Where are Last Seasons Leeds? (Leeds United A.F.C.)

Member Name: ryanbritto

Product:	Leeds United A.F.C.
Date:	08/01/01 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great young playes , great manager

Disadvantages: underachieving , lack of experience

I think that Leeds United are underachieving this season. Although they have done really well in the champion?s league and recorded a brilliant victory against Lazio I don?t believe they are strong enough to win that competition so they need to really finish in the top three to qualify for the Champion?s league next season which I don?t believe they will do this season because the way they have started. To be fair to them they have had lots of players out at the beginning of the season. Players like Harry Kewell who is very influential to the team. They have now got Kewell back and have purchased other players like Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Keane who have strengthened their squad but they still seem to be underachieving. I think that Rio Ferdinand was not worth £18m and he has not really proved that he is worth £18m. That is a lot of many to spend on any player let alone a defender and there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders and a lot of high expectation of him and that may be why he is performing so well. Robbie Keane is a good player that Leeds have taken on loan till the end of the season. He posses great skill and speed and is a good finisher and will be a good asset to Leeds if they sign him.

The league table shows that Leeds are in the bottom half and are about 13th position. This is not what many people expected after their brilliant display last year to take them up into the champions league. A lot of high expectation is on them to improve on this position and they maybe are feeling the pressure. We have only really seen glimpses of their good form with games like the 4-3 victory against Liverpool where they had to come from behind several times and eventually won the match. This showed that they do have the character and the determination to win. They have also beaten Arsenal at home this season 1-0. These are two good wins against some of the top clubs in the Country but they have not kept this up consistently. They have bee
n beaten at home by Man City and Ipswich who are two of the promoted sides form Division One and they have also been thrashed 3-0 by Manchester United.

With most of their first team back over the Christmas period Leeds were expected to try and make up some of the lost ground on the top teams. David O?Leary said that they must win the two games against Newcastle and Aston Villa to catch up. What did they do? They lost both games. They were leading against Newcastle but then were pegged back to 1-1 and then lost 2-1 in the end. They also lost to Aston Vila at Ellend Road 2-1, which was another disappointment for O?Leary. On new years day they had Middlesborough t home which should have been a home banker as Middlesborough are sitting bottom of the table. They were behind with a goal from Alen Bocksic but equalised with a late penalty by Robbie Keane. This was another disappointing performance by Leeds are slipping further and further down the table. Fans are getting a little frustrated and beginning to wonder when will Leeds improve on this?

I think that the only reason that Leeds are not performing is because the team is not gelling and players have got to get to know each other better. They are lacking in confidence and team spirit but when they start to pull a few wins off they will be back up their challenging the big boys. There is no reason why they shouldn?t with the quality players they have got like Kewell, Viduka, Dacourt, Bowyer, Batty. I think it will only be a matter of time before they get back to where they were last season. But if they do not win the champions league I don?t think they will be playing in it next year.

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