Peterborough United 1 – 2 Leeds United
Location: London Road
Date: 25th August, 2012
Attendance: 10,432 (3,701 Leeds fans)
Three League games, three League defeats – but positives can be taken from match.
After a very disappointing performance earlier in the week against Millwall, everyone was expecting Posh to finally turn up and hit Leeds with all they had. They didn`t exactly do that but it was a much better performance and there were signs that things were starting to come together.
Posh are still giving away goals and it was two more disappointing goals conceded against Leeds. Centre-back was at fault for yet another goal as Leeds scored their second goal just 5 minutes into the second half but it was last years stand-out player Craig Alcock who was at fault for the first.
“We are our own worst enemies at the moment. We are making individual errors and giving away bad goals.” Said Alcock.
“But it is early days and everyone inside the club is positive. We`re all pulling in the right direction.
“Every club goes through ups and downs during the season. We have to hope that this is our down and that we are getting out of the way early on rather than later in the season.
“You only have to look at last season. Reading were in the bottom three in the early weeks of the season and went on to win the league.
“We just have to concentrate on picking up points as soon as possible.”
Posh boss Darren Ferguson echoed Alcocks view: “We`re giving away poor goals at poor times and leaving ourselves a mountain to climb in matches.
“Leeds` first goal was as a result of a mistake and the second came after we had lost the ball.
“When we got it back to 2-1 I thought we might get something out of the game but it wasn`t to be.
“Our final ball is letting us down but the final 20 minutes were positive and we have to take that forward.
“If we do the simple things right we are a good team. When we complicate things and make mistakes we have problems.”
Chairman Darragh MacAnthony took to Twitter once again following the defeat: “Sorry for loss again posh fans and sloppy goals. Good 15 min spell today and sure it will all come together.
“Nice three away games coming up for everyone at club to get their acts together top to bottom.
“Onwards and upwards from here. Once we sort sloppy goals out and start beating walls with our set pieces, the goals will flow again soon!
“Not to mention having 5 important players fully fit & playing. So on we go to Reading Tuesday night!!
The following is a selection of quotes from Twitter and other social media sites relating to the game:
@TomHuffinley
Watching game again, Not as bad as initially thought, cut mistakes out, we will get our act together very soon.
suzyQ
Usual suspects today. Sorry to start with the F word but Frecklington contributed nothing. Brisley was poor agsin. Nthle was constsntly out of position again ( did 2 good runs late on) Alcock not match fit and Fergies has done him no favours selecting him 3 matches in a row strsight after a return from injury. Tomlin just embarrassing really. Bostwick average at best. Sinclair a joke. Boyd McCann Gabie and Bobby all good as were Little and Taylor …..4 out of the 6 are on the list….For me Fergie is making poor team decisions. CLEARLY the players coming in are not as good as those leaving. Managers pride and stubborness is hindering his decision making.
Blue1
I think although we are a very small club at this level we do have some good players. If Fergie is to play the diamond formation then we need full backs who can get forward. Alcock was useless yesterday and i’ve always thought Little is a better full back both defensively and going forward. Nthle looks to be improving but i think Rowe can do a job their once he’s fit. Once we get all our players fit we can do well. I think Ferguson is making mistakes however he’s done more for the club than any other manager. Anyone calling for him to be sacked is a moron!
Genghis Khant
why are we playing players who are not fit when we could play others, why is frecks tomlin picked at all boyd was very poor again, swanson did well when he came on brisley is struggling why keep passing ball to zak who is hopeless with ball at his feet , what has sinclair got in his boots that stop him jumping he offered nothing, we lost to a very average leeds team who were not much better than us, Fergie is also struggling with tactics and team selections ,going to be hard season .
Vital Posh Viewpoint
Three matches, three defeats, two goals scored, six goals conceded, zero points and 23rd in the Championship!
Not an ideal start to the season but at least I could see a flicker of light appearing?but only after Fergie had removed the clearly unfit Alcock, the disappointing Frecklington and a 6ft forward who is afraid of heading the ball!
Mark Little brought life to the right hand side of Posh and caused problems for Leeds. Danny Swanson was very impressive as he covered a lot of ground right across the midfield and was always looking for the ball. Paul Taylor was also a much needed improvement to Emile Sinclair who clearly can`t play as the lone forward!
By playing Bostwick and McCann in the same side, we surely need to revert to a flat 4-4-2 formation or even try out a 4-2-3-1 (although obviously not with Sinclair as the 1!).
Fergie has got to swallow his pride and admit the two players HE placed on the transfer list ARE needed in the team. Posh looked a much better outfit with Little and McCann in the side and if we can get Boyd playing in his best position on the left and get a full 90 minutes out of Swanson, we should do a lot better than we have done so far.
Alcock looks a shadow of the player he was last season and needs to be dropped until he is fully recovered from his injury. Brisley is also out of form and, along with Alcock, has been at fault for all the goals so far this season.
Fergie could well look at the players that have been on the fringes of the first team starting line-up to play against Premiership Reading in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday. Hopefully he`ll give Alcock and Brisley a rest and also look to start Swanson for the first time.
DON’T FORGET YOU CAN VOTE FOR YOUR MAN OF THE MATCH.
UP THE POSH!
Follow me on Twitter: @mwl1967
Photo courtesy of www.theposhpics.com
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