Martin Keown has now warned Javi Gracia that Leeds United cannot be ‘so obsessed’ with trying to press. He fears it could hurt the Whites’ chances of avoiding relegation.
Leeds endured a huge collapse in their last Premier League game against Crystal Palace on Sunday. The Elland Road outfit had led through Patrick Bamford after 21 minutes. But Marc Guehi, Jordan Ayew (twice), Eberechi Eze and Odsonne Edouard hit home for the Eagles.
The manner of Leeds’ collapse set off alarm bells for Keown over how Gracia set his side up to defend. He also hopes the shocking scenes act as a wake-up call with the Whites in 16th place after 30 games. They sit just two points from the relegation zone and six to last place.
Martin Keown now warns Javi Gracia about Leeds United’s defensive tactics
Leeds are next in action at home to Liverpool on Monday and may face Jurgen Klopp’s side sitting in the drop zone. Everton host Fulham this Saturday before Nottingham Forest host Manchester United on Sunday. Both can surpass the Whites before Gracia’s team kicks off.
“That Palace loss was a huge wake-up call for Leeds,” Keown noted in his column for the Daily Mail. “They need to provide their back four with protection and not be so obsessed with pressing, which may be a hangover from the Marcelo Bielsa era.
“Leeds now live in hope that the calamitous collapse against Palace was a one-off as they aim to remain a Premier League club.”
Liverpool helped to cost Marcelo Bielsa his job at Elland Road in February 2022
Gracia will hope Leeds address their defensive issues ahead of hosting Liverpool. The Reds helped to cost Bielsa his job at Elland Road in February 2022 after beating the Whites 6-0 at Anfield. Tottenham Hotspur then claimed a 4-0 win in Bielsa’s final game in West Yorkshire.
Liverpool were a very different threat to the team that will travel to Leeds on Monday that humbled Bielsa’s side. Klopp’s team ran riot at Anfield that day as they picked apart Bielsa’s man-to-man approach. Yet despite their current plight, the Reds can do so against Gracia’s.
As Keown now warns, it would be ill-advised for Gracia to set Leeds up to play a high press against Liverpool and going forward whilst they strive to avoid relegation from the Premier League. They must build a solid foundation having not kept a clean sheet in seven matches.
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