The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Friday 12th May) The blame lies at Leeds’ own door
The blame lies at Leeds’ own door
Elland Road journalist Phil Hay pulled no punches, when asked about Leeds survival hopes earlier this week. Big Sam has just over two weeks to pull off the Great Escape, yet Hay remains optimistic that Leeds can get a result from West Ham a week next Sunday; giving the Whites hope going into the final game of the season, against Spurs.
Unsurprisingly, he highlights the Leeds defence as his main cause for concern, and for good reason. They have leaked 69 goals this season, in the league alone, more than any other top flight club. Off the pitch, the club can only be described as clueless. Four head coaches (since February 22) including Skubala, a man who has never managed a league team, unbelievably poor transfers and a lack of confidence, deep with the core of the club. According to Hay:-
"[Most winnable fixture and why?] All eyes have to be on West Ham away on May 21. West Ham should be safe by then but more pertinently, they’ll be deep into an intense run of fixtures culminating in a Europa Conference League semi-final against AZ Alkmaar three days earlier. David Moyes will surely plan to prioritise that tournament if West Ham are already safe."
"As for Tottenham at home, Leeds’ final game the following weekend, you wonder about that. Spurs might well have nothing to go at and they’ll be desperate to park this season at the first opportunity. But even so, you can still see Kane, Son and others getting change out of this Leeds defence."
"[Biggest problem to fix?] The defence. Put simply, Leeds have not had a clean sheet in 12 league matches. They’ve conceded 31 goals in those fixtures so the club are in the realms of having to score two or three times to have any chance of earning any form of positive result."
"Allardyce was quite open in saying fixing that would be his priority, but he has precious little time and he is inheriting a squad who have been poor defensively for most of the season and, realistically, he cannot wave a magic wand."
"What he needs to do is narrow the percentages so that Leeds are in close contention in as many of these three games as possible. If the defence continues to leak as it has until now, they’ve got no chance."
"[Unlucky or deserve it?] Oh, deserve it and I doubt any of the clubs involved would get away with claiming they’ve been victims of bad luck if they go down. As a basic starting point, consider the fact that since February 4, four different coaches have taken charge of Leeds games."
"Consider the fact that the club signed the best part of an entirely new team for this season, give or take, and they’ve got 30 points after 33 games. Consider the fact that they’ve sacked their director of football and have lost six of their past eight matches. The blame lies at Leeds’ own door and chickens have come home to roost."
"[Reason to be cheerful?] Because one way or another it will finally be over in a little over two weeks’ time? All joking aside, you can cling to the idea that under Sam Allardyce, Leeds might be better defensively and more competitive than they were latterly under Javi Gracia. Perhaps that means they have a win in them."
"It’s also the case that other clubs have difficult run-ins and none of them are in any way assured of hitting a decent final points tally themselves. It’s impossible not to draw hope from something like Leicester’s defeat at Fulham on Monday. But then Everton rout Brighton and Forest beat Southampton. He giveth, he taketh away."
We must use fear of relegation to spur Leeds to safety
Speaking at his pre match presser, Leeds interim Manager Sam Allardyce has warned his squad, they cannot afford to lose against Newcastle Utd on Saturday, and must use the fear of relegation to spur Leeds to safety.
He admitted that his goal is to get to the final day of the season with a chance of survival, and a draw against Newcastle and a win at West Ham would give the Whites the most realistic chance of staying up. Allardyce also told reporters that his claim that he was 'up there' with Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp was just a tactic to take the pressure off his players.
“To give ourselves the best chance we’ve got to try and get a point on the board but more importantly three if we can,” “But I have said to the players and I will say it now: ‘When we come off the field on Saturday, we can’t afford to lose.’ “We must get something. The biggest thing that can happen on Saturday is that we don’t lose."
"Then we’ve got a point on the board. I want to still be in it when we play Tottenham. But the fear of relegation needs to drive them on. The fear of losing their Premier League status should make them fight hard.”
“All those who criticised me sounded a bit thick when all I was doing was diversifying off the players on to myself, which was a great tactic that I picked up from Alex Ferguson. So there was no pressure on the players because I took it all – I took all the stick. But there’s none of that this week. It’s simply focusing on Newcastle.”