Rocco's Round-Up (15/12/23 to 21/12/23)
Friday, 15th December 2023
Daniel Farke gave a nice presser in the wake of the Sunderland defeat, responding to claims that he should have freshened up the team by jovially pointing to the criticism he received for freshening up the team when losing to Stoke. Man's got a point.
Saturday, 16th December 2023
Bah. This was such a disappointing and frustrating day at Elland Road. After Ipswich dropped points at home to Norwich, Leeds were held to a 1-1 draw by Coventry City, ending the run of seven straight home wins but extending the unbeaten home run to 11. Farke wasn't interested in taking the positives from the performance (whatever they were), he wants his lads to dwell on the disappointment, which will hopefully fire them to a big three points against Ipswich next week.
Sunday, 17th December 2023
Ian Carlos Poveda-Ocampo started for Colombia in their friendly with Mexico, in front of an impressive crowd of 65,000 for what was essentially a ‘B’ international. Poveda played 75 minutes, leaving the field after Colombia had fought back from 2-0 down (no goals or assists for our man), and they won it in injury-time, 3-2. Elsewhere, Victor Orta's first managerial pick at Sevilla has been sacked after nine winless games. Diego Alonso was an odd appointment, having endured a bog-standard playing career, then experienced success in Mexico and failure in the MLS, before flopping at the Qatar World Cup with the Uruguay squad Bielsa has turned into world-beaters. Never change Victor!
Monday, 18th December 2023
Leicester won again tonight, beating The Brady Bunch 3-2. Since Sept 1st (when our season really began) they've only failed to win four times, whereas Ipswich have failed five times and we've failed to win seven. Must we improve? Must the top two worsen? Hopefully both will happen.
Tuesday, 19th December 2023
The predictability of Leicester’s victory paved the way for hysteria to spread over a flippant comment made by Jack Harrison's mum in the heat of a buzzing Everton away end. After her son came over for a triumphant hug, Old Mother Harrison said words to the effect of, ‘no chuffing way!’ in response to a fan’s suggestion that Jack shouldn’t return to Leeds. Off with her head!
Wednesday, 20th December 2023
Jesse Marsch was in the news today, proving what a clueless blusterer he is when asked what went wrong for him at Leeds. ‘What went wrong is we were a couple of results away from really getting everything moving in the right direction.’ So it went wrong because it didn’t start going right. Great insight. What sort of imbecile falls for such codswallop? Speaking of Victor Orta, there was a dramatic Snakes and Losers Classico in Germany tonight. Max Wober scored but was sent off in the 88th minute, then saw his teammates concede a 92nd minute equaliser before Fotmob man of the match, Robin Koch, scored a 97th minute winner.
Thursday, 21st December 2023
What a presser from Daniel Farke today! He sent shivers down my spine when explaining why he is falling in love with Leeds United, and even defended the eternally discontented, explaining that criticism from the fans just shows their passion. The Hunky Herr expertly handled numerous attempts to draw him into a sweeping statement about the do-or-die showdown against Ipswich, playing the first three questions with a straight bat, then smashing the fourth for six, ‘We could try asking the EFL if they'll award us nine points for winning on Saturday, but in the end it will only be three.’ Let's hope his lads put on such a stirring show at Elland Road.