Leeds United urged to ‘keep looking up’ having rebuilt big team mentality
Dean Jones has urged Leeds United to “keep looking up” the Championship table having rebuilt the “big team mentality” at Elland Road this season.
The Whites have been in inspired form under the management of Daniel Farke this season and are in the hunt for the automatic promotion places, currently sitting eight points behind Ipswich Town in third place and three points clear of sixth.
As always in the Championship, there is a big clump of teams competing closely for the top six places, but former Eurosport journalist Jones has called upon the Whites to focus on the teams ahead of them in the table.
As quoted by Football League World (10 November) he said: “I think Leeds are back to having a big team mentality and that’s what they needed. They are getting to the stage where they’re on the coattails of the top two.
“So I think they need to continue to look forward rather than be looking over their shoulders, and worrying about how many positions they are deep into the play-offs or how many points Southampton might be behind them or anything like that.
“Leeds have just got to keep looking up, looking forward, and focusing on themselves for now, because they’ve got themselves into a really good situation recently.”
Focus on yourselves
Leeds United are well and truly in the promotion race, even if they are currently a way behind Ipswich and Leicester and the entirety of their focus should be on winning every game that they enter over the coming weeks and months.
As soon as the Whites begin to focus on the results and performances of the teams around them rather than their displays, they are likely to take their foot off of the gas at Elland Road and see the gap between them and the top two continue to grow.
With their wins over both Leicester and Ipswich already this season, Farke’s side have shown that they are more than capable of beating anyone that they face this year. If they take that attitude into every match it will serve them well.
The big club mentality that Jones touched upon is an interesting factor in Leeds’ attitude. While it could well drive the Whites to success over the remainder of the campaign, they cannot afford to become complacent and believe that they have a right to return to the Premier League.
Farke won’t let his side think like that. He knows what it takes to win promotion and he will ensure that his team stay in line.
In other Leeds United news, Marc Roca has been praised for his performance for Real Betis in their Europa League win over Aris Limassol