Paul Merson told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (14/08/21 at 12:30 pm) that there is going to be ‘major pressure’ on the Leeds players from their own fans this season.
The TV pundit stated before their 5-1 defeat at Manchester United that Leeds fans ‘aren’t going to be happy’ to ‘start getting beat six’ this season.
Well, five was the magic number yesterday as Leeds were torn apart by their bitter rivals at Old Trafford.
Merson spoke about the Leeds crowd previously not helping their own players because of the enormous pressure and how they are seemingly one of the favourites for neutrals.
“I am a neutral, I love watching Leeds play,” said Merson. “I love it. You know what you are going to get. Entertainment. Open the game up.
“Let’s be honest, there are going to be five or six thousand Leeds fans there today, they don’t want to start getting beat six. Then we are all sitting there going ‘oh, what a lovely team to watch’.
“Now that the crowds are back, it’s a different game. Major pressure. They got beat four by Leicester (last season), didn’t they? The crowd aren’t going to be happy with us being happy with the way they play.
On ER crowd helping them: “Over the years it hasn’t. These are bigger players. They used to have a great team many years ago.
“But I don’t think the teams in between that have been able to handle the pressure of Leeds and how big the club is. These players might.”
It has been nearly 20 years since Leeds have been able to pack out Elland Road and watch a Premier League fixture.
After COVID stopped that from happening last season, they will be able to re-live that against Everton next week.
The manner of defeat against Man United wouldn’t have gone down well from the supporters but Marcelo Bielsa will know how to get their 100 miles-per-hour engine back up and running again.
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