Leeds United boss Garry Monk has reacted to his side’s 2-0 win over Cardiff City today.
Leeds United’s manager Garry Monk
Leeds United manager Garry Monk has told BBC Radio Leeds that he feels he has a difficult situation on his hands with three top centre backs at the club.
The Whites built on Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers by beating Cardiff City away from home this afternoon in an impressive performance from Monk’s side.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
Leeds went in front when Pontus Jansson was felled from a corner, with Chris Wood stepping up to fire home the subsequent penalty, before Spanish playmaker Pablo Hernandez bent home a superb strike to seal a 2-0 win.
With two wins and four goals in a week, it’s been a great few days for manager Monk, who will have been particularly pleased with today’s result given his links to Cardiff’s fierce rivals Swansea City.
After the game, Monk spoke to BBC Radio Leeds about the performance, and drew particular attention to his half-time team talk to his players.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
Monk suggested that whilst Leeds’ first-half display was solid, he felt that if Leeds just upped their aggression and their quality on the ball, they’d get the result they wanted – and he was proven right in the end.
“I said to the players at half time that, if we just up our aggression and our performance with the ball a little bit more in the second half, then we’ll be able to get a result here – and it showed,” said Monk. “In the second half I thought we were very good, I think we put them on the back foot a bit more, we had a bit more belief going forward, we were clinical, we created some good chances and then when we had to defend, we defended well again.”
Monk was also asked about the superb partnership between Kyle Bartley and Pontus Jansson in the heart of defence, given that they stood strong and kept a clean sheet on the road this afternoon.
Rajiv van La Parra of Huddersfield Town in action with Pontus Jansson of Leeds United
Monk stated that he now faces a difficult situation in juggling Bartley, Jansson and Liam Cooper, as all three are top-drawer central defenders in the Championship – but stated that summer signings Bartley and Jansson were ‘excellent’ against Cardiff.
“I’ve got three really good centre halves now, really top drawer centre halves in this league, and it’s for me to manage those three. Pontus and Barts have been in the last few games, Coops has been in before that so it’s a really difficult situation for me, but all of them are going to contribute. The two of them today, as in the last game, were excellent,” he added.
What did you think of Leeds’ performance against Cardiff?
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