Former Leeds United player Simon Walton believes Jesse Marsch side lack ruthlessness
Former Leeds United player Simon Walton believes Jesse Marsch’s side are too nice and lack the ruthlessness needed to be a top team.
Leeds fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon and the grit and determination of early fixtures this season have gone missing.
Walton confessed that the Whites need to discover their “killer instinct” and currently lack the ruthlessness needed to challenge the top sides in the league.
“Good teams that can win games have a nastiness to them, a ruthlessness and when I say nastiness and ruthlessness, I don’t mean going around kicking people,” said Walton on BBC Radio Leeds (9 September 7m7s).
“And I feel we are very nice and we are a lovely group of lads and everyone looks to be in lovely spirit.
“But you need that nastiness and that, I don’t want to say desire because I don’t mean desire, but just that killer instinct to do the right things and that could be scoring goals, that could be clearing your lines, that could be making the right decisions to pass and that could be taking a foul when you’ve got to take a foul.
“I just think we lack in that area and that they are the areas that matter the most.”
True.
Walton’s comments ring true, Leeds United have been putting in toothless performances as of late and their attitude and desire need to change.
There have been a few stand-out performers but on a whole, it looked as if no one wanted to grab the game by the scruff of the neck on Sunday against Palace.
Where is that Leeds team that thrashed Chelsea at Elland Road? They’ve gone missing, but if anything that makes it even harder knowing the squad are capable of a performance like that.
The Whites aren’t in a bad position just yet, but with the crammed fixture schedule heating up they soon could be if they don’t start performing.
The Premier League is an unforgiving slippery slope, one that a team can easily plummet down if results fail to go their way.
Marsch should be able to turn this one around quickly, if not he’ll be facing the eery music that he’s not the man for the job in Yorkshire.
In other Leeds United news, this player could be first in the Elland Road boardroom as new contract talks may take centre stage