Finally we saw a change-up in the system and players, and it worked a treat. Fans and pundits have been calling for a fresh look on the team for weeks now and today their questions were answered. Thomas Christiansen shook it up and we won at a ground many have been turned over on recently.
Leeds ran out 0-3 winners, a statement from the side after a horrible spell which saw us lose four from five in a limp fashion. Pontus Jansson was the noticeable casualty today, but he wasn’t the only one. Pablo Hernandez and Kemar Roofe fell foul to the changes and in came some fresh faces. Gjanni Alioski started along with Matthew Pennington and Ronaldo Vieira. All three contributed to the very good performance and result, all in different ways. Pennington partnered skipper Liam Cooper and commanded the defence, backs against the wall on occasions but dealt with time and time again. Alioski moved forward and was a handful but Ronaldo Vieira put in a performance to show Christiansen why he should be playing every week.
The central midfielder bossed the middle of the park and showed TC what he had been missing in recent performances when our physical side has been non-existent. He chased and won balls, fouls, gave away fouls and drove us forward with bustling and powerful runs, keeping the Bristol City midfield under control and keeping our tempo up. He is the trigger for others to press and he turned in a top performance for the role he was playing. It all added to other performances that players had to produce after recent games. Ayling and Cooper were solid, Berardi had a poor game and was sent off for a head-butt, daft and pointless. O’Kane was busy, although Phillips was frustrating at times. Lasogga led the line well, scoring a beauty of a header to secure the points.
Changes came, three points came and we have shown we can play another formation other than the 4-2-3-1. A good day all round.
