David James has warned Leeds United ‘you will go down’ if they continue to put in performances like the one against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday evening, as he told Premier League Productions (29/10/22 at 10:20 pm).
Despite Leeds winning 2-1 at Anfield, the former England goalkeeper stated that he was ‘really confused’ by what he had watched because he thinks Jesse Marsch’s side ‘got battered’ and their Man of the Match was their goalkeeper, Illan Meslier.
Not sounding bitter, at all, is he? Perhaps David James should just stick to being ‘really confused’.
Leeds deserved their flowers for this game. They hadn’t won a Premier League match since August and they were going up against a team that, despite their struggles away from home, are very strong on Merseyside.
A certain Virgil van Dijk, who hadn’t lost in 70 home Premier League games, now has 1 defeat to his name, all because of Crysencio Summerville’s dramatic late winner.
It was a stunning, and most importantly, deserved three points for the Whites, even if David James sounds bitter with his comments.
“I am really confused, at the moment,” said James. “Two things. Jesse Marsch didn’t look like a manager (during his post-match interview) that had just won at Liverpool.
“I would argue that, as good as a performance we were talking about, it wasn’t a great performance by Leeds because they got battered and their goalkeeper was Man of the Match, but they got the points, which is the most important thing.
“If Leeds continue playing like that for the rest of the season, then they will go down because you can’t allow the opposition to have nine shots on target every game.
“However, if you talk about the confidence, you look at it and go ‘actually, if we tighten up a little bit, we have the threat going forward’. I mean Ali (Alisson Becker) wasn’t Man of the Match. He wasn’t making loads of loads of big saves. It wasn’t like Leeds were creating many chances. They were conceding them.
“You have to be happy with the win. But understand what you need to do to make those wins are easier in the future. Liverpool are playing like a mid-table team, so you’re not even beating the best Liverpool side. It’s a really confusing situation.”
BREATHING SPACE FOR MARSCH
After losing to Fulham last time out, the heat was on Marsch in the Leeds kitchen and he was fearing for his job.
Many expected the Yorkshire outfit to lose yesterday and then the serious pressure to be on for the visit of Bournemouth next week.
If the dice rolled like many expected to, and points were dropped to Gary O’Neil’s side, then Marsch might have found himself out of a job, but he has some breathing space now.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
