Leeds United

BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything about Leeds form - found at the top of this page or here - threw up the following question from reader David Little.

"If your pundits had to pick Leeds best eleven in the Premier League era, who would make the team?"

So, while we've got the teams above and below David, BBC Radio Leeds also went one further and made a podcast for you on it.

• Listen to that special by the team at Don't Go To Bed Just Yet here.

And take in the teams selected by BBC Radio Leeds' Jonny Buchan and Simon Rix of the Kaiser Chiefs.

Here is a taste of the some of the discussion about who made the cut...

Jonny Buchan: "I'm going to have to play Raphinha off the left. You could give him a bit of a free roll, couldn't you? And then everyone can shift a little bit. It's on trend, isn't it? A bit of a free roll?

"I think it is not said enough how important he was for avoiding relegation under Jesse Marsch. It was in spite of whatever else was going on around him, he dragged the side up. You wanted the ball, just give him the ball, just give him the ball - he was one of those players.

"Give him the ball to do something, and he did eight times out of 10. Then to go on and do what he did at Barcelona afterwards - and I know we're not meant to include that - but to go get into that top five in the Ballon d'Or? Wow. That is an unbelievable achievement."

Simon Rix: "If you look at Barcelona this season when he's injured, they are not as good. He credits [Marcelo] Bielsa as well with a lot of that. A lot of it is he can get up and down, so he can be defending and he can get right back up there and score a goal.

"As an argument, if you were doing that World Cup thing where it's like 'this person or this person', it is arguable that Raphinha is the best player ever to play for Leeds. So, he has to be in my XI."

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Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

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"Home advantage gives you an advantage."

It is a quote - among many - attributed to the famous former England manager Sir Bobby Robson - a simple, yet fair reflection of a historical format of football.

For as long as teams have played in leagues, games taking place home and away has been the norm, with the idea that playing at home will be to the benefit of that team.

But what is the impact of playing at your own ground in front of your own fans?

In the first part of her chat with BBC Sport, performance psychologist Marie Cartwright explained: "Home impact can be viewed in two ways. Sometimes it does have a positive impact, and what happens is there is an elevated motivation.

"What that means is the crowd energy increases adrenaline and that creates a momentum in effort and intensity in the players. It is also a familiar environment for the players, so that means it reduces the cognitive load. They don't have to think as much about anything else other than their play because they know the pitch, they know the routines, they feel settled.

"However, there are a couple of potential negative impacts as well, with the potential intensification in pressure in the home fans, most times, expecting dominance from the home team. That can lead to mistakes from players feeling bigger to them.

"There can then be what we call a threat state. The players might perceive consequences as high, so they feel they might be facing more criticism when they are at home."

While those who watch football know there are more factors than just where the match is being to take into consideration, the statistics do suggest the influence is there.

Since the Premier League started, the home win percentage has outweighed the away win percentage in all bar one season - the Covid-hit 2020-21 campaign in which fans were largely not allowed admission saw a 38% home win rate compared to 40% away win rate.

So how a team handles this additional crowd pressure seems to be a key factor.

"In psychology, there is something called the challenge and threat theory," Cartwright said.

"In reality what that means is a 'challenge state' can push the player into thinking, 'I've got this, I've got the resources to cope with this'. That leads to better decision making and quicker reactions.

"The threat state, on the other hand, players might think the consequences outweigh their ability to cope. In any match context, that can mean they have a narrow sense of focus, the focus is not quite the same, so the play becomes slower because of overthinking."

"It can also be called 'red brain or blue brain' - with red brain being the one with fear-based dialogue and internal negative self-talk, while blue brain is the cool, calm and collected one that can handle its emotions.

"What sits in the middle of these is distraction. How a player responds to distraction and filters out the noise, like the crowd, can impact which of these mindsets they move into and ultimately how the team performs."

Read more from Marie in part two of her chat about why teams some teams play better away from home and how it impacts managers - that will be on this page early next week.

Image source, Getty Images

We wanted your suggestions for Leeds' all-time best Premier League XI.

Here are some of your selections:

Josh Worrad: 4-4-1-1. Martyn, Dorigo, Woodgate, Ferdinand, Kelly, Speed, Batty, McAllister, Kewell, Raphinha, Hasselbaink. Most solid keeper, a classy back four, a tough but playmaking midfield and world-class strikers.

Jason Dodds: 4-4-2. Martyn, Kelly, Matteo, Radebe, Harte, Raphinha, Batty, Bowyer, Sharpe, Viduka, Hasselbaink.

Rich Wright: 4-4-2. Martyn, Kelly, Ferdinand, Radebe, Harte, Strachan, Dacourt, Raphinha, Kewell, Viduka, Yeboah. Raph is now world class so deserves his spot (although out of position). Tough on Speedo, Batts and Woodgate but the competition was strong!

Nigel: 4-4-2. Martyn, Mills, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Dorigo, Strachan, Batty, McAllister, Kewell, Viduka, Cantona. Truly gifted players in all positions. This team would win the league even now.

George Mills
BBC Sport senior journalist

In a recent addition of the Football Extra newsletter, Roger asked BBC Sport: Players are frequently injured on international duty - such as Chris Wood for New Zealand last season, which may have ultimately cost Nottingham Forest a Champions League place. Are clubs compensated by the country or does insurance cover compensation?'

Since 2012, Fifa's Club Protection Programme has covered the salary of players injured on international duty - although there are some conditions.

Firstly, the player must be out of action for a period of at least 28 consecutive days and the injury must have been sustained during an "accident", which is defined in very boring and legally-specific detail in Fifa's guidelines, though it covers most of the examples you could think of.

The scheme pays the salary of an injured player up to the maximum amount of €7.5m (£6.6m) until they are declared fit to return for their clubs.

Transfermarkt lists Chris Wood as missing 18 days - three games - with the hip injury you mention from last March, suffered on international duty with New Zealand. As he returned inside 28 days, Forest would not have been eligible to claim compensation.

There are a couple of clubs who will currently be beneficiaries of this scheme though, including Newcastle United, whose £55m summer signing Yoane Wissa is yet to make an appearance since suffering a knee injury while playing for DR Congo.

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Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.

We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.

Find out more here

Our Ask Me Anything about Leeds form - located at the top of this page - got a question from David Little which read: "If your pundits had to pick Leeds' best 11 in the Premier League era, who would make the team?"

So BBC Radio Leeds - and the team at Don't Go To Bed Just Yet - responded with a bespoke podcast.

So did they go for Gary Speed or Gary McAllister? Tony Yeboah or Robbie Keane?

Find out who made Simon and Jonny's XI in the podcast here

Ask your Leeds questions

Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.

We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.

Find out more here

Leeds , Brentford and Everton are chasing Celtic's Daizen Maeda, 28, with the Japan forward keen on a January move from Scotland. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

We wanted your suggestions for Leeds' all-time best Premier League XI.

And you delivered!

Here's a first bunch:

Steve: 5-4-1. Martyn, Radebe, Ferdinand, Harte, Kelly, Woodgate, Raphinha, Bowyer, Cantona, Dacourt, Yeboah. Exciting, attacking, creative and entertaining. Everything we currently aren't!

Simon: 4-4-2. Robinson, Radebe, Woodgate, Kelly, Harte, Dacourt, Bowyer, Strachan, McAllister, Viduka, Keane. Brilliant players, were legends of their time. No XI better.

Richard: 3-4-1-2. Martyn, Ferdinand, Radebe, Woodgate, Batty, Bowyer, Strachan, Speed, Pablo, Viduka, Yeboah. No Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Rio Ferdinand, Eric Cantona or Harry Kewell for obvious reasons.

Lee: 4-4-2. Martyn, Kelly, Dorigo, Radebe, Rodon, Speed, Strachan, Batty, McAllister, Viduka, Raphinha. Mainly nostalgia to be honest!

Neil: 3-4-3. Martyn, Ferdinand, Radebe, Woodgate, Bowyer, McAllister, Batty, Speed, Kewell, Viduka, Raphinha. Best keeper of the 1990s. A dream of a defence -captains all three and nothing will get past them. The midfield has power, pace, speed, passing range, leadership and internationals. Up front is pure world class and will provide goals, goals and more goals.

Jonny: 4-4-2. Martyn, Harte, Radebe, Ferdinand, Kelly, Raphinha, Dacourt, Batty, Kewell, Hasselbaink, Viduka. Leeds have always been a better side when using strength and physicality in the middle and speed and guile out wide.

England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 20, remains a target for Leeds United and Napoli, although Manchester United will only let him leave on loan if they can secure a replacement.

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

It's international break so let's have a bit of fun to pass the time.

Now we know football existed before 1992 but for the purposes of this little exercise, keep it Premier League please.

So tell us, who would be in your dream Leeds United Premier League XI?

The debate starts here.

Send your suggestions

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Leeds Under-21s looked set for their first points of the campaign in the EFL Trophy, before a red card for defender Reuben Lopata-White helped Accrington Stanley to fight back and win 3-2.

This defeat ensured the Whites finished last in their group, eliminating them from the competition.

Sin bins? Bonus points? Two goals if you score from distance?

Imagine a world in which you could reinvent football.

It's a dream, of course. Just a bit of fun. But stick with us.

What if you had the power to change any of the game's laws and potentially bring to an end countless hours of discussion about handball, offside, video assistant referees, or anything else you want to?

Some of BBC Sport's familiar football faces have offered their own potential rule changes.

Watch them above or read more here

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The Premier League has agreed to move games involving Arsenal and Crystal Palace in December to ease fixture congestion.

Arsenal's trip to Everton and Palace's game at Leeds - both originally scheduled for 14:00 GMT on Sunday, 21 December - will now be played at 20:00 on Saturday, 20 December.

The move means the two sides will have an extra day to prepare for their EFL Cup quarter-final on 23 December.

The decision to move forward the two Premier League matches has been done after requests from both clubs.

It is understood the desire for both teams to have the same recovery time before the EFL Cup tie was a factor, though television scheduling is also believed to have been a consideration.

There is an acknowledgment that the 20:00 kick-off does provide travelling supporters with logistical difficulties.

But the Premier League says the decision has been taken with the players' well-being at the forefront of its mind.

It said: "Player welfare is a priority for the Premier League, and we have therefore granted requests from Arsenal and Crystal Palace to move their respective fixtures.

"This comes after the scheduling of matches from other competitions around Premier League fixtures without adequate player recovery time.

"This is also further evidence of the impact the expanded Uefa competitions have on the domestic fixture calendar."

Molly Whitmore
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

For the first time in all my years supporting Leeds United, I genuinely dreaded what to say about my feelings this week. It feels like we're heading down a dark and dangerous path that could easily end in relegation.

You only have to glance at our upcoming fixtures to feel the chill: by the time the Christmas decorations go up, we could well be sitting in the bottom three.

It is hard to know where to start when it comes to assigning blame. Do you look at the players? The manager? The ownership? Truthfully, all three deserve a share of the responsibility.

But my biggest frustration against Nottingham Forest lay with Daniel Farke. His decision-making was baffling.

Playing Jack Harrison out of position was questionable enough, but the lack of tactical flexibility and late substitutions made things even worse.

Why wait so long to change things? Why bring on a left winger and ask him to play at left-back? Farke's time may well be up. Perhaps it has been for a while.

That said, I cannot blame him completely. The lack of backing from the owners has been an issue for months. There is no real strength or depth in this squad, and there is little belief we can pick up anything from our next run of fixtures. I would be surprised if we manage even a point from the next 24 available.

In the away end on Sunday, the mood said it all. Nervous. Quiet. Lifeless. When we did score, there was not even enough time to enjoy it. The celebrations barely began before the opposition struck back. It was embarrassing, and it summed up the state of this football club right now.

You only have to look at the teams around us to see what proactive management looks like.

Wolves, for instance, have already acted and changed their manager, though still are possibly doomed. West Ham and Nottingham Forest are showing signs of life, picking up crucial points under fresh leadership. Meanwhile, Leeds are stagnating, watching the same problems repeat every week.

Some will say: "We're only a point behind Newcastle United." But that comparison does not hold up. You look at Newcastle and see where the goals are coming from. You can point to players who will dig in when it matters.

With Leeds? Apart from Brenden Aaronson - and I say that with hesitation - no-one truly stands out right now. There s no spark, no drive, no leadership on the pitch.

If things do not change quickly, it is going to be a very long and painful second half of the season. The owners must act - not tomorrow, not next week, but now. Because unless they do, this club is sleepwalking toward disaster.

Leeds United: spineless, clueless and inept. Harsh words? Maybe. But, right now, painfully accurate.

Molly Whitmore is a regular contributor on BBC Radio Leeds - find all their audio here

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Nottingham Forest and Leeds.

Here are some of your comments:

Forest fans

Kristian Much better after the subs as it was pretty turgid stuff before then. Omari Hutchinson changed the game with his running and pace and Taiwo Awoniyi looked lively. Encouraging, and once Chris Wood, Ola Aina and Callum Hudson Odoi are back we should have enough to pull clear of danger.

James: Finally, but this Forest has come too late. Sean Dyche is the perfect fit but has a lot of work if Forest want to remain in the Premier League.

Andy: Glad to see Dychey give Hutchinson the minutes he deserves. Playing Dan Ndoye on the left and Omari on the right is the right choice for the system he's trying to put in place. Two goals proves it.

Ben: It feels like Forest have their identity back: they were resolute in defence, resilient when behind and persistent in attack. They deserved to win and the performance is consistent with the steady stabilising trajectory they have been on since Dyche took over. Great performances all over the pitch but what an impact from Hutchinson! More of that please!

Luke: The performance can be analysed, but it really was all about the three points, which we did deserve. It certainly gives me reason to believe we'll finish above Leeds and puts a much better perspective on the three results this week.

Leeds fans

Steve: When will Daniel Farke learn? You cannot play against any Premier League Teams with only 10 men, because as long as he plays Brenden Aaronson that's what he's doing. He is not Championship standard never mind Premier League. Farke is indecisive and out of his depth. Replace him now before it's too late.

Pete: Farke procrastinated today when he should have been more proactive with his changes just after the halfway mark. He waited for Dyche to play his cards and then we end up going behind before he's forced to change things. Too late as we were now chasing the game. Then he replaced our best player at left-back with an average winger who's not best at defending and gave away a penalty. Game over. Poor tactically from Farke. I like him but I think he's brought pressure on himself and I wouldn't be surprised if the owners use the international break to replace him.

Robbie: Ethan Ampadu has to be moved back next to Joe Rodon, as they were last season. We have enough quality in midfield to cover his place. Dan James and Willy Gnonto have to start when fit. And a proven striker!

Mark: Four defeats in five games and with Aston Villa, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool in the next four, it's a worrying time, especially with West Ham and Nottingham Forest, immediately below us, seemingly turning a corner. Still not clinical enough up front and beginning to leak at the back. It's a concern. We could be bottom two before Christmas.

Ian: Lacked a quality flair player in midfield, more attacking options and played a left-winger at left-back! The board should have done better business over the summer especially up front.

Image source, Getty Images

The latest episode of BBC Radio Leeds' Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast discusses Leeds boss Daniel Farke's future after United lost 3-1 at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"Everyone wants him to get sacked. The board are not going to sack him, whether or not I think they should," said Simon Rix.

"The thing that's applied the pressure to Farke is nothing to do with him. It's the fact that West Ham, with the back-to-back wins, and then Forest very directly beating us, but also appointing Sean Dyche, everyone is feeling that those two teams are on the up and Leeds are spiralling into the downward motion.

"Now we've got two weeks of no football, and everyone's just on social media saying 'Farke out', which is no good for anyone.

"A win does a lot of lifting, so it's difficult. Daniel's got to do something. If we just do the same thing, expecting it to work, it's not going to work. Leeds feel quite easy to play against and easy to work out.

"He's an offensive manager and maybe he's trying to do something he's not good at, but maybe he has to revert to type.

"If it doesn't work, fine, but at least then he gets sacked doing his thing."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Pundits Wayne Rooney and Danny Murphy join host Gabby Logan to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Aston Villa 4-0 Bournemouth

• Brentford 3-1 Newcastle

• Crystal Palace 0-0 Brighton

• Nottingham Forest 3-1 Leeds

• Man City 3-0 Liverpool

Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Leeds United's major frustration in the 3-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest will be that they could not even hold on to their lead for three minutes.

They battled hard but were lacking in quality.

After Nmecha's 13th-minute goal they had to wait until the 78th minute to force a save from Matz Sels, with substitutes Daniel James and Dominic Calvert-Lewin testing the keeper late on.

Now, they only sit one point above the relegation zone.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke, speaking to BBC Match Of The Day 2 after their 3-1defeat by Nottingham Forest: "Football games on this level are decided with small details. We have to make sure we are more switched on. We concentrate on the things we can influence and should have defended the cross situation. It was crucial.

"We didn't didn't follow their full-back and that can happen but not after we've just celebrated. We lost two 50/50 duels and then the cross comes in. We could have defended the situation more competitively.

"Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] has not trained the whole week. He had the ability to play about 30 minutes or whatever.

"We know our home form is always important. We could have made our life easier with some away points but it is how it is. I did expect a tricky period. We have conceded too many goals in the last two away games."

Listen to more from Farke on BBC Sounds

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Forest's performance

What did you make of Leeds' display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, Igor Jesus.

Subs: John Victor, Morato, Awoniyi, Kalimuendo, Hutchinson, Yates, Jair Cunha, McAtee, Abbott.

Leeds XI: Lucas Perri, Bogle, Rodon, Bijol, Gudmundsson, Ampadu, Aaronson, Longstaff, Stach, Okafor, Nmecha.

Subs: Darlow, Struijk, James, Calvert-Lewin, Piroe, Harrison, Tanaka, Justin, Gruev.