Alright so yesterday I decided to break down the potential lineups for Leeds vs Sunderland, right? Total headache starting out. Felt like digging through mud. Grabbed my crappy old notebook first – real paper one, mind you. Figured I’d just scribble thoughts.
Starting with Leeds
Started listing Leeds players who might be fit. Bamford? Struijk? Had to check who got crocked last game. Dug into fan forums, scrolled Twitter like a madman. Everyone shouting different names. Got totally confused about Adams. Is he playing? Injured? Suspended? Took ages just to confirm he was out. Bloody inconsistent sources online. Ended up relying on a few decent Leeds bloggers I trust.
- Rodon for sure at CB. Solid lad.
- Gruev in midfield felt safe, maybe with Kamara.
- Upfront? Summerville wide left? Then the debate: Gnonto or James on the right? Stats leaned James lately but fans wanted Gnonto.
My notes looked like chicken scratch. Half names, arrows everywhere. Hardly readable. Felt overwhelmed.
Switching to Sunderland
Now Sunderland… even trickier. Barely watched them this season. Panicked. Needed names, formations. Googled “Sunderland latest team news” – tons of gossip sites, useless. Found their local paper site, scanned it. Key absence: Clarke injured? Massive blow for them. Their fans were gutted online.
- Definite starters: Ballard at back, Neil in midfield.
- Big hole upfront. Was it Rusyn? Mayenda? Felt like guessing.
- Jobe Bellingham – kid gets attention everywhere. Had to include him.
Jotted it all down. Page was a total mess. Crossed-out names, question marks. Realized I needed structure, fast.
Building the Actual Lists
Time to get serious. Fired up a spreadsheet, tried making a neat 4-2-3-1 for Leeds. Screen froze. Nearly chucked my laptop. Restarted it, deep breaths. Slowly typed it out:
- Meslier (Keeper, easy)
- Gray, Rodon, Ampadu, Firpo (Defense sorted)
- Kamara, Gruev (Holding mids)
- James, Rutter, Summerville (That attacking trio)
- Piroe (Striker)
Sunderland… oh boy. Went for a cautious 3-4-2-1 based on scraps.
- Patterson
- Hume, Ballard, O’Nien
- Hume/Ba, Neil, Ekwah, Hjelde (That right side was confusing)
- Bellingham, Roberts (Behind the striker)
- Rusyn (Hope it’s him)
Felt shaky. Hard to be confident with injuries messing things up.
Players to Watch Drama
This part’s supposed to be fun, right? Wrong. Analysis paralysis hit hard. Leeds: Summerville obvious pick. Then? Wanted someone deeper. Gruev maybe controlling things? Sunderland: Jobe Bellingham, obviously. But felt lazy. Almost picked Neil for reliability. Then saw online hype about Rigg, that young sub. Tossed his name in too – potential surprise factor. Waffled for ages. Finally settled:
- Leeds: Summerville & Gruev
- Sunderland: Jobe Bellingham & Patrick Roberts
Spent longer arguing with myself over Roberts vs Rigg than actually writing it.
The Final Stretch & Minor Disaster
Proofread the whole mess. Spotted errors. Called Firpo “Filipo” like a tool. Corrected. Grammar was rough. Fixed sentences. Accidentally deleted the Sunderland midfield section. Had to redo it from memory, cursing. Finally hit save. Thought I was done. Realized I forgot to save again. Panic sweat. Found it in an auto-saved draft. Collapsed back in my chair. All that work for a possible lineup that’ll probably be wrong after the manager’s presser today. Typical. Wasted hours, learned little, frustrated with dodgy info sources. Still buzzing for the match though.
Oh! Cat jumped on the keyboard mid-way. Screen went black. Nearly cried. Wife yelled about dinner. Microwave fish fingers saved me.
