Leeds United lesson from Barcelona, extra 'demand' danger, next three reality and Sunderland take: David Prutton

But Leeds United are not a team that just pumps it forward. Nor are they a dirty team or a side that is overtly negative. This is me talking having not seen every minute of every game and having not paid hard earned cash to turn up and be entertained. But I think if Leeds United's style of football is a style of football that gets the team promoted then that's what the job is for. That's what the modus operandi is.

I saw Sunderland beat Boro last weekend. They were fluid. They were succinct. They scored a good goal, they hit the post and then they eventually put the game to bed. It wasn't thill-a-minute but it was effective. That's not saying it was boring at all. They just played well and won a game.

I don't quite know what the debate is or what the take on it is with regards to ‘how’ you win games because we said going into last weekend's game at Cardiff that Cardiff were struggling, bottom of the table and not very good and that Leeds had to win. They did that, they've come away with the win and the three points.

There was a wonderful question asked to Hansi Flick this week about his Barcelona side. They won 1-0 and the reporter's first question was along the lines of 'Hansi, are you disappointed that it was only 1-0?'. He said, 'why, do you get more points for scoring more than one goal?' Which is absolutely right. You don't get any points for flair or the aesthetic or entertainment. You only get points for avoiding defeat.

If you are emotionally and literally invested in a football club then I've always agreed with the fan terminology about what the style of football is. But having been a professional footballer and now looking at a lot of football across several divisions then I think it's hard enough and a very tough job getting a team on a pitch to do what you want and to come away with three points.

To then think that you have also got to be playing in a way that ticks loads of boxes from an aesthetic point of view, I just think that's putting more on the pile of the ‘to-do list’ for the manager. That's not me letting Daniel Farke off the hook or the players off the hook because they're a very talented, attacking looking bunch.

The other debate that comes in and we've seen it possibly with the teams that have got promoted is that you might win and get promoted in a certain way but does that fit the Premier League? Potentially not because of how strong the Premier League and how brutal the Premier League is. That's hopefully a nice debate for another day of how Leeds play if and when they get promoted.

But for now, give me effective over enthralling although I'm not paying the hefty prices per week for a ticket, nor the hefty prices per season for a season ticket so I can kind of slightly glibly say that.

As a fan, you are absolutely well within your rights to say it would be great to come back with three points tucked away and earn a glorious performance – but we know it's, it's very, very hard to get the two at the same time.

Leeds now face three games in seven days with today's Elland Road clash against Coventry City followed by Tuesday night’s trip to Norwich City and Friday night’s clash against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Depending on how this weekend's game at Derby County goes for Norwich, they may have turned a corner after scoring four last time out.

It's been a mixed bag from Coventry so far but they've certainly got a team capable of hurting Leeds and Sunderland were fantastic the last time I saw them with a real good mix of youth and a little bit of experience and playing with the freedom under Regis Le Bris who has got them very well tactically put out.

For Leeds, I think avoiding defeat in all three would be a very good return. I think if you're knocking on the door of seven points out of nine then that's great. I'm doing the game next Friday night at the Stadium of Light for Sky Sports and I'm looking forward to that one again as it will be another wonderful atmosphere.

Sunderland are in the automatic promotion places, Norwich are steadily getting their work done and Coventry have recent experience of knocking around in the top end of the division so none of them to be taken lightly whatsoever.

Seven points for Leeds would be a fantastic return - unbeaten against three teams that would potentially put themselves in the top six mix come the end of season. I think that would be a very, very good return.

I've seen no great disparity between the kind of top ten just yet. Having seen West Brom against Leeds and the game being very attritional - could you have seen them being top of the tree now? Possibly. But also you could have seen if they were fallible to certain ways of playing.

The teams that are quite obviously doing the business at the moment are consistent, which is what West Brom are. That's what Leeds need to be as they work their way into this kind of early season form. That's what they need to be against these next three.

The pressure is on and playing for Leeds is high pressure, whether it's in League One when the team's an absolute ragtag bunch of misfits or whether it's in the Championship and expectation to get promoted or whether it's in the Premier League with expectation of consolidation.

That's what they're all there for. That's what they've recruited for. That's the nature of the best, being able to dial it up and dial it down between the games, being able to appreciate what the crowd want from the game but fundamentally you all want to win.

Entertainment is a great addition to that – but maximum return is what they are seeking. It's a challenge for them, it's a challenge for Daniel Farke and just for everyone involved.