Nigel Martyn has suggested that Leeds United will expecting to make the Championship play-offs again this season.
Leeds hero Nigel Martyn has lauded Marcelo Bielsa for bringing humility to the current squad at Elland Road, and insisted that the Whites need to be looking to at least finish in the top six once again in the Championship this season.
While the club could not quite get across the line in the promotion race last term, Bielsa enjoyed an outstanding first season after taking his bucket to Leeds. The Whites played some of the most exciting football on show and came heartbreakingly close to ending their exile from the Premier League.
Bielsa handed the Peacocks a huge boost at the start of the summer as it was soon announced that he would be staying for another year. And Martyn has backed the Argentinian to put his side in the mix once again.
“Having been in the playoffs, you’ve got to be aiming for that again really. I know he [Bielsa] likes to have a smaller squad, but I would have like to have seen two or three faces in the January window, just to freshen things up a little bit, to strengthen the squad and give some players a rest. I know there’s not vast amounts of money to spend and there’s no point buying somebody who isn’t going to improve your squad, but given the position they were in in January, that was the time to have gone and got somebody, if they could.
“Leeds is a big club and with the fanbase it’s got, it deserves to be in the Premier League, but you’ve got to earn that right. With the squad they had at the start of [last] season, they batted above their average. The manager is a breath of fresh air. He brings humility to the players and has got them playing a good standard of football.”
It was remarkable that Leeds were able to put themselves in pole position to win promotion in the first place. Bielsa’s philosophy took the side in a completely different direction, but the squad managed to take to the style immediately.
And of course, it was all the more incredible that Leeds did do so well given that Bielsa never had a fully fit squad to pick from throughout the campaign with almost every key player within the side spending some time on the sidelines due to injury.
So if Bielsa can hold onto all of his key men, the summer signings are able to make more of an impact and the Whites have a little more luck with injury, then there seems to be every chance that the club will be able to clear that final hurdle.
Nigel Martyn was speaking to VoucherCodes.co.uk as part of their Greatest Savers campaign
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
