Jermaine Beckford defends Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United despite ‘work in progress’ admission

Leeds United have been defended after their defeat to Tottenham last weekend.

The Whites went into the World Cup break on the back of a defeat having won the two games before that. Jesse Marsch’s men actually led at the Tottenham Hostpur stadium, but they left empty-handed after a late collapse not helped by the sending off of Tyler Adams. Leeds lost 4-3, and the game continued a concerning defensive trend.

Leeds have conceded eight goals in their last three Premier League outings alone, and only three teams have conceded more. With a solid scoring record, the Whites have managed to remain outside the relegation zone going into the World Cup break, currently two points better off with a game in hand.

But heading into the break, there has been plenty of criticism of Leeds for their erratic style of play, be it intentional or otherwise, and there is concern among fans. But former striker Jermaine Beckford sees the positives in Leeds’ defeat to Tottenham.

“We went to Tottenham who were third at the time in the Premier League in their own backyard and we beat them up, you know, we went toe to toe with them and we came out with, we came out looking and smelling and feeling fantastic,” Beckford said on Leeds’ official podcast.

“Like everybody can appreciate the good stuff that we do, you know, don’t get me wrong. we’re still a work in progress, that’s normal, anybody knows that. You know, we’ve been back in the Premier League, this is what, our third season now, so it’s expected for us to have moments of difficulties and that’s what we have in every game.”

Marsch will be looking to fix some of the issues facing Leeds over the course of the break, but Beckford does have reason in that Leeds are rarely going down without a fight. Even against the traditional top six sides they have faced, Leeds have won two and lost the other two by just one goal, so there are plenty of positives.