After 13 games i.e. a third of the way through the season here are my thoughts:
In generaL:
1. Sheffield United will be relegated from the Premier League
2. Wycombe Wanderers will be relegated from the Championship
3. Of the Big 6, neither Manchester United nor Arsenal will win the Premiership
4. Burnley, Fulham, West Brom, Brighton and Newcastle will not qualify for Europe.
Specifically of Leeds:
Played better against a poor Newcastle side ravaged by COVID19. We look better with Pablo Hernandez. I think he will become a 'regular" substitute.
We look poor on setpieces. We have struggled without Koch or Llorente. Ayling as I have pointed out in several previous posts is not a centre back. Other teams seem to have plenty of big tall players. We have Ayling, Cooper and Barndoor. Not exactly big.
Koch will probably be out until March and I am not sure when Llorente is back. So the centre of defence is a problem. On the matter of Struijk, Orgoner, the lad is very casual. He cannot come on as a substitute. If Bielsa wants to play him he must start. If he starts it must be at centre back not the Phillips position.
Whats happened to Helder Costa? Seems to have dropped down the pecking order rather rapidly. I think Bielsa realizes the biggest issue with Costa - he can't score. Raphinha can. Harrison can.
I think both Raphinha and Rodrigo have turned out to be good acquisitions. in the limited time he has played, Koch has proven himself.
Alioski was knackered after he scored. Kept on yapping to the touchline crew. I think he was telling them he was not going to sprint down that left flank any more. And he didn't. Still not sure about Alioski as left back. The problem in the last couple of games has come from the area in front of Alioski. Phillips sometimes cannot get across fast enough to help out, and Harrison doesn't track back fast enough. Not sure why there is less of a problem on the other side. I think because Raphinha tracks back really fast or maybe Dallas, covers the area better than Alioski. Not really sure.
Both Klich and Barndoor were knackered when they came off against Newcastle. I would like to see Klich come off a little sooner. The guy needs a break, I think.