Good Morning. It's Tuesday 18th October, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Leeds monitoring McKennieLeeds are among a host of top flight clubs monitoring midfielder Weston McKennie. The versatile 24 year old plays for Juventus, initially joining them on loan (in 2020), before making the move permanent a year later. In 64 appearances, he's netted 8 times.
Juve have not had the best starts to their campaign. After 10 games, they find themselves in 10th spot, ten points off the pace. McKennie is currently out of favour at the Allianz Stadium, and are believed to be open to offers. Chelsea, Manchester United, Spurs, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and Aston Villa are also credited with an interest in the USA International.
Raphinha continues to struggle at BarcaFormer Leeds ace Raphinha has been slammed by the Spanish press following another dismal performance for Barcelona. Following a brief honeymoon period, the 25yo has really struggled to make an impact for the Catalan giants, and was well below par during Sunday's El Classico, which Rel Madrid won 3-1.
With just one goal, and one assist in nine appearances, the Brazilian is at risk of dropping down the pecking order, which could effect this chances of going to the World Cup next month. According to Spanish news outlet 'AS'...
Another of his matches to forget. The problem is that he’s already had a few, which raises more than one question regarding his signing. He did not leave on any occasion from the right wing, and he hardly helped in the pressure. Either he takes a step forward or the Brazilian can start to stick to the bench more frequently.
Gallagher talks through key decisionsFormer Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Chris Kavanagh made the right decision by ruling out Patrick Bamford's goal during the opening stages of the second half. Speaking on Sky Sports ref watch, Gallagher was convinced that Bamford 'quite clearly pushes him' (Gabriel), which resulted in Arsenal winning a free kick
I thought it was a foul, when you see it, it is hard to say it is not a foul. The interesting thing is he [Bamford] has pointed to his chest there, to say it’s not handball I think he said to the referee. You see there he quite clearly pushes him, without VAR that would not have been given.
The second contentious matter was the penalty decision. Gallagher once again believes Kavanagh made the right decision in awarding the spot kick, and explains why the Gunners were not awarded a free kick when Kristensen wandered offside
This is the first one I talked about, I think it is handball. Not given on the field, but given by VAR. If the VAR wasn’t in play, it would not have been given. The referee’s decision would’ve been play on but you see quite clearly, it’s not just that his arm has hit the ball, but he’s moved towards it. Penalty for me.
He {Kristensen] is offside in the build-up, but I think it goes on too long. The ball goes back, gets recycled, they talk about second phase, they talk about re-setting up, it takes too long so they don’t go back that far. It didn’t lead directly to the penalty but there has to be a point where they say reset.
The final incident occurred in injury time when Gabriel kicks out at Bamford following a tussle in the penalty box. It's quite obvious that Paddy knocks the Arsenal defender to the ground in the build up. Leeds fans can't argue too much about this one, and Gallagher agrees...
I think it did, it’s a really interesting incident because the referee doesn’t give anything.” “If you watch the assistant, he says to him I think he’s kicked out violently, so it’s got to be a penalty as well because the ball is in play. He gives a penalty and a red card, but you see quite clearly that he [Bamford] has committed a foul.
You then see the leg come up, it’s petulant, it’s unsporting but it’s not violent. When he goes to the TV monitor, VAR has said to have a look at it. I think ultimately the right decision has been made. I would also say without that, Arsenal could’ve possibly lost two points if that penalty had been scored and they would’ve certainly lost a player for three matches.
Rodrigo - My badRodrigo has taken to social media to apologise for his kamikaze error on Sunday, which resulted in Arsenal scoring the only goal of the game. He spoke of learning by his mistakes, which, if he were a developmental player, perhaps he could be excused, but as a 31 yo Spanish International, entering the twilight of his career, surely is inexcusable.
Many times the learning process is given through the error. My bad yesterday. Looking forward to the next one.
