This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
David Prutton has written in the Yorskhire Post that it is too early for Leeds to be confident of promotion.
What did he say?
The former Bolton Wanderers player was writing ahead of the Whites’ fixture against Cardiff City on Saturday.
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He said: “To a degree, we have been here twice before recently, firstly under Garry Monk when Leeds slipped up late in the season to miss the play-offs and then last season’s slip from second to third under Marcelo Bielsa. Both times the advantage evaporated very quickly when a few dodgy results came in.”
Never been this dominating
Prutton’s words should be a warning to any Leeds fan who thinks their promotion is already all but sealed.
As mentioned by the pundit, the Elland Road outfit were five points clear of seventh with six matches left during the 2016/17 campaign before dropping out of the Championship play-offs altogether, whilst they spent much of the season in the top two before being knocked out in the play-off semi-finals last term.
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However, this season it does feel different. They are currently in the midst of an 11-match unbeaten run and, although they threw away a 3-0 lead to score 3-3 against Cardiff on Saturday, they are 10 points clear of Preston in third after 22 matches.
That has been in part due to some marginal improvements in attack and defensive. So far this term, they have had 16.6 shots per games, which is 0.2 more than last term, whilst their average possession has risen from 59.5% to 59.9%. Whilst they may have made 1.2 fewer tackles per match, they have made 10.6 average interceptions per match compared to 10, and they have given an average of 0.8 fouls less away per match as well.
There are no huge differences there, though, so why are they currently doing so well? Perhaps experience has a role to play in that. This is Marcelo Bielsa’s second season as the club’s manager, and he is now getting to terms with the league, it appears.
As are his players, who are adapting even more to his managerial style. Last year will have hurt, but it will have given them an insight into what they need to do to finally make it this year.
To succeed, you first must fail. There is a long way to go, of course, but this could finally be the year Leeds get themselves back to the promised land.
In other news, Leeds fans react to Marcelo Bielsa’s comments on Robbie Gotts.
