligaments just before the supercup
The Euro Super Cup was a one team affair. Real Madrid, the winner of the Europa League, had no chance against Fabio Silva. The wonderkid put a remarkable display scoring 4 goals. 5-1 was the final score. Bad news though as Leeds lost Bella-Kotchap for a month due to injury.


The Roses derby was next. Leeds did manage to win it in the end, thanks to a penalty from Fabio Silva https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/opyk4HBh9cLFFi7HLg24IugfFEbdNuUjxL0Zx1zI.jpg
Bruno Lage did not have a good Elland Road debut. His fellow country man Trincao and Fabio Silva made sure of that. Although Trincao will miss the next 2 weeks through injury. https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/JbGhHSYMsoQ5cNieJf3gC5HCAoMheeq50Gr81bBO.jpg
Carabao Cup brought another Leeds vs Liverpool duel. Harry Kane contribution was pivotal, with a brace and an assist and the Whites go through after a 3-0 win. https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/8xBrzNNPDX3kes3Ba3oEZE9ulTyjgUwCncU7SueU.jpg
The UCL group stage was drawn. Leeds will face Atletico, Besiktas and Monaco in their quest to defend the trophy.
The month ended with the Turf Moor routing of Burnley
Arsenal change of management looks like is paying off, for the moment, while Liverpool had the worst start possible. Curious to see if they can get back to mounting a title challenge by the end of the season
Jude Bellingham won young player of the month while , jadon sancho was 2nd place for player of the month while ben chilwell goal against shef utd was ranked 3rd best of the month
The PL after the 1st month look like this.


The international break came to early for Arsenal who's perfect start was halted brutally by Chelsea. With the win against Fulham, Leeds is now top of the PL
The UCL started, 1st game at Monaco, a 2-1 win. Vinicius Jr is out for 2 weeks with a damaged shoulder.
Besiktas was next in UCL and Fabio Silva was at it, again. 5 goals, 10.0 match rating and a 6-2 result. But truth being told, is a bit unfair to Besiktas, as 3 of the goals were scored after the 90 minutes
Spurs were next and although they had a good season start under Zidane, they were unable to resist Harry Kane, who finished the match with a brace. Strange to see more and more of the big teams starting to play so defensive against the Whites
Atleti, led by Carlo Ancelloti managed a draw on Elland Road

October started aggressively with a Stamford Bridge 1-0 win against Chelsea, 2nd place at the time and continued with another hard fought win against Leicester in the Carabao Cup 4th Rnd
1st defeat of the season came at the hand of Atleti in the UCL, but it seem to be just an unlucky accident. Leeds continued their winning ways in the PL while also securing safe passage from the UCL group
Before the World Cup starts Leeds have won 15 straight in the PL. At the end of October Leeds managed to build a 9 points lead in front of Arsenal. London seems to be the place that is after Leeds, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs seeded 2-4 in the PL table



Proud to announce 10 players are called for the World Cup, 7 of those for the 3 Lions.
England won the World Cup after a final decided by penalties against Switzerland. Kane was the hero of the final with a brace. He ended up as Best Player of the tournament.while Bellingham claimed 3rd places

Close but not yet there

Leeds finished the year in delight after another 2-0 Roses Derby win on Old Trafford.
January brought big news for the club as Fabio Silva was named European Golden Boy winner.

In terms of transfers, besides Jean Pyerre who join the club once the transfer window opened, nothing else for this season. The club did announce the signing of Ilaix Moriba. He will join in June after his contract with Barcelona expires.
Leeds continued their strong showing in January, also advancing in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. The Whites did suffer an uncharacteristic defeat at Elland Road against Arsenal but finished the month with an impressive 3-0 win against high flying Liverpool https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/hyEfxN8HDXAwrltWTlhKoQoGr7zgRseFDtOgtb7w.jpg
As the transfer window finished, top transfers in PL were Romario Baro from FCP to Man Utd, the dutch wonderkid Mohamed Ihattaren joined Chelsea and City signed Lisandro Martinez

By the end of January, it was clear that Liverpool will run with the title again. They were leading with 6 points ahead of the rest of the pack. Quite packed with 5 teams in 6 points. Leeds were 5th placed but they still had one game in hand which, if won would move them to 3, on equal points with the Gunners.


February started slower with an draw against Everton, thanks to a 89 min goal from Isak. Dele Alli scored from penalty to bring the win on his return to Spurs's ground and european nights are back. Leeds traveled to Italy for their UCL 1st Knockout Rnd Leg1 to battle Napoli, a battle won 1-0 thanks to Fabio Silva's 78 min effort. After winning 1-0 against Fulham Leeds needed a 90+4 goal from Jarrod Bowen to maintain their winning ways against Aston Villa.
Leeds finished the month in style, winning the Carabao Cup Final against Man City 3-0 https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/EjPRa3vx4eIEhjDgdgTa1v6piBTloUz1YDLnxX9W.jpg
The win set an 8 games unbeaten record for Leeds, while the average rating of 8.42 by Fabio Silva is a new Carabao Cup record.

FA Cup 5th Rnd was a real spectacle especially for the neutrals. Bournemouth fought until the death to give loads of headaches for the Whites, who finally managed to claim victory : 5-4 https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/hb7n69al6z9WTOXpiiCypQpQPhGfXuU12eEQPWqM.jpg
Leeds went through the next round of UCL after winning 2-0 the 2nd leg against Napoli, while also advancing the the FA Cup after a win against Brentford.
Proud to announce 2 international debuts, for Jude Bellingham and Jean Pyerre. The brazilian also claimed his 1st international goal

Next stop in the UCL Qtr Final were Bayern. The german giant had the bad luck of colliding with the European Golden Boy at his peak this season.Coming into the match after a brace against Newcastle 4 days earlier, he went to dismantle the bavarian defense. While Bayern started better and opened the score thanks to Muller's 16 min goal, they could not stop the revival lead with surgical precision by the portuguese wonderkid. He finished the match with a hat-trick, with Jarrod Bowen also adding 1. It is not everyday you get to overturn Bayern from 0-1 down and win 4-1, so this was a great moment of pride in the season https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/fHrmahTpJ0h4OsZ2kp4DLlEDCPXsXQ5DwnSJYz63.jpg
The 2nd leg was only a formality, a 1-1 draw.
The Roses Derby was next on FA Cup Semi Final and Leeds went on to advance in the Final after extra time and penalties. https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/OTT0rwfFeAFjL9PP5N5reIPtPoflZ52xQHSXGf2j.jpg
Chelsea took advantage if Leeds's hectic schedule and as Man City did last season managed to move in 2nd place after a 1-0 win in the PL.
In the Semi Final of UCL another familiar face was waiting. 3 times consecutive and currently reigning champions Liverpool. After a blank draw at Anfield in the 1st Leg, Fabio Silva's 58th min goal decided the fate of the Semi Final.
There was time for another match between the 2 , as they met once again in the Final of the FA Cup. Liverpool fired first, thanks to a Naby Keita 12th min goal but Leeds turn the match in their favor thanks to strikes from Isak and Ben Chilwell https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/6ux5uYap2FHOEX0w2p3blRa6NmDW3EhwSufJkIm9.jpg
With the morale high , Leeds went on to claim the UCL after a goal from Alexander Isak in the 102 min against Barcelona.
Congrats to Fabio Silva who won the Golden Boot award

Like last season, Leeds finished the PL on the 3rd place.


Isak went on to claim the Top Goalscorer award with 20 goals and Players' Young Player while Jack Butland was named Golden Glove winner

Another great season for the Whites. Unfortunately, as last season, the strikers form faded towards the end which means i need a more consistent striker during the whole season in order to be able to compete with Liverpool. Fabio Silva collected the awards for Fan's Player of the Season, Signing of the Season and Young Player of the Season while Ben Chilwell won Goal of the Season.
Also, amazing seasons done by the U18 (winner of U18 Division1) and U23 (winner of U23 International Cup, U23 Premier League Cup and U23 Premier League2)
Will see what next season will bring. For lots of print screens with different records you can check the season panel.
Stay safe people
MOT

Thanks mate, i have to agree with you, i am still looking for the best way to deliver the content, because i feel it is also important to show the raw data. But it is still work in progress.

Establishing Leeds status as a Premier League big team

The target for this season is to continue improving and have a better one than the last. In terms of transfers the big target for me was acquiring a striker better than Isak. Although he had a good 1st season he was inconsistent at times and you can have that if you want to compete with Liverpool who, currently, is like a swiss clock in terms of consistency. My 1st choice was Fabio Silva from Porto. A young player, fool of potential, who shone previous season on loan to Norwich, so accustomed with the English culture already. It is never easy to negotiate with a club like FCP or SLB when it comes to their wonderkids but i think i got a good deal

The next transfer had me thinking for a bit because his position was already well covered by Emi Buendia, but to get Dele Alli on the transfer list was an opportunity i could not say no to. Buendia will be moved on the right wing to make room for the England international in the center, while Helder Costa will be let go.


The other 2 transfers made by Leeds were Rob Holding, which was already done from last season and Jack Butland to compete with Kiko Casilla.


On the out, the situation was busier. Surprisingly for me, the £7.5M i got from Leicester for a player from the Leeds youth setup. His name is Suraj Arora, 17, without remarkable attributes and with a mercenary personality. I decided to sell 2 other players from the Leeds academy, who were considered to have high potential. Ryan Edmondson, a striker, and Alfie McCalmont, the CM. Both of them i considered were not showing enough to deserve more time. For Edmondson, the path to the 1st team was blocked by Fabio Silva, Isak and Munteanu while for McCalmont i need to make room for young Leeds wonderkid Nohan Kenneh. It was between him and Jamie Shackleton, but the latter has the advantage of versatility.


The odds for this PL season were published:





On the transfer window roundup, it is going to be interesting to see how Liverpool manage to deal without Sadio Mane, who left for Barcelona


Not the easiest start for this season. After a very good pre-season, Leeds were optimistic for the new season. But the days before PL season debut started with injured players.
Fabio Silva went down before the start, Rob Holding the same.
Aleksander Isak took full advantage of this situation and scored a hattrick against Spurs to show that my assessment of him being a 2nd choice this season is wrong

But after the Spurs match Emi Buendia followed on the injured list
The much awaited Liverpool confrontation in the Euro Super Cup showed glimpses of the player Dele Alli Leeds hope to be although he did ended up injured

3 days later Liverpool won the PL match, this time it was Bellingham got injured, forcing Leeds to play with 10 man and loosing in stoppage time


The Champions League group stage has been drawn


The PL table is looking like this in the middle of September


Bielsa did not had much luck on his return to Elland Road with Man City and this season looks the same for him


Norwich was the 1st opponent of the Carabao Cup and a brace from Trincao put Leeds through to the next round
With the start of the season disrupted by so many injuries, the team found it hard to hit a consistent form, like last year. Already 2 defeats and October brought another one against Arsenal

Middle of Octomber, the PL table looks like this


Leeds already announced a new signing for January, another brazilian Jean Pyerre. His release clause was payed


The Roses Derby was once again a White affair

But a new rivalry is building up, and that is against Liverpool. The Carabao Cup 4th Rnd reunited the 2 teams at Anfield. Leeds took full advantage of Liverpool decision to rest some of the important players

It seems the decision to sign Fabio Silva was the perfect challenge for Isak who is untouchable this 1st half of the season


The Champions League went perfect, though it was not a difficult group


December table look like this

Great season and good signs for next

This season's FA Cup ended in the 4th Rnd after the replay against Burnley. Although leading 2-0 at some point, ended up loosing 3-2.
Europa League's 1st opponent was Dynamo Kyiv. The 1st Leg 5-1 win at Elland Road cleared the stress.
February ended with the Carabao Cup Final against high flying Liverpool. A hard fought match that ended in penalties.

The end of February the table looks like this:


Europa League's next opponent was Atletico Madrid. The 1st leg was played on Metropolitano and although Talles Magno opened the score, Leeds ended up loosing

Leeds did not repeat the same mistake in the 2nd Leg and took their chances without hesitation


Borussia Dortmund was next in the Qtr Final and Elland Road witnessed another brilliant performance from the Whites


In the PL the situation is clear. Liverpool defended their title brilliantly. The Elland Road defeat brought their only lose of this season. But it was too little too late

This is how the table look in April


In Europe Arsenal was next in line for the Semi Final. They started the 1st Leg with the advantage of a 1-0 win 4 days before in the PL. They repeated the deed, a hattrick from defender Ajer putting a serious dent in the White's european dreams. Jarrod Bowen's goal was the only sign of optimism for the 2nd leg.
Bowen relapsed in the 2nd Leg and Pongracic goal in the 77 min was enough for Leeds to go through to the Final on away goal rule


Leeds ended the PL on the 3rd place, a poor run of form towards the end of the season allowing Man City to secure 2nd place


But the season was not over yet and one of the biggest match in recent history was still to come


Leeds came into the meeting eager to show they are no pushovers and used the explosive speed of striker Alexander Isak to put the Spanish defense to the sword. Their more elaborate style of play countered by good team work from the Leeds players and the inability to deal with the direct through balls looking for the swedish striker were the recipe of disaster for the other Whites.


Isak brilliant show is also reflected in his numbers, with 100% shots on target 5/5


Congrats to Helder Costa and Bellingham for making it into the EL team of the season


The review for EL


The end of the season awards went to Kalvin Phillips and Emi Buendia


The season review for Leeds

with 2 new records



Around Europe the situation looks like this. Barcelona, PSG and Juventus won their internal competition en fanfare while in Germany Dortmund managed the impossible and won the Bundesliga





Liverpool defended their UCL title against PSG

Steps made to bring Leeds where they belong

In terms of transfers, January was used to make small tweaks in terms of the squad. Leeds needed a new winger, as Martin Terrier loan from OL expired and the negotiations for a new loan were dismissed by the french club. The scouting team found me this brazilian player that appealed to me

The other transfer made was more a household name


On the out, decided to give up on Tyler Roberts, who did not developed enough for me to keep. It is always hard to let go players who are club grown but he was not delivering and with so many young strikers waiting for a chance i felt it was better to just sell him, not loan him.
The other players farmed out were the new faces Dell'Orco, Cataldi and Rafinha. Strange to do that, but they were inconsistent with form and at their age and salaries it was in the club best interest to sell and give a chance to the young guns like Bellingham, Shackleton and McCalmont who all are pushing for a first team spot. while a replacement for Dell'Orco was picked up from Milan in the person of Theo.
Also Bozenik was loaned to S.Gijon. He started the season brightly and i hoped he will be the perfect cover for Isak. Unfortunately his form went down, did not respond well to criticism so decided it is in the best interest of both parties to let him move and play regularly.


In terms of matches January is always a packed month in English football.
QPR was the 1st opponent of the new year, in the FA Cup 3rd Rnd. 2-0 and the Whites through to the next round.
The 1st Leg of the Carabao Cup Semi Final did not bring the wanted revenge against Bournemouth. On the contrary, it ended 0-2 and Leeds chances of defending the title do not look so good. Chelsea took fool advantage of the dip in form and won 2-1 on Stamford Brigde.
Martin Terrier's loan to Leeds ended emphatically with the frenchman scoring 5 goals against Southampton. Rafinha's return to Elland Road ended badly with Leeds winning 2-0 against the Hammers.
Old Trafford witness another defeat for the home side in the Rose Derby

Burnley managed a draw at Elland Road which means the 4th Rnd of the FA Cup will be replayed on Turf Moor
The much awaited revenge after 2 defeats against Bournemouth did came and it was sweet. A brace from Isak brought the game to penalties where Leeds kept a cool head and moved through to the Final


The transfer window ended together with January. This is the roundup

Early signs of a resurrecting giant

After the Community Shield display against the currently best team around, the pressure was on for the young guns from Leeds to show they can produce week in week out. With probably the youngest squad in the Premier League an adaptation period was expected. But carried by the promotion enthusiasm, Leeds showed no signs of slowing down.
1st game of the season was on Goodison Park against the Toffees and it ended in a draw despite having much of the initiative. The long awaited return of Premier League football on Elland Road was greeted with an emphatic 4-1 against the Magpies. Another away hick up with former Leeds player Chris Wood tormenting the Leeds defense only for Isak to draw on the 89 min.
Arsenal was the 1st big match on Elland Road and the Whites continued their excellent home form

European nights are back to Elland Road this season.

August table looks like this:


The Europa League debut was on Stadio Olimpico against group favorites Roma and ended up in a fiasco. But that is my mistake, as i sent a young, inexperience team that ended up folding on the pressure. After a hesitant start, Leeds were 2-0 down. But the Whites were back in the game soon after the break, only for Badiashile's red card to ruin the comeback. It ended 2-5 but it was a good lesson for me.
But the Whites were back on track with a 3rd Round Carabao Cup win vs Spurs


Leeds good form continued and rivals Chelsea were next in line

At the beginning of October the PL table looks like this:


Very proud for Kalvin Phillips, a Leeds youth product who made his debut for the England team


Leeds showed no signs of slowing down the pace after the international break


A special moment on Elland Road when City's Bielsa came into town. Still held in high regard by the Leeds faithful crowd, Bielsa got a warm welcome. Not enough though


The challenge to defend the Carabao Cup title is still on after the 4th Rnd


October ended in dramatic fashion, with a 93rd min win against Crystal Palace, a goal that made Rayan Cherki at 17 years and 75 days the youngest goalscorer for this season.




November brought the 1st PL defeat, needless to say it was one of those games.


Europa League group stage did ended up being a 2 horse race affair, clearly won by the italians


December was a hot month for the Whites, especially the 2nd part of it.
Carabao Cup Qtr Final brought Bielsa back to Elland Road,

Spurs were next

Liverpool took advantage of this heavy schedule and won 1-0
Man Utd was next

and the year ended with a dramatic win against Man City


The PL table looks like this at the end of the year. Pace setters Liverpool are hot and no team seems capable of keeping up with them

The Olympic tournament - off topic

Besides preparing the Whites for the 1st PL season after a long time, i decided taking my chances at the Olympic tournament. France U23 was my pick.
The Olympics is a special tournament football related. As a manager, you can only pick a squad of 18 players and you have to find versatile players in order to try to make it as far as possible. The schedule is tight and you have at most 3 days of rest in between matches. Also, although age related they are eligible, you cannot pick players who were already called for the final tournament played by the big side. So no Mbappe.
U23 were in group C along side the U23 nations of USA, Australia and Nigeria. Easy group which was won after 3 victories, 7-1 goal. South Korea was next in the Qtr Final. 3-0 and the chance to play against rivals Spain in the Semi Final. The first tough game of the tournament and France needed an 120 min extra time goal to make to make to the Final.
The Final had even more drama than the Semi. The brazilians were 2-0 up at the break. Now, what the match chronicle does not tell you is that France had not 1, not 2 but 3 goals ruled as offside and at least the 1st one was not an offside. Things started changing after Gustavo Assuncao's red card from the 57 min. Terrier brought the hope back after a goal was finally allowed by the referee. Todibo equalized late in the game to send it to extra time. And there Ben Yedder scored what proof to be the winner.

The Whites are back

Preparing for the new season, together with the Olympics, made the start of it quite hectic to deal with.
In terms of transfers, i decided to change most of the squad to make sure i can face the competition of the PL but also be able to compete in Europe.
Defense was changed almost completely, only keeper Casilla and defender Badiashile were kept. Keeper Woodman, Aarons (RB), Piccini (RB), Pongracic (CD), Holding (CD), Bella-Kotchap (CD), Chilwell (LB)and Del'Orco (LB) are the new faces in defense. The midfield also suffered changes with the additions of Cataldi (CM), Bowen (LW), Rafinha (CAM) and Buendia (CAM) while for strikers i went with Isak (ST), Bozenik (ST) and loaned Esposito (ST) from Inter. 3 times a new record purchase for Leeds was made this transfer window. First it was Aarons from Norwich, than Chilwell from Leicester and in the final hours of the transfer window Emi Buendia from Norwich. I would have bought Holding now but i did not had the money so i had to settle for a loan with an obligatory fee to buy.

I would have loved to raid Norwich and Leicester, the relegated teams, but i did not have enough transfer budget to do it.




One of the highlight of the season will definitely be Marcelo Bielsa's visit to Elland Road. After Pep left the Citizens at the end of last season, the board decided the new man to take charge is the former Leeds manager. The Elland Road fans are still keeping him in high regard.


U23 manager Carlos Corberan left the club and joined La Liga Malaga as manager.


The odds for the PL were published






And the season started with the Community Shield against current PL and Champions League winners Liverpool. Leeds put a brave fight and managed to get over getting equalized in extra time to win the 1st trophy of the season after penalties. Very hard to resist the Reds. Klopp managed to make an explosive team and i am curious how the season will continue for them


Transfer window roundup