Bruce Watson

Sun 3 January 2021 16:00, UK

Gabby Agbonlahor has claimed that Leeds United have been naive in their approach to games against top Premier League teams this season. 

Leeds have been beaten 3-0 and 6-2 by Tottenham and Manchester United in recent weeks as Marcelo Bielsa refused to change his usual system.

This is a move that Agbonlahor has criticised while speaking on TalkSPORT as he labelled the Whites as ‘naive’.

He said, “It’s a bit naive. I do enjoy watching Leeds and the attacking football they play. But look at Aston Villa against Man United, playing attacking football but with the right balance of defensive responsibilities as well.

“This isn’t six-a-side where your centre-halves go into midfield and play one-two’s like Leeds were doing.

“You’re playing against a top team with world-class forward players. You don’t do that, you mix it up. When you play against the top top teams, you be a bit more cautious. It’s not a hard switch to do.”

Villa were unfortunate to lose at Old Trafford recently as they narrowly lost 2-1 and were on top for large portions of the game.

This is vastly different to the game that Leeds found themselves in against the Red Devils as the Whites were 2-0 down within minutes.

We know that Bielsa won’t change his style depending on who Leeds play and that’s because most of the time, it works.

Look at that first game of the season against Liverpool, on another night Leeds walk away with three points.

On the day, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got the better of Bielsa but Leeds still played well and scored two goals.

If Man United hadn’t got those early goals it may have been a completely different game and while it is easy to claim that Bielsa should’ve changed his system, why would he when it works most of the time?

It is easy to criticise in hindsight but we’re sure that Leeds fans wouldn’t have wanted to see their team sit back in such an important game.

In other Leeds United news, Ian Wright urges impressive attacker to do even more after Spurs loss.