Graeme Souness delivers Leeds United Premier League relegation verdict
Graeme Souness believes that Leeds United need to start picking up points as soon as they can if they want to avoid getting relegated.
That’s down to the fact that they’ve got a tough end to the season with Manchester City and Newcastle being two of their final three games.
He also drew a similarity in the styles of football of Marcelo Bielsa and Javi Gracia.
Souness told the Daily Mail, “The identity a side establishes in its great years can set the tone for decades but Leeds arrived in the Premier League set on a course of kamikaze football under Marcelo Bielsa. They don’t seem able to shake themselves from it.
“Against Liverpool, Javi Gracia did have them sitting in, playing counter-attacking football. But I think we’re still seeing Bielsa’s legacy here. His brand of football was one that any neutral in the Leeds area would want a season ticket to watch. But you know it’s fraught with danger and can often bring disappointment.
“The approach is: ‘We can outgun everyone.’ No you can’t. Not in the Premier League. When you’ve come up from the Championships, it’s a quantum leap, not just a few rungs up the ladder. You think you’re going to take on Manchester City and Liverpool at their game. Really? It just doesn’t work, watchable though it might be.
“They’re two points off the relegation zone, with Newcastle United and Manchester City among their last three games, so they need to win points – as soon as. Starting with the lunchtime kick-off at Fulham today. They don’t want to reach those last games having to win them – ridiculously compounding the pressure on themselves.”
Need a response
If Leeds continue playing like how they have in the last two games, there’s a high possibility of them going down.
They do not look like they’re playing with any confidence and the side looked all over the place even though they were at Elland Road.
Typically, under Gracia, they’ve been very good at home and taken the game to their opponents and they now need to do that against Fulham.
It’s not going to be easy but they can take solace in the fact that the London club could be on the beach as they do not have much to fight for this season.
The Whites control their own destiny as of now but that could change very quickly if they don’t start winning games soon.
Changes are very likely for the game against Fulham and Willy Gnonto should be among the starters.
In other Leeds United news, a Whites player has a potential offer on the table and could seal his permanent Elland Road exit this summer.