There really isn’t much to say about this match. This was two teams that were both poor but if I am being honest Hull City were the better side on the night. Leeds United can take some pride in keeping a clean sheet without the suspended Liam Cooper, the injured Matthew Pennington, and having lost Conor Shaughnessy to injury after just 5 minutes.
Time now to look at each player and how they performed. As always you can tell me how wrong I am @mightywhitespod or @ThruItAllLUFC on twitter.
STARTING LINE-UP
Felix Wiedwald - Man of the Match. Made a lot of very good saves and was untroubled by Hull’s crosses. Had one error when he came out of the box to deal with a header back from Pontus Jansson but was the man most responsible for Leeds avoiding defeat today. 8.5/10
Been slated all season but Felix Wiedwald was excellent tonight. Well done Felix #lufc
— LUFC Worldwide (@LUFC_WorldWide) January 30, 2018
Gaetano Berardi - Forced to move to a less comfortable centre-back role after the injury to Shaughnessy and did a solid job. Fortunately, Hull’s strikers aren’t that tall so Berardi’s lack of height wasn’t exposed. His positioning was good for the most part and the confidence gained at centre-back could be important as (without a signing) he could well be needed to start there on Saturday against Cardiff City. 7/10
Gaetano Berardi, our left back, right back and centre back. Absolute bleeding hero #lufc
— Sean G (@SeanyGee) January 30, 2018
Conor Shaughnessy - Suffered a bad injury after only 4 minutes. Hopefully it isn’t as bad as I fear it will be. N/A
Shaughnessy has an ankle injury which doesn't sound good. Pennington was sent for a scan on a problem suffered in training yesterday - Christiansen doesn't think he's got anything major but he'll probably be a doubt for the weekend. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) January 30, 2018
Pontus Jansson - Was important that Jansson had a good performance given the makeshift nature of Leeds defensive line-up and the Sweden international duly provided. Picked up a yellow card (9th of the season, one away from a suspension) but was strong in the tackle and dominant in the air. 7.5/10
Tough watch and hard earned 0-0, Jansson Berardi & Wiedwald all Excellent. De Bock finding his feet quickly #lufc
— Tony Mulraney (@tmulraney) January 30, 2018
Laurens De Bock - Much more impressive defensively than in his debut against Millwall. Less able to get forward but this was a good performance where the left-back was strong in the tackle and did not give the ball away very often. 7/10
Weidwald saved us tonight & De bock had a very solid game, having said that you’ve said it all. #lufc
— Graeme Tosney (@GraemeTosney) January 30, 2018
Ronaldo Vieira - In the first half, his passing was awful and he didn’t live up to his normal standards in any aspect of his game. Had Leeds had other experienced options in midfield he could well have been dragged off the pitch.
Ronaldo Vieira completed just 9 passes in that first half. Pass accuracy at just 56%. Tough first half. #LUFC
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) January 30, 2018
However, in the second half he improved immeasurably. While still not at his absolute best he suddenly started winning his duels both in the tackle and in the air and, while not faultless, his passing improved as well. Managed to drag his performance away from disastrous to below average by the time the game reached full-time. 5/10
The Good: Adam Forshaw pass success, 84%
— MoscowhiteTSB (@MoscowhiteTSB) January 30, 2018
The Bad: Ronaldo Vieira pass success, 57%#LUFC
(honourable mention to De Bock, 82% — new players doing well. #EA10 only other player over 70%, on 71%. He worked his platinum arse off.)
Adam Forshaw - Exactly what was advertised before Leeds signed him. Probably Leeds best player in the first half and carried on his solid performance in the second half. Kept hold of the ball well and seemed to win twice as many tackles as anybody else. A very good start for the man signed from Middlesbrough. 7/10
Adam Forshaw's debut vs. Hull:
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) January 30, 2018
84% pass acc (highest for Leeds)
64 touches (joint-2nd highest for Leeds)
37 passes
4 tackles won
3 interceptions
3 aerial duels
2 clearances
Solid debut. Classy distribution, covered plenty of ground, tracked back and recycled possession. #LUFC
Ezgjan Alioski - Another match where the Macedonia international had to graft to try and find a performance. Didn’t show the levels of quality he can and missed a decent chance towards the end of the game. Better defensively than he was going forward which says a lot about the match. 6/10
Beginning be think labelling Alioski the Macedonian Messi might have been a bit premature #lufc
— Macca (@bagster75) January 30, 2018
Kemar Roofe - Rough night. Leeds’ poorest performer. Constantly gave the ball away and didn’t have the work rate and effort that the likes of Vieira and Alioski had to try and pull the performance back. 4.5/10
And Kemar Roofe is just infuriating how a man that would lose a fight against a ball of wool has scored the majority of our goals absolutely boggles the mind #LUFC
— Mr Glassalfempty (@DRobinson92) January 30, 2018
Pablo Hernandez - A strange day when Pablo Hernandez is being let down by his first touch and his set-pieces. Did keep trying to create things but very little of what he tried was successful. 5/10
Timing of changes was bizarre. Roofe had zero impact on that game. And Hernandez looked like he was wearing led boots. #lufc
— The Scratching Shed (@TSSLUFC) January 30, 2018
Pierre-Michel Lasogga - Barely on the ball in the first half but as is often the case with lone strikers it wasn’t really his fault. Not as effective in any area as he was in the previous match against Millwall but was unlucky not to nick a goal with a curling effort from outside the area. 5.5/10
Without service to Lasogga there’s no point in having him/a striker on the pitch.
— Gaz B (@GAZB_LUFC) January 30, 2018
SUBSTITUTES
Stuart Dallas (for Shaughnessy, 6mins) - Came on at right-back when Berardi moved to centre-back and did a solid job. Started to struggle a little bit in the second half but he was against Kamil Grosicki who is a very good player. 6/10
Hats off to Stuart Dallas aswell. A LM playing at RB and he put in a top shift #lufc
— Lee (@LufcLee19) January 30, 2018
Hadi Sacko (for Alioski, 86mins) - The stereotype of Hadi Sacko, had a couple of moments where he was able to get away from his man using his pace and power, followed by a poor final ball. Could have had more of an impact if he had one of his better days. 5/10
Pawel Cibicki (for Roofe, 90mins) - Not on the pitch for long and can’t remember him touching the ball to be honest. N/A