A good shout. No Kouyate, Luka and Benteke (back to his worst vs Villa.)When Gallagher created havoc and Villa almost scored an own goal, Tekkers was just standing there watching. And when Guhei scored (from where the big Belgian should have been), he was again just watching behind several Villa defenders.
For me a happy day when Christian B. packs his bags for good and say adios Eagles...

Some observations:

Olise - is going to be a player, but isn't one yet. He looks a little lightweight physically to me and also lacking in confidence to take players on (which is his natural game). Being played out of position all season (his preferred role is central midfield) hasn't helped. Personally, I'd use him as an impact sub while he finds his feet in the PL this season.

Andersen - we missed him yesterday. What we missed wasn't his too-often suspect defending but his distribution; his ability to ping a long-distance pass and get the attack moving out of the blue keeps other teams honest and was notable by its absence. Most of our abundant possession yesterday was wasted by endless slow, sideways passing with very little penetration. If available, Andersen has to play.

Ayew - I wouldn't start him too often but wanted to note that I'm astonished how little respect he gets here. Always puts in a shift, has considerably more skill than he's given credit for and while he's not a world-class finisher by any stretch of the imagination, our squad is better with him than it would be without him.

Luka - Frankly, finished (at Palace). Offers very little indeed. Useful player for the sort of aspirations we had two years ago (surival) but simply not a useful player for a team looking to do better than that.

Schlupp - I think he needs a run of games, partly to see if he can translate his occasional impact into regular performance and also given that his contract is ending we ought to find out what we've got and what he's worth.

Wilf - dare I say that, at 29, while by no means old or over the hill, Wilf may have passed his summit? He was poor yesterday; the days when he could simply singlehandedly take a game by the scruff of the neck may be coming to an end. Still our most likely player to win a game but arguably no longer the first name on the teamsheet or, if he's still that, certainly no longer guaranteed never to be substituted if he isn't playing well.

Hughes - not sure he's ready to start on Tuesday, but he needs to begin getting some minutes and seeing time on the pitch. Another potentially astute signing that at some point we've got to understand how or if he fits into Vieira's masterplan going forwards.

Kouyate - better than Luka, but then so am I so not much of a compliment. Rather like Ayew, happy to have him around and there will be games when his presence is called for. But the more "winnable" games where we look to be on the front foot, I'm not sure either he or Luka should be on the teamsheet.

VG - great shot stopper but his ability to command a penalty area -- what ability? He hasn't got any - really isn't helping anyone. Surely at set pieces, getting the defense organised is part of the keeper's job? It used to be,anyway.

My team for Leeds:

VG

Ward
Mitchell
Guehi
Andersen

Schlupp
Eze
Gallagher
Zaha

Benteke
Edouard

Subs:

If Ebs is not 100% fit, likely given his comeback, I'd like to see Olise replace him for the last portion of the game in his (Olise's) preferred central midfield role. It's about time we put him in the best position to succeed.

I'd like to see Hughes make his debut at some point, if the state of the game dictates bringing him on.

Edited by sydtheeagle (28 Nov 2021 4.59pm)

Not that its going to effect the Leeds game, but, could effect the next one(manure), Wardy is now on 4(four) yellow cards. If he gets another against leeds, he'll be ruled out for 1 game.

So, if this is the case, who will be our RB v Manure?

A good shout. No Kouyate, Luka and Benteke (back to his worst vs Villa.)When Gallagher created havoc and Villa almost scored an own goal, Tekkers was just standing there watching. And when Guhei scored (from where the big Belgian should have been), he was again just watching behind several Villa defenders.
For me a happy day when Christian B. packs his bags for good and say adios Eagles...