Matchday 25 – Quick Round Up

Match Day 25 Round Up

Friday 6th February

Leeds United 3-1 Nottingham Forest

A game that saw Forest’s attempts to sit back and soak up pressure fail completely against a Leeds side that just seemed to want the result more. By half-time, with the score at 2-0, Forest looked in desperate need of a change of some kind, just to give them a bit of hope. Instead they came back out exactly the same and quickly conceded another goal and their hopes of getting a result. They did have a bit of a flurry at the end of the match, but that was as much down to Leeds sitting back on the three goal cushion as it was down to Forest. A hugely important result for Leeds, as it put a bit of daylight between themselves and the relegation places, while keeping Forest in trouble.

Starmen:
Gudmundsson – drove forward well and was given freedom down the left by Dominguez, who seemed to have no interest in tracking back.
Gruev – played really well, admittedly he was given time and space, but picked out some lovely passes.
Justin – popped up in the box to end up creating a goal with a calm pass after his shot was blocked.
Bogle – caused lots of problems.

Flops:
Ortega – a debut to forget.
Aina – looks nothing like the player he was before his injury.
Gibbs-White – offers nothing right now, other than loose passes.
Dominguez – what I can only describe as a ‘half-arsed’ performance.
Hudson-Odoi – very disappointing.
Jesus – got very little service to be fair to him.

Saturday 7th February

Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur

A very one-sided game, even before Romero was sent off (harshly maybe but it is the kind of thing which happens when you build yourself a reputation as a lunatic with repeated wild lunges). Spurs huffed and puffed but never really threatened a resurgent Man Utd side. Man Utd look a much better side under Carrick than they did under Amorim, like a team that is able to play rather than be constantly thinking about what they are meant to do. On the other side, Spurs look an absolute shambles under Frank, with little to be positive about, similar to the mess of last season. It does seem like their problem is not the manager, but the lack of quality of the players. They have bought badly, players like Simons, who have never been any good in reality, though have lots of hype, over players with substance.

Starmen:
Fernandes – every opposition fans least favourite player, but he is a top quality attacking midfielder. He may lack positional discipline defensively, but he…