Leeds United manager Javi Gracia has warned his players that they have seven finals ahead of them following another worrisome collapse.
Javi Gracia has confessed that Leeds United face seven finals if they are to retain their Premier League status – but whether he will be present for all of them is beginning to be called into doubt following a second consecutive humiliation at Elland Road.
The Whites followed their thrashing by Crystal Palace with a 6-1 loss to Liverpool, proving that the safe pair of hands that Gracia appeared to be following his appointment is clearly not the case, as he has struggled to correct the defensive issues that plagued his predecessors Jesse Marsch and Marcelo Bielsa.
Gracia got off to a good start at Leeds, but his record of 10 points from eight league games and an FA Cup loss can only be described as ordinary, and whether there has been any meaningful improvement since Marsch’s dismissal has to be questioned.
Leeds were the superior side in the first quarter against Liverpool, and Gracia’s tactics of backing off the Reds to play on the counter-attack appeared to be working, with the visitors failing to register a single attempt on target in the first 34 minutes.
United looked the more likely to score and looked as comfortable as you could ever feel against a dangerous attack like Liverpool’s. But once more the opening goal did not come the Whites’ way and they collapsed alarmingly.
Yes, that goal clearly should not have stood as a linesman and referee 10 yards away somehow failed to spot a blatant handball by Trent Alexander-Arnold in the build-up and VAR then compounded the error by letting Cody Gapko’s goal count.
But inept officials are nothing new at Elland Road, and the reaction to surrendering one goal should not have been so negative. Within three minutes, Liverpool had gone two up via Mo Salah, and while Luis Sinisterra briefly raised hopes of a comeback early in the second half with a clever finish, it was all over when the visitors quickly made it 3-1 through Diogo Jota after more catastrophic defense.
The performance was ultimately so awful that it’s tough to see how United can recover from this second consecutive thrashing with Championship football drawing ever closer.
Concede first at Fulham on Saturday and another defeat looks certain so short on confidence is this team now.
Gracia has a huge job on his hand to raise spirits for this game that looked winnable just a few weeks ago and the massive home match with second from bottom Leicester City next Tuesday.
He once again struggled to explain what he had seen from his team, but is obviously looking for a reaction from the players.
He said: “I don’t remember in my career if in two games I concede five then six goals but I am here to try to give my best to try to help the team and the club.
“The supporters need to see the team playing like we have done in previous games and try to improve our level and get better results. This way the supporters will be happier with the team.
“What we are seeing in this moment is not enough.
“I don’t have in this moment an explanation, but what I can say is the players always tried and worked hard during the week trying to prepare the next game.
“We need to raise our game for the seven finals we have coming up.”
We lost our cool during the game. Perhaps the first goal opened the game and was caused by a handball, but there is nothing else to say; we must improve for the next game.”
Gracia was understandably dissatisfied with his team’s defending once more.
“It’s something we need to work on and try to improve,” he continued.
“We didn’t do it in the previous games, and now we’re in the most important part of the season.” We need to be more steadfast and defend better.”
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