Leeds' exciting-sounding attacking midfielder impressed at the Copa CentroAmericana as he won the award for Most Valuable Player, after playing a vital role in Honduras' victorious campaign. He scored twice in the group games on the way to the final, and surely Simon Grayson would be looking at Ramon very closely when he returns to the Leeds squad this week as he became only the fourth player after Hunter and Charlton - World Cup, Radebe - African Nations Cup to win a recognised international tournament.
Ramon celebrates his goal against Costa Rica
He showed good technique and the ability to beat players as well as very tidy finishing ability. He'd be hard to fit into our current set up but played "in the hole" off the bench he could cause issues later on in games with his willingness to run into space and at defenders - which we saw in his brief appearances (Cardiff home and Scunny away) so far. His ability to pick a difficult pass impressed me when I watched him against Cardiff, as he hit balls with pace,
30 or so yards to pick out Snodgrass and keep the pace of a break up.
He is a naturally very attacking player, taking up advanced positions (he can actually play off a striker up front, as well as out wide as a winger) and for him to fit into our side, he may need to learn to be more selective in his attacking play, as well as putting in more work defensively and in the tackle if he's to be considered for selection - unless we throw him on when behind with ten minutes left. I reckon he'd offer something a little bit like Max Gradel in the way he runs at defences and can beat players.
Obviously the level of football played at the tournament could be questioned but this piece of individual skill would sit well in any division, as Ramon slips at first but then fires first time, low past the keeper on the turn - a hard piece of technique to pull off.
With the current lack of depth in the centre of midfield, Ramon might just get his chance which will please a few Leeds fans who have been looking forward to seeing him in action.
Ramon signed a contract until the end of the season after being offered an extension by Leeds after his initial short term deal that ran until Christmas. We have an option to extend this deal by a further year.
Midfielder Neil Kilkenny has reiterated his desire to remain at the club after becoming an impressive and key component of the Leeds machine this season. Naturally a deeper lying player he's somewhat of a unique player at the club as the other centre midfielders play naturally higher up the field (or like to). At this moment in time I'd say though not irreplaceable, Neil is a key player and the contract issue needs to be sorted, if nothing just to assure we don't lose a prize asset for nothing... again.
I'd say currently, the Johnson contract is of more importance as he's really come into his own the past couple of months, playing in a deeper role and adapting his game well - contributing with goals when he joins the attack as well. He's more physical than Kilkenny, quicker, an aerial threat and a goal threat. What he has lacked in the past is passing ability and composure, although recently his decision making in his passing has seen improvement.
"Discussions have started, they have been going on for a long time so we'll wait and see when I get back.
"At the end of the day if Leeds want to keep me they know I want to stay, so the ball is in their court."
Robert Snodgrass failed to turn up for a court appearance at Glasgow's Justice of the Peace Court last Thursday after alleged driving offences and there has been a warrant issued in Scotland for his arrest.
"Snodgrass is accused of parking on a pelican crossing in Glasgow's Duke Street on February 28 last year."
The club say it was the result of a misunderstanding and Snoddy is is communication with the authorities.
Here are statistics of the goals conceded per game of various centre back pairings that have been in use throughout the season. Obviously, defending the goal isn't just down to the CB pair, but the whole team and its setup. However, these stats do provide a good insight into what works best at our defence's core:
Collins/O'Brien - 2 goals average conceded per game (5 games)
Bromby/Bruce - 2 (only played one game as a partnership)
Collins/Bruce - 1.75 (7 games)
Collins/Naylor - 1.67 (9 games)
O'Brien/Bruce - 1.11 (9 gamesstarted as a partnership, plus 10 minutes of one game where Bruce came off injured)
This does indeed confirm what most Leeds fans see as our best partnership - Bruce and Andy O'Brien, conceding by far the least when paired up out of all the other pairings that Simon has tried throughout the season so far. Also of note is that when Bruce and Andy have started together, we've only lost one and encouragingly that was the Arsenal cup tie last week - where the third goal may arguably have been better dealt with had O'Brien not been forced off leaving Bromby to deal poorly with for van Persie's free header. Worryingly when played alongside Collins, Bruce seems to lack the presence of O'Brien alongside him, the older head. This combined with the unquestionable fact that O'Brien is a better defence than Collins means the next most feasible partnership regarding Grayson's preferences of Collins/Bruce leaks far more goals. The Bromby/Bruce partnership hasn't had enough chance to show yet. Worryingly, when O'Brien is paired with Collins we have conceded 2 per game average.
Oddly, O'Brien has the worst clean sheet percentage among our centre backs:
The average goals per game statistic of around one though, means this is largely irrelevant considering our current goalscoring form as you'd currently fancy us to score at least one anyway.
Discounting "anomalies"
Four times this season we've conceded four goals or more with the following CB partnerships:
These games were all played using the 4-4-2 system that didn't work so well for us earlier in the season, as we were adapting to the League, as well as coinciding with chopping and changing as we strived for consistency and better performances.
If these 15 goals are discounted from Collins' record, his goals conceded per game shoots down to 1.26, Bruce's would also decrease further. It's fair to discount these results as the side now is so far from how it was back then in terms of consistency of personnel and performances. They were all bad team performances and couldn't come down to just the CB pairings. Many individual errors came from many players, so to count these solely against Collins would be unfair - although he did have a hand in some of the errors himself. The formation definitely had something to do as the 4-5-1 enabled us to better adapt to the Championship when used later on.
This would perhaps make some case for Collins in regards some criticism he seems to get around the web, myself included at times. The partnership of Bruce and O'Brien however would still be far and away the best if these anomalies were discounted for each centre back as exceptional(ly bad) performances as a team.
Two of these performances also had Higgs in goal. We all know Higgs is no Kasper and no matter how you look at it, it would be unquestionable we'd be likely to concede more with Shane in goal instead of Kasper.
Complimenting abilities
The way the centre backs play alongside each other is also worth noting. With Bruce/O'Brien you have two capable players in the air, especially O'Brien positionally and with his height along with Bruce who is quicker than the rest and good in the tackle. O'Brien's positional sense compliments Bruce's willingness to get stuck in and put a foot in, providing some cover. Bruce seems to benefit hugely from the experience and positioning of O'Brien when he's in the side. The Pompey game reminded us all how much O'Brien adds to the defence with his own ability and the confidence he instills around him. Michalik was like this at his time at the club, and Marques, they benefited from having a convincing partner who they had faith in playing alongside them - Naylor at the time.
Another example of the centre backs needing to have complimentary abilities to succeed is the poor showing of the O'Brien/Collins partnership - ten goals conceded over five games. They're too similar to be effective together - both good in the air, but lacking some mobility and prowess in the tackle, especially in the sense of Collins who seems to be our best bet at marking the oppositions "big man" up top.
Consistency of team selection
One argument for the case of Neil Collins is the fact he's never played more than three games in a row having the same three players as part of the back four alongside him. This would no doubt be of hinderance. The settled Connolly, O'Brien, Bruce and McCartney back four with Schmeichel in goal coincided with the unbeaten run we've just been throughgoes some way to backing that argument up. Although, it could be said the addition of McCartney and Andy O'Brien did more to ensure a better defensive display during this period.
Benefits of the 4-2-3-1/4-5-1
As Simon brought in O'Brien, he and Bruce went on to benefit from a change in the whole set up of the team that meant more cover was provided for the back line as a unit. First of all, Howson was allowed free reign in the hole. Kilkenny and Faye originally were then drafted in to sit in front of the back line, and later Johnson in place of Faye when he adapted more successfully to his current role - picking forward runs more carefully and learning to sit deeper more naturally.
This formation largely halted the early season trouble we had with teams steamrollering us with pacy counterattacks, running straight at the heart of our defence - which is the hardest thing to deal with (Commons typified this issue best in our opening game of the season with Green for Derby).
Sum-up
What can be taken from this then is that it is a combination of a change of formation, consistency and the introduction of Andy O'Brien that seems to have coincided with our recent good run. What would be interesting to see is can we cope in a 4-4-2 in the future with O'Brien in the side, and perhaps Johnson instructed to sit deeper whilst Howson breaks forward/we get another deep lying player on loan. What you can't conclude though from this is that a particular pairing is the be all and end all of performances defensively as the make up of the rest of the team, including full backs especially would have a say - as well as obviously the way the 11 is set up to play tactically.
Obviously, defensive performance will depend on opposition faced - i.e. high scoring Cardiff as opposed to Scunthorpe varies in the amount of defensive work the side would have to do.
This article just shows an overview of our defensive performances on average throughout the season so far - discounting the most obvious anomalies that have occurred this season. The three main partnerships have a sample size of games played big enough to include a fair spread of games against a mixture teams at either end of the table - a representative section of the standard of games played throughout the season.
Disclaimer, these stats are largely sourced from forums, and not my own work - sad though I am I wouldn't stoop to calculating all of these stats myself!
Back, then, to the bread and butter again after another cup outing against more glamourous opponents. Knuckling down and getting on with the day job was the order of the day at Fratton Park as Leeds returned to Championship action. Grayson made three changes to the team that walked out at Elland Road against Arsenal on Wednesday night. With O'Brien forced out with a tight hamstring late on in the cup clash, Bromby came in at centre back. Parker was dropped to the bench in favour of McCartney and up front, the most notable change was Becchio returning in place of Billy Paynter.
Despite the lack of an extraordinary result against Arsenal, Leeds seemed in that hangover mode as Pompey had the best of the opening exchanges. Max Gradel stung Ashdown's palms from 25 yards with a dipping strike, but other than that Portsmouth put us under the cosh. Worryingly, the recently confidence-instilling Bruce seemed to lack the presence of O'Brien alongside him and Utaka and the impressive Liam Lawrence were able to put several dangerous balls into the box and cause issue, clearances weren't convincing - the Bromby-Bruce partnership was obviously in its infancy in terms of understanding. McCartney was wasteful in possession at times, once misplacing a pass that forced Bromby into a diving header after Lawrence was gifted a free cross.
We got away with a Greg Halford header from a pinpoint Lawrence corner that cannoned off the bar, and at this point were probably riding our luck, as we'd had very little possession and adventure in terms of forays forward worth any note. Kanu was causing issues, despite being an old head, he still could physically compete with any he came up against, holding up the ball and holding off men, as well as still remarkably showing a burst of pace when needed. His Loctite touch was impressive and his intelligence was a worry. A big ball into the box found his chest after he held off Bruce with ease, and the cushioned chest trap found Nugent who should have done far better, ballooning over on the half volley.
We were over run in midfield and second to every clearing header. A lot of Pompey play came from a big ball from a channel and we would deal with the first ball, but more often than not fail to anticipate the second ball, highly frustrating - we needed a bit more thought about our game in this respect, the Pompey players seemed to anticipate far better than we managed, although with a man extra in midfield when Howson and Watt were caught upfield. It is definately still an issue for us having two deep lying players but having neither of them recognised as a defensive ball winner type, and both liking to get forward. It leaves us short more than is comfortable.
The long ball was a thorn in the side and Nugent was in behind Bruce with another hoick forward, and were it not for a poor touch, he'd have been face to face with Kasper. Their goal was definitely coming, and truthfully we'd been lucky to stem the tide for this long, when after clearing a corner, the long ball was poorly dealt with on the edge of the box with the ball falling straight to a Pompey player who spread it out wide. We'd failed to reorganise quickly enough in midfield from the corner and Lawrence was free to run at Connolly, who was narrow - again from defending the aforementioned corner. He dribbled inside the box, cut outside, drawing three men towards him before teeing up Ward on the edge of the penalty box for an unchallenged effort on goal. A good strike finding the bottom corner. Lawrence was going nowhere and with two men already marking and a crowd blocking the shot on goal, the third (Howson) should have been more concerned and aware of a possible lay-off. He'd just run past Ward into the box. Frustrating, as in the end it was made easier than it probably should have been for Ward. It was a just goal though the way we'd started.
Soon after, Kanu cued a beautiful overlap into the path of Utaka who ran at Connolly. The pace of the run worried Connolly who couldn't dive in inside the penalty area, the shot was wonderfully saved by Schmeichel who tipped the powerful effort across him round the far post, instinctively, from short range. I earmarked Utaka's ability and pace as a worry and he wasn't disappointing. He did surprise me though with a few wayward shots, a side foot a fair way past Kasper's post the poorest of his efforts, when he had time and space. I must admit I had it in my mind he was a better finisher than he showed, only scored 2 though this season I think so that proved my assumptions wrong. (Including his one against us later on in the game...)
What little we did have going forward was made from Gradel's persistance and determination. He nicked the ball of the poor De Laet and popped a ball to Watt, who cut inside and fed Howson on the edge of the D, curling an effort narrowly wide. We did manage a bit of keep ball, the meat of our meaningful possession in the first half, but couldn't find any outlet or end product before half time. A pretty happy set of support - considering the way Pompey had gone at us during the half, pretty much as well as any side had all season thinking back - they're certainly capable, as Forest almost found out last week, were it not for an injury time point-stealer.
We started the second half the brighter after what was no doubt a Simon Grayson "wake-up call" and earned a freekick on the right wing, prime for Snodgrass to curl into the box with some purpose. I for one get sick of seeing us waste free kick and corner opportunities but thankfully this was a good delivery. Deep to the back post on a diagonal, and Howson nipped in round the back of his marker to meet it first time and send it back across the face, for the right place, right time man, Luciano Becchio to slot home. This is what Luciano brings, an instinct of where to be and at what time to receive opportunities. As has happened many times this season after being behind, the goal gave the Whites fans the optimism and the players the confidence, and the dominance that followed made you believe we'd make a victorious comeback again. Snoddy, the tormenter of Dickinson at Elland Road, had been out of the game through our lack of the ball, but finally he had the chance to remind Dickinson of his recurring Elland Road nightmare as Snodgrass got into dangerous positions to deliver into the box, at the ex Leeds loanee's despair.
Johnson showed improved composure on the ball and was providing both long and short, with intelligence. Gradel linked up play along the whole front line as he played off Becchio up top, causing annoyance, buzzing around and aiding attacks on Snoddy's flank nicely - another good showing of willingness and endeavour from Max who continues to look every bit the bargain after we robbed Nigel Pearson of him for 200k last season.
It was Pompey who struck though as we managed to set back our chance of turning the game on its head. Another massive ball caused issues for us as Kanu backed into Bromby and beat him to the header, the flick on bounced in between Connolly and Bruce, and fell to Utaka. Bruce couldn't poke the ball away from Utaka, who made no mistake to slot past Schmeichel. Self destruct button stuff. The ball was allowed to bounce twice, first over Connolly who made a hash of the first bounce with Bruce and second in front of Utaka. The amount of times we've been undone this season by a punt forward from a keeper or centre back is concerning.
Almost as if it was scripted by a Pompey hierarchy, during the spell of continued Leeds pressure post Becchio's goal and in spite of their's, Fratton Park's floodlights went off, due to "external issues" the tannoy announcer kept repeating as if for some reason guilty. It broke up our momentum nicely for them and allowed their players a bit of a rest, Kanu included.
Somma replaced Watt who was the most anonymous of the attacking three in midfield, to offer Becchio a full time striker as a partner, after Gradel's earlier efforts up top. I wanted to see this change before the game and during, as did a fair few others. Somma's impact could not have been any better. Somma's arrival allowed Becchio to reprise his "Beckford's worker" role of old to start and set up the move that led to our second. I just love to see him do this and it just shows what a rounded and capable striker he is. He pops up on the right wing, almost on halfway, plays it into midfield, advances midway into their half, receives the ball back and slides it beautifully to Somma who'd ghosted to the edge of the box. Now although we all know Somma is a fantastic finisher and when he gets a chance you expect it to go in, this one was a bit optimistic I thought. How wrong I was. He hovered between their centre backs nicely, deftly controlled with the right and in a snapshot swung his left boot through it and put it in the bottom corner from the edge of the box. He continues to amaze. Those were his first two touches.
Again, we piled the pressure on with neat overlaps and flicks from Somma on the right combining with Snoddy and Gradel with McCartney on the left. Somma's added presence further to Becchio clearly gave them problems as he was played the ball a couple of times in the box but closed down in a hurry. He did admirably with the ball played to his feet. Intelligently holding up then playing in Snoddy a couple of times, once with a back heel. Those who say he can't do this part of the game are wrong. He can, when fed anywhere lower than his head. He's no target man heading wise, but capable of hold up play when played into him with some construction.
Just as another head of steam was building for us, the lights went out again. Cue the guilty tannoy messages and chants of "Pay up Pompey"... The Leeds momentum had been building - There was a chance of note for Howson who forced a fine save from Ashdown after a first time, low strike from the edge of the box and Leeds were still giving the hope we'd seal another fantastic comeback smash and grab in the dying minutes. It was announced we had three minutes left. The referee felt no compulsion to let the Fratton Park lights have chance to "fail" again and played no extra time, annoyingly.
To sum up, frustrating. Lapses cost us. Floodlights cost us, after twice breaking up ominous momentum. In the end though its a point against a talented side, who are certainly capable. A pleasing point as well as we did managed to twice fight back from being behind. Just a shame we shot ourselves in the foot defensively for their second. We do need to pick up the pace, though, as the teams behind, most notably Forest with games in hand are beginning to look more than ominous. A tough set of games ahead for February after Hull a week on Tuesday. This next month will test our credentials.
What was pleasing to see was the effectiveness of Somma and Becchio combining after Somma had come on. Simon must be on the brink of considering starting Davide in a 4-4-2 again, as, if we're honest we've lacked the effectiveness of Howson in the hole, and until Kilkenny comes back we won't be seeing Howson there. 4-4-2 may be a good alternative with Davide unquestionably firing, and 4-5-1 seemingly not preventing the constant leak of goals. Watt and McCormack are certainly not as suited in terms of producing results playing just behind Becchio as Howson was a few weeks ago, so, for me, revert to 4-4-2 until Kilkenny/another capable midfielder we may bring in are in the squad. That way, we've also got two fresh, pacy wingers to come off the bench in Watt and Sam.
Again, we missed the strongest partnership we currently have at CB with O'Brien unable to partner Bruce, it did show - we weren't as assured as we have been at the back recently (despite still conceding goals). Obviously it can't help that Bromby's had little game time in this unit, so I'm willing to give Leigh a chance and time as, for me, the jury is firmly out on Collins.
Grayson:
"We were lucky to only be 1-0 down at half-time but in the second half we were much sharper, passed the ball better and created some good chances. We showed great character to keep coming back. We did not get going in the first half and, maybe, that was because of Wednesday night, but I did not want to use that as an excuse.
"They had the better of the first half and we had the better of the second so a draw was a fair result."
Support
Pompey gave as good account as anyone in the league we've come across in the way they backed their team. Leeds fans, as per, were excellent, bouncing for both goals and constantly noisy. The opening "we all love Leeds" I think it was, was lengthy and good to hear. Nice micky taking with the "Pay up Pompey" chants.
Man of the Match
Luciano. Goal and excellent link up play and assist for the second. That's why we miss him. Class act just now.
What an interview from a refreshingly down to earth, honest and genuine footballer, his feelings about the club and the city of Leeds in general are fantastic to hear and to hear what it's done for his family in particular is amazing. He shows a side the modern day footballer never usually does, the best interview of a Leeds player I've heard in recent times. This is a must listen.
"I'm from Manchester, Leeds is the best city I've ever lived in..."
"They said to me if you give 100% for the fans, they'll take that, and if it's not good enough they'll accept that... That's all I've ever tried to do for Leeds."
"I was so honoured to play for Leeds, my daughter's a Leeds fan and I'll be a Leeds fan forever... I'm honoured to have played for this club."
"What Leeds has done for me, my wife and my daughter, I can't thank the people of Leeds and the club itself (enough)."
"We're never going to leave Yorkshire, I'd love so much to come back to the club one day and help the club."
"Knowing you played in a team that for every other team you played against was their big game is something as a footballer I'll never experience (again)"
"This club has been the most amazing four years..."
"My wife knows how much it means to me, to come and say that I've played for Leeds United... alright it was a promotion from League One but to say I did something for Leeds United that I set out to do from the start, and to do it in front of these fans, home and away is the biggest honour... its up there with the birth of my daughter."
