Javi Gracia calm touchline presence in ‘crazy’ Leeds United win v Wolves was imperative – Tony Dorigo
Tony Dorigo has waxed lyrical about Javi Gracia’s calm touchline presence during the “crazy” Leeds United victory over Wolves at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday (18 March).
The Whites turned on the style to win the clash against their relegation rivals 4-2, but it wasn’t without its fair share of frightening moments, with Gracia’s team seeing a 3-0 lead evaporate into a nervous finish following a quickfire brace of goals from Wolves in the second half.
Writing for the Yorkshire Evening Post, BT Sport pundit Dorigo admitted that Gracia keeping his cool in the heat of the moment was imperative to Leeds getting over the line and claiming all three points.
He wrote: “Javi Gracia’s calm touchline presence is so important for Leeds United, especially in these highly pressurised relegation battles.
“Quite how he managed that at Molineux I don’t quite know. The game down there last season was pretty exciting but this one even topped that. The importance was arguably even greater.
“I think the way the lads went about it was really good and at the end, looking at the two XIs and the two managers, it was us who kept our heads in what was an absolutely crazy game. We didn’t do it straightforwardly, of course, with all the ups and downs, being 3-0 up and thinking we would be fine and all of a sudden we found it really difficult to control the game.
“It led to a crazy ending”
Change from Marsch
Jesse Marsch and Gracia are chalk and cheese regarding their demeanour on the sidelines during matches.
Leeds’ former manager was as animated and energised as his team were on the pitch, pacing up and down, barking instructions and looking like he had just sunk a few strong coffees before the match every single week.
Gracia, meanwhile, oozes confidence by the dugout and, no matter the scoreline, looks to keep a cool head.
Although both managers have completely different styles, you can’t help but feel that the Spaniard’s approach is more suited firstly to a game such as Wolves was at the weekend and the drama that a relegation battle throws up on a weekly basis.
It would have been easy for Gracia to panic when Leeds saw their commanding 3-0 lead slip into a nervy-looking 3-2 margin, but the Whites manager kept his head and stuck to his guns.
In the end, Gracia’s demeanour paid off and Leeds claimed a huge three points in their fight against relegation this season.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are set to share a good amount of transfer profit for an imminent permanent exit from Elland Road.
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