Leeds United have ‘better chance’ of Southampton result amid Elland Road ‘twist’ – Sky Sports pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United.
Paul Robinson believes Leeds United now have a “better chance” of beating Southampton after Javi Gracia was announced as the club’s new head coach.
The Spaniard was confirmed as Jesse Marsch’s successor on Tuesday (21 February) afternoon having signed a flexible contract with the Yorkshire club.
Robinson has since claimed this weekend’s clash against Saints is a “must-win” with Southampton just one place below Leeds at the bottom of the table.
“It’s massively a must-win game. You look at the results that teams had last week,” Robinson exclusively told MOT Leeds News.
“Leeds losing to Everton was the old classic six-pointer, which it was but I feared for Leeds going there with Sean Dyche in charge considering the way they played against Arsenal and the resilience that he’s brought to that side.
“Leeds with a caretaker in charge coming off the two matches against Manchester United weren’t in the right place to approach that game. Obviously, Southampton haven’t got a new manager yet but you saw what their temporary manager did away at Chelsea – that was a coupon buster.
“He got a performance out of the team that they haven’t been able to produce all season. A game that you would expect Leeds to win and take the points from two weeks ago has taken a different twist all of a sudden.
“It’s one of those games that you look at go ‘do we really want this now’ or we could do without. It’s a massive game with Southampton and Bournemouth getting results.
“All the teams at the bottom of the table are pulling themselves away from trouble. All the other teams are heading the right way and Leeds haven’t won since 5 November.”
“They have to win at the weekend. They’ve got a better chance of winning now Gracia is in charge. A better chance than last week and a better chance compared to when Jesse Marsch was in charge.
“He’s flexible and can adapt to the players he’s got and the game they’re playing in. He’s tactically very knowledgeable and Leeds have been one-dimensional in recent years.”
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