Rio Ferdinand brushed off suggestions from Andy Gray and Richards Keys that Leeds United should have appointed Sam Allardyce as Marcelo Bielsa’s replacement, as he told Vibe with Five.
When Leeds pulled the plug on Bielsa’s all-action, no-nonsense and entertaining four-year reign at Elland Road, many questioned who was going to replace him.
To the surprise of nobody, both Keys and Gray agreed on beIN SPORTS that Allardyce was the man for their relegation battle.
Thankfully, for the Leeds fans, their club opted against bringing in the Englishman, and instead, pushed for ex-RB Salzburg and Leipzig coach, Marsch.
When former Leeds man Ferdinand was told about Allardyce as a suggestion, he made his feelings short, but sharp.
“Is that what they (Keys and Gray) said?” asked Ferdinand. “You can’t go from Bielsa to Big Sam. No! Big Sam is there mate, isn’t he?!”
Under Bielsa, the Leeds players performed with such high intensity and big demands on their workload.
Whilst that will be toned down by Marsch, he is also someone who likes to press high up the pitch, so from that perspective, what he asks won’t be alien to the players.
Simply put, he needs to get off to a strong start because Leeds are conceding goals for fun and they have the worst defence in England’s top-flight.
The Yorkshire side face two leaky defences in Marsch’s first two games – Leicester and Aston Villa, so this is a great chance for the American to get off to a winning start.
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