Leeds United can make Premier League waves with tidal football and a minimum expectation

On any given Saturday, you’ll find 35,000 or so Leeds fans, most of whom would run tirelessly for the entire match, free of charge, were they ever given the opportunity to wear the shirt.

Beyond the miserable brand of football and lacklustre players that largely preceded the Andrea Radrizanni era, the most common complaint amongst Leeds fans was that players often

seemed disinterested, unwilling to meet that minimum expectation of running themselves ragged.

Things have changed at Elland Road. A key component of Leeds’ meteoric championship- winning campaign was hard work – grit, determination, passion. These things, of course, do not alone a title-winning team make, and few would argue that Leeds were not also the most tactically astute and technically brilliant side in the division. Prior even to promotion,

Leeds regularly looked like a Premier League side strolling past a second division team that came nowhere close to matching Leeds’ levels of footballing brilliance, nowhere close to competing with Bielsa on a tactical level and nowhere near as able or as willing to match that minimum expectation. Certainly, Leeds played many a team off the park, but they also

ran them off the park.

The craziness of the Championship schedule suited Leeds down to the ground. Whilst the infamous Saturday – Tuesday – Saturday timetable forced many teams in the league to chop and change starting line ups, Leeds largely relied on the same group of 13 to 14 players, knowing that Bielsa’s gruelling training sessions had prepared them to compete twice a

week without really feeling fatigued. Indeed, Leeds’ running numbers actually increased as the season wore on. That cohesion was key to their ability to maintain long runs of wins, or at least avoidance of losses, that ultimately propelled them to the summit.

Most teams simply couldn’t cope with the fitness of Leeds. Take the now notorious clip of seven players chasing back to win the ball – the absolute embodiment of that minimum expectation. In November, Leeds played five times and picked up 15 points. In July, six games in 16 days, taking the maximum 18 points. Against tired legs, Leeds were ruthless.

Comparatively, from the turn of the new year, Leeds played just six league games in 39 days. They picked up just four points. After that, the quick fixture turnaround kicked in again, with five games in 18 days yielding four wins and a draw against a red hot Brentford side at Griffin Park.

Evidently, Leeds were at their scintillating best when they were put in a position not just to “out-football” teams but also to out-work them.

None of this is to say that this Leeds United team cannot find success in the Premier League. For starters, the definition of “success” will be totally flipped for this season.

Where last year success was defined solely as promotion, it is the avoidance of relegation that will be the principal objective now. Success will not require five game winning runs. It’ll

require a step up, but not a monumental leap, in technical prowess and in tactical nous.

Mainly, it’ll require that Leeds continue to exceed that minimum expectation. Fitness will still be a factor in the Premier League, particularly one uncharacteristically condensed as schedules realign following the Coronavirus delays. Whilst the record is not as strong when analysing weekly fixtures, Leeds will know that they are capable of wearing teams out in 90 minutes.

The relentless, invasive, persistent, perpetual, free-flowing, tidal-like football will continue regardless of the opposition. And if it does, Leeds can make waves this year.