Sam Allardyce reveals thinking behind Leeds United legends recall as manager demands ‘aggression’

Whatever your thoughts on the Englishman, his persona and his football, there is no doubt that he is pulling out all of his tried and tested tricks in an attempt to avert disaster. A win over Tottenham Hotspur will do it. Oh and an Everton defeat to Bournemouth. Ah, Leicester City need to lose or draw against West Ham United, too. Just how big a bag of tricks have you got there Sam?

A managerial spell that began with that unforgettable 'look at me not the players' quote about Pep Guardiola and co, will live long in the memory no matter how Sunday goes if simply for the headspinning journey that brought it about. Bielsaball to Big Sam in just over a year. Who would have thought it? Who could forget it?

Offer any of the players a magic pill that erases this campaign from their memories and the hands would surely all be outstretched, that wretched and painful has it been. Allardyce is the fourth manager they have sat and listened to since it all kicked off, with their various staff members, too numerous to name, chiming in.

American, Austrian, English, Scottish, Irish and Spanish accents have drifted in and out of the training ground and dressing room. And there were more of them this week as Allardyce welcomed Eddie Gray, Gary McAllister and Gordon Strachan into the set-up to try and hammer home to the squad how special this club is.

"Gordon has been here today," said Allardyce on Friday in the media room at the stadium, rather than the training ground. The build up to the big game has been taking place in the ground, in the hope that familiarity will breed something, anything positive.

"How important Leeds is, what it meant to them, a bit more of a history of the club and the fact that they had very successful times here. On the mentality side it's about improving our mentality to deliver. Someone speaking, a different voice, about football and what they did here, how much they love the club, is really important.

"Once they'd found out what they'd done and who they are, [it meant] a great deal. Eddie's love for Leeds United and his passion, as with Gary and Gordon. It's different eras and what it means to them."

It shouldn't need saying, not when 30,000-plus voices have been screaming it with every breath since the season began yet perhaps attaching some relatable anecdote from one who became another era's hero in the same stadium can inspire a new hero to stand up on Sunday.

Allardyce hopes Rodrigo will be that man. The Spaniard, Leeds' top goalscorer, the one running through the pain of plantar fasciitis, trained on Friday.

Perhaps Patrick Bamford will rediscover what it is like to be the man, but his place in the side is far less certain due to his hamstring problem. If the medical team gives a player a thumbs up, even if it comes with a caveat over the minutes he can play, Allardyce is prepared to gamble - so long as the player is. It's a time to put niggles and knocks aside, because it's all hands to the deck. All and any heroes report to the starting line-up.

Truthfully Allardyce won't care which name is on the back of the shirt if a white one pops up to grab a winner - one that is permitted to matter by results elsewhere - this weekend.

Those games on Merseyside and in Leicester will have such a big say on how events in LS11 go, or at least how they are experienced. Allardyce is yet to decide if he wants to be kept abreast of the affairs of relegation rivals. For the players there will be no avoiding it.

"The fans will tell us, won't they?" admitted Allardyce.

"They'll tell us what the score is. You'll tell by the mood of the crowd. Every one I've been involved with, that's happened. With my escape, which has only happened once last game of the season, not only were we winning we knew West Ham weren't at Birmingham. The only focus for the players is to win the game, they can't do any more than that."

Anything is possible, as Allardyce knows from personal experience and feats accomplished by his peers. Leeds' biggest problem is not their form, their inability to keep leads and control games and it's not even Harry Kane. It's the fact that so much of their fate lies outside of their hands. It lies in the lap of the Gods.

"There's been some greatest of greatest escapes - I can always remember Bryan Robson doing West Brom," said Allardyce.

"We've got that similar situation. With Robbo it might have been more than just two results elsewhere. All we can do is win the football match and is pray the right word? I don't know. Let's say the Gods look after us, but winning is the only thing we can try and control."

The maths are relatively simple, the task is too in a way because Spurs are not some unbeatable force to be feared, not on current form and not in what will be a cauldron. There is a result to be had here. All Allardyce is asking for is a performance like that produced against Newcastle, without the mistakes. He wants a performance like the first half against West Ham, without the daft equaliser. He's asking for concentration for the 55 minutes that the ball is in play, and a few other things too.

"Controlled aggression, calm and composure particularly in possession is a necessity," he added.

"The more possession we have, the more we can get at Tottenham's defensive unit which I obviously think is a weakness based on what we saw last week. We can't do that without ignoring what their strengths are. We try and score first again. We've done that in the last two and then failed miserably after that. When you score first generally you wouldn't lose the game on the stats, but there's an awful amount of time to play after that.

"It's about 55 minutes of pure concentration, not 90, the ball is out of play the rest of the time. I want to see their best. Their best will get the fans behind them and that'll help them score or do what they need to do to get a result. If we are to win we need a clean sheet, we're not a prolific goal scoring team, and then try to win by as many goals as we can."

Then there's the stopping of Harry Kane and the defending of set-pieces against a team who scores a lot of goals from them. That just about covers it. Do all of that and you might just win. Do all of that, you might just win and it might not matter. Just give yourself a chance.