This is how #DCFC line up to face Leeds United tonight... #LUFCvDCFC pic.twitter.com/c3jaWyj9nD— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) January 11, 2019
DCFC twitter feed residents taking to calling Duane the American Messi. Iffin they put the hex on him I'm going to lose it.
Anyone following the match on ESPN+? The match tracker suggests that Leeds is all over them in the first ten minutes. No mention of the young Duane yet.
Early yellow card for Derby, the RB Wisdom. Hopefully that doesn't mean they are being pinned back on Duane's flank.
Domination pays off for Leeds. Tap-in from 4 yards for Kemar Roofe following a great ball in after a poorly-cleared corner. 1-0, 22nd minute
Leeds looks like a Premier League team. Derby looks like a team who is overachieving by being anywhere near the playoff places.
Championship football at its finest: Bryson goes in studs up at chest height as a Leeds player clears the ball, he makes full contact with the Leeds player's foot...just a foul, no card.
Holmes dallies on the ball on the counter, is on the receiving end of a forceful challenge that probably didn't make contact. Holmes was already on his way down when the tackle came in, and the ref subsequently gives him a warning for diving. Holmes draws a foul from the same Leeds player (Alioski) involved above about a minute later.
30 minutes in: Leeds: 73% possession, 5 shots, 3 on target Derby: 27% possession, 0 shots Holmes has been ineffectual, but so has everyone else.
32': Holmes gets beaten on the overlap by Alioski. Cross flies across the box but no one is there to knock it in.
34': Derby with a shot! It may have nearly left the stadium, but it was an attempt! Lawrence took it. Holmes gets possession in the middle of the park a minute later and makes a nice driving run, but his attempted through ball clips off a defender and Leeds gets it back. Holmes is quick.
Did Super Frankie Lampard get the tactics wrong on this one? Does this smell like an early bath for our boy at the half?
Leeds is just better than Derby. +17 v. +5 goal difference, and Leeds is at home. Holmes hasn't been good, but he hasn't been standout bad. They need a change in central midfield more than anything else. Sub on the manager, maybe.
Holmes gets a yellow in first-half stoppage time for an attempted professional foul. The Leeds player bounced off of Holmes's challenge like he wasn't there, so we'll call that an exceptionally futile attempt and a pointless yellow card.
He’s been bright the few times he’s gotten the opportunity. I don’t think taking him off would help the team at all. I think they are outgunned, and they need Holmes on because he actually has the pace and skill to maybe create something. Also, Wilson is injured. Waghorn would be the option. And I don’t think too much of him. Less talented Shane Long.
First half in sum: no one on Derby impressed. Holmes worked hard, had some good defensive interventions, and was largely ineffectual in the attack. His passing needs to improve dramatically in the second half; he was 4 for 10 in the first. I like that his instinct is to go at defenders, but he needs to recognize when to release the ball more quickly.
Well, going the other way and moving him to fullback. Shit show goal, and Big Apple Jack gets on the board. Case of Duane being on the scene, but not super culpable. He was screwed. Could have maybe been closer on the back post run, but then he’d have left Harrison even more open.
That's my take too. Holmes had to cover the guy at the far post, and the other defender didn't switch to Harrison. Bad defensive breakdown at a really bad time.