Warm-ups are not always the most interesting thing to watch, but there was a Leeds United flashpoint which caught the eye yesterday. During the rondo exercise the players go through before every game, there are generally two players in the middle of a circle of team-mates.
The circle pass the ball around the players in the middle, who have to win the ball back. Minor squabbles about who got the last touch or who should go in the middle are common, but Mateo Joseph didn’t take too kindly to one disagreement on Saturday.
Patrick Bamford was seen trying to explain a decision to but the Spaniard wasn’t interested and pushed the senior striker’s arms away from him. would try to explain to Joseph on a couple more occasions, but the youngster was not interested, dismissing the 30-year-old each time.
Joseph’s mood was so affected by this incident, Daniel James, Glen Kamara and Liam Cooper all had a go at smoothing things out with him. None of them seemed to get the smile they wanted out of him.
Throughout the match, Roberts could be seen gesturing to where his team-mates should be positioning themselves. In the case of Wilfried Gnonto, he would be told whether to come inside on the underlap or stay out wide to stretch the defence.
There was frustration too when team-mates were not as alert or proactive as Roberts wanted them to be. In the 15th minute, Gnonto was told he should have been on his bike down the wing far sooner to encourage a pass, while Joel Piroe was given a rollicking for standing still as Roberts waited to take a throw-in.
Dallas has his Elland Road moment and brings tears
finally had his Elland Road moment on Saturday afternoon. After nearly two years on the sidelines, the 32-year-old got out onto the pitch in the week he retired from professional football.
As he walked around the pitch with his wife and three children, Dallas went over to the fans on a few occasions, to those holding Northern Ireland flags or signs with messages to him. By the time he got back around to the tunnel, best friend and captain Liam Cooper was crying as they embraced.
Eustace sees red before red
As the tension ratcheted up on Leeds, the anger of one ignored penalty appeal proved too much for Christopher John. Daniel Farke’s backroom member leapt from the dugout to fly into fourth official Keith Stroud.
The one problem was Stroud was already in conversation with the staff in their technical area and John went through them to get to the fourth official. John Eustace was apoplectic with the invasion of their professional space and let the Leeds coach know what he thought of him.
