Back in August, a ridiculous claim was made by Andrea Radrizzani – which made life even harder for Jesse Marsch at Leeds.
Having only just avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth last season – the Whites finished three points above the drop zone – the Italian told The Athletic that dropping into the Championship this term was “impossible”.
Radrizzani’s bold claim came after he spent £25m on Brenden Aaronson, £22m on Luis Sinisterra, £20m on Tyler Adams, £10m on Marc Roca and £10m on Rasmus Kristensen.
However, both Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips were sold to Barcelona and Manchester City for £55m and £45m respectively, while Dan James – a player who Leeds paid £25m for – was bizarrely loaned to Fulham.
Now, Radrizzani may have made himself a rod for his own back.
Leeds chief’s comments put pressure on Jesse Marsch
Well, after a summer in which your two best players leave the club, and a swift return to the Championship has only just been avoided by three points, it probably isn’t wise to claim that relegation is “impossible”.
However, that’s exactly what Radrizzani did.
Speaking to The Athletic in August, the 48-year-old said: “The target I set is between 10th to 14th position. If we’re lucky, we are close to 10th or more. If we aren’t lucky, we are 15th. But I think we are in that range.
“I don’t want to have any more heart-attack risk. I don’t have any doubt that we’ll avoid a situation similar to last season. It’s impossible.”
Now, after a run of eight Premier League games without a win – six of those have been defeats – Radrizzani’s comments look set to haunt him.
Jesse Marsch must take Leeds back to basics
In our view, Marsch needs to steady the ship over the next few weeks, as Leeds have some very difficult fixtures.
Everybody knows the American likes to play an expansive, attacking style of football, but with Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Newcastle coming up, we think the main focus for Leeds should be some clean sheets.
Confidence is clearly low, but creating foundations from the back and grinding out a few hard-fought results should help Leeds create a platform going forward.
If Marsch finds himself on the end of more humiliating defeats, it could cost him his job.
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