Low key, but is Christiansen appointment Leeds’ best move since Radrizzani took over?

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Thomas Christiansen has made a strong start at Leeds United.

After Garry Monk’s shock resignation back in June, Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani was thrown into an early quandry.

The Italian took his time to appoint a replacement, and chose not to go for a high profile name like former Real Madrid boss Juande Ramos or a boss with a former Leeds connection like Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

He chose APOEL boss Thomas Christiansen, a manager absolutely nobody had tipped for the job.

It was a low key appointment but so far Christiansen is proving to be exactly what Leeds needed.

He has enabled new signings to settle instantly, gelling the team despite losing the spine of last year’s line-up, Chris Wood, Kyle Bartley, Liam Bridcutt and Chris Wood.

Christiansen has shown he is not afraid to give chances to young players either, promoting Conor Shaughnessy to the first team squad in pre-season and then giving him opportunities in central defence rather than insisting on signing an extra centre-back.

Leeds have had a strong although not perfect start, with the Whites unbeaten after five games and sitting in third place in the Championship table.

They have looked strong with away wins against Bolton, Sunderland and Nottingham Forest, but drawn blanks in 0-0 home draws against Preston and Fulham.

Leeds have also won their two EFL Cup matches, scoring nine goals in two matches, and have a home fixture against Burton this weekend which they are expected to win.

Christiansen’s strong start has seen him nominated for the Championship manager of the month award, and while there is strong competition, he would be a deserving winner.

Off the field he does not seek the spotlight or command attention from the cameras. Instead he keeps a low profile and gets on with the job at hand.

At this early stage, he is making Andrea Radrizzani’s decision to appoint him look inspired, and his most important move of all.

The signings made by the club are key, but without Christiansen’s coaching the results could have been very different.