Leeds United must play like 'animals' and 'smash' people to survive Premier League

Leeds United have been told they must find their aggressive side to mount a successful battle against relegation from the Premier League.

A run of five defeats in their last six games has left the Whites sitting in the drop zone as they prepare for a tough-looking trip to title contenders Manchester City on Saturday afternoon - and they are unlikely to receive any favours from Leeds-born City striker Erling Haaland as he looks to find the net for the first time in three games after failing to score in defeats against Newcastle United and Bayer Leverkusen.

For the Whites, there is a dire need for an upturn in fortunes and they are facing an uphill battle with Saturday’s visit to the Etihad Stadium followed by a home double headers with reigning champions Liverpool and a Chelsea side leading the chasing pack behind league leaders and title favourites Arsenal. Things won’t get any easier for Daniel Farke and his players with away days at Brentford and Sunderland and a home clash with Crystal Palace also on the agenda before the turn of the year.

With a challenging lying in wait, the Whites have been urged to add to the physical side of their game and ‘find a different way’ to get the results that could help them avoid an immediate return to the Championship just 12 months after securing their Premier League place.

Ignite

Alan Smith, speaking exclusively to Yorkshire Evening Post via the home of slots said: “There needs to be something that's a catalyst to go ‘f****** hell’. Me and my brother were talking about it at Elland Road the other day against Villa. There was an opportunity in the game, I can't remember who it was. It might sound wrong but there was a chance for somebody after about 60 minutes when it was still 1-0 to just go and bury someone on the touchline.

“Someone needs to ignite the fuel to get you over the line to win a game. They need to give the fans something. You know as well as I do, I don't care who you are as a football fan, people love a tackle as much as a goal. They love it, and I don't care who you are.

World class

Smith continued: “If you play for Chelsea and John Terry went and buries someone, or Stevie Gerrard or Jamie Carragher went and smashed somebody on touchline at Anfield. The whole crowd was up. There's not any of that left. That kind of seems to have gone out the game. We talked about Arsenal and the world class players, but you're talking about animals as well.

“When you look at what Arsenal had from a physical attribute, when you had Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Petit and Tony Adams. Not only can they play, but if it comes to a fight as well, they've got you. These are different types of ways to win football matches. If I'm a club that needs a result, I've got to find a different way. Any team like Leeds, we can't fight fire with fire trying to play football, or the same style of football as a lot of the teams because they've got better players. You have to bring whatever it takes.”

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