‘Absolutely ludicrous’ – Phil Hay rubbishes ‘baffling’ Leeds claim by talkSPORT pundit
Gabby Agbonlahor is a pundit who is intent to make his name on the back of Leeds United but his latest comments have been rubbished by Athletic journalist Phil Hay.
Talking on talkSPORT, Agbonlahor claimed that Leeds could be in the top four of the Premier League if they played more cautiously.
He said that Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics were “naive” against Tottenham and added, “This isn’t six-a-side when you go out and your centre-halves are going into midfield and doing one-twos like Leeds were doing today. You’re playing against top teams with world-class forward players in their team. You don’t do it.”
Talking on the Phil Hay Show podcast, Hay claimed that this was “ludicrous”.
“I heard Agbonlahor earlier this week talking about how if they tightened up at the back they could be a top-four side,” Hay said, “and it made me think how absolutely ludicrous it is that a newly-promoted side are being talked about in terms of challenging for qualification for the Champions League.
“I’d be genuinely interested to know the last time anybody looked at a side coming up from the Championship and started talking about them in these terms.
“This is not a top-four team, it seems entirely unrealistic to talk about Leeds in these terms, I think they’ll finish somewhere between 8th and 14th.
“The idea that they are good enough to go for top-four at the moment is fantasy football and about as baffling as anything else that’s being said.”
Gabby has smarts
You might not rate Gabby as a pundit but you can’t fault his tactics.
Without the technical and analytical skills of Gary Neville or Jamie Carragher, Agbonlahor’s only hope of a successful stint as a pundit is as a ‘shock jock’.
And who better to ride on the coattails of than Leeds United?
We’re always in the headlines and our games are as thrilling as any in the Premier League at the moment.
You can get annoyed with him if you want but we find it amusing – and we’d much rather pundits like Agbonlahor come out with stuff like this than no one talk about us.
Plus, the thought of Agbonlahor giving tactical advice to Bielsa makes us chuckle and we could all do with cheering up at the moment.
The aim is the top four for Leeds but not for another few years.
As it stands, Hay’s prediction of 8th to 14th seems about right, with the Premier League wide open this season.
In other Leeds United news, Graham Smyth ‘desperate’ for £900k Leeds ace to get first-team debut ahead of clash v Crawley