Leeds United signings slammed as ‘bang average’ by EFL captain, expects team to be ‘grabbed by the balls’ by Sam Allardyce
Troy Deeney has heavily backed new Leeds United boss Sam Allardyce while slamming the recent transfer business at Elland Road.
The former England manager has arrived with four games to save the Whites’ season, but faces title-chasing Manchester City at the Etihad in his first game on Saturday (6 May), which the striker believes he can do.
Deeney showed sympathy for his former Watford boss Javi Gracia as “a thoroughly good man who was dealt a bad hand”, but reserved plenty of praise for the 68-year-old who replaced him while trashing the recent arrivals in the transfer market.
In his column in The Sun the Birmingham City captain said: “That is a squad which needs to be grabbed by the balls and there is no one better to do that than Big Sam. I think he can keep them up…
“Their midfield is the worst part of Leeds’ team — and there are other bad parts — because they seem to keep signing bang-average American midfielders.
“Likewise, striker Georginio Rutter, who joined in a £35million deal and has yet to score a goal.”
No holding back
Deeney’s reputation is that of being a straight-talker and he hasn’t disappointed in his latest assessment of Leeds United.
The wholehearted backing of Big Sam, he admits, comes in part because the new Whites boss was set to give him a first-ever England call-up if he hadn’t resigned after one game.
But the effect he has tipped the manager to have is exactly what they appear to need, and will be what Andrea Radrizzani is hoping for with his late, desperate move.
Max Wober, Willy Gnonto and Luis Sinisterra might beg to differ but there have been too many flops from the recent transfer arrivals, even if it was a managerial difference of opinion that saw Victor Orta leave the club rather than one regarding the squad.
Tyler Adams is also probably free from blame, but “bang-average American midfielder” is a description that plenty of Elland Road supporters would say fits Brenden Aaronson and Weston McKennie too often this season.
Rutter’s club-record arrival in January has proven to be a massive folly when the club needs players who can have an effect now, and all the long-term planning in the world will be rendered moot if Allardyce can’t keep the club up.
Deeney thinks he can do it, and after backing the new boss’ self-promotional comments to the media as “brilliant” has suggested the squad will gain confidence from it as well, which fans will certainly hope is true.
In other Leeds United news, one mystery man appears to remain in limbo at Elland Road as one of the most bizarre elements of the season continues.