Gary Neville questions Leeds United mentality for survival after loss v Manchester City
Gary Neville believes Leeds are much improved under Jesse Marsch but admits their Premier League status isn’t sure yet as they could get ‘jittery’.
The Whites fell to 17th in the table after a 4-0 loss to Man City, leaving them just one point above Everton in the drop zone having played a game more than the Toffees.
But Neville admitted on his podcast that while he thought the club played like a team that could go down earlier in the season, he was impressed despite the result on Saturday night and believes that level of performance keeps them up.
“I’ve thought all season that Leeds play like a team that could go down because of their recklessness, their openness and lack of ability at defending set pieces,” he said.
“I have to say that performance level against Man City, even thought they lost 4-0, was very different from the performances we’ve seen this season where they’ve been battered 4-0, 5-0 and 6-0, and we thought what the hell was that.
“The performance against City was very different. They were playing against a great side, but it wasn’t a 4-0 performance. That performance in the final games keeps them up, but it’s whether they start to get jittery.”
Progress
The result on Saturday night was awful on paper, but anyone who watched the game will know it wasn’t a 4-0 game and Leeds gave a good account of themselves.
While Marsch wasn’t the most popular managerial appointment at Elland Road in February when he replaced Marcelo Bielsa, the progress he’s made can’t be overlooked.
The team are much more difficult to beat, are better going forward, strong defensively and still retain an excitement about them to keep fans entertained.
With just five games remaining time is certainly running out, especially with two of those games coming against Arsenal and Chelsea.
However the commitment and quality of the squad is certainly a positive and they will be confident of them doing their own jobs.
That means they’ll be relying on someone doing them a favour to avoid relegation, but they’ll be ready to pounce on the first mistake either Burnley or Everton make.
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