‘I spoke to Liam Cooper…’ – Lucas Radebe makes bold prediction for Leeds in the Premier League
Lucas Radebe has said that after speaking to Liam Cooper he can sense hunger and ambition right the way through the current Leeds United squad.
He thinks that the current squad can go on and challenge for prizes in the Premier League next season and hopefully qualify for the Champions League.
Talking on The Football Show (Sky Sports, Wednesday, 11am), the Leeds legend said that Andrea Radrizzani has to take a lot of credit for changing the club and bringing in Marcelo Bielsa.
“I think this is the year when Leeds United have to come up,” Radebe said.
“They’ve shown throughout the season they want to be up there. With Andrea having changed the club… not just the team, but the club, the offices, the stadium and instilling that winning mentality.
“With Bielsa coming in it’s absolutely promising and I think this is the year for the club to come back where they belong. The Premier League misses Leeds United.
“I spoke to Liam Cooper and to be honest his hunger goes through the whole squad to get to the next level.
“They made Arsenal look like a Championship side. I think they will be able to challenge for prizes in the Premier League. Hopefully, we’ll see them competing in the Champions League.”
Marcelo Bielsa gets most of the praise for the heroics the past two seasons and you can see why.
He took a squad that finished 13th in the Championship, tweaked it slightly and it’s now on the brink of the Premier League.
The FA Cup game against Arsenal showed that the squad can compete in the top-flight and Radebe’s prediction of competing for prizes might not be as far-fetched as some in the Premier League might think for a newly-promoted side.
But Radrizzani also deserves a huge amount of credit. He aimed big when he brought Bielsa in and bought Elland Road back.
He gets criticism from fans, usually around the transfer window, but what owner doesn’t? If he finishes the job this season, though, and Leeds go up, we think Radrizzani will have written his own place in the history books.
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