Two words that reveal Leicester City leader's true Leeds United feelings after hospital pass

The Monday Night Club is a Five Live show hosted by Mark Chapman, joined by New York Times journalist Rory Smith and top flight striker turned contrarian Chris Sutton. This week's episode featured Republic of Ireland legend Shay Given alongside Coady for a discussion on the latest footballing developments. They dealt with Ben White's England stance, the FA Cup and, later on, Leeds' ascent to the top of the Championship.

Coady, as a member of the squad deposed as league leaders by Sunday's result at Elland Road, was obviously asked for his take and, because he's a good talker, he did quite a bit of talking.

Leeds are, in his estimation a really good side. You couldn't really say any different, could you? And what they have done in 2024 is, for Coady, a great run. Thirteen unbeaten, with 12 wins and no goals conceded from open play is certainly that - although Coady did say the Championship has seen this before, citing Fulham as the example. He was almost certainly referencing their 2017/18 19-game unbeaten charge from the lower reaches of the table up to third place, finishing just two points behind the automatic promotion places as Coady and Wolves won the title at a canter. The defender has been around the block long enough to know plenty about the Championship and what it takes to escape it - he'd played in the division 167 times prior to this season, to go with his 175 Premier League appearances.

But where his Leeds United take fell down a little, is that it focused a bit too keenly on who they are rather than what they're doing. "Leeds are a good side, a really good side, they've got some great players, a lot of players who were in the Premier League last season and players with experience in the Championship, so they're a good side," he said. Highly complimentary, if not with a high degree of accuracy. Opposition managers do this too. They talk about Leeds having Premier League quality in explanations as to why they lost to Daniel Farke's side. What they never point out is that this Leeds team is young and inexperienced. The starting line-up against Coady's Leicester on February 23 boasted an average of 14 Championship appearances before this season kicked off, but eight of the XI had not played a single second tier game prior to 2023/24. That team also had an average of 24 Premier League appearances, compared with the Leicester XI's average of 52.

It was left to Smith, somewhat of a Leeds aficionado, to highlight the 'astonishing' form, snowballing confidence, the momentum gained by beating Leicester with a late comeback and the defensive solidity. When the conversation circled back to Coady, to discuss the atmosphere at Elland Road on the night his team lost 3-1, he painted it as what you would expect in LS11 and what he has experienced before, before he segued into praise of Leicester's 80-minute performance, highlighting chances to kill the game that they did not take.

And when Smith wanted to know if, in the event of Leicester going up, Coady would feel any sympathy towards his fellow professionals at a rival Premier League hopeful should they not go up after playing a part in such a sensational promotion race, his reaction was revealing. He laughed, heartily, and laughed more when he saw Given's reaction. This is how players truly feel about their rivals and opponents. Footballers are not just competitive, they're ruthlessly competitive. They want to win everything, all the time, on and off the pitch. They want everyone else to lose. Another telling moment was, during his explanation that Leicester always knew 'something like this' would happen, his use of two specific words. "We always knew something like this...not to the extent where Leeds would be on the run they're on and they would now be top on goal difference, or whatever, but we always knew it's going to be a lot closer than us being 15 points clear." Or whatever. Dwelling on a direct rival's achievement for any longer than is absolutely necessary is not, as Farke might say, Coady's topic.

A forensic examination of the words and phrases he used, in a live radio appearance, is perhaps a tad unfair - although this does appear to be the life he will choose after football unless management calls. And in all fairness to him, he did say that he and Leicester cannot focus too deeply on what Leeds are doing. That echoes the approach Farke has taken when it comes to the promotion race and the fact that Leicester were, at one stage, a country mile ahead. His six starts this season might not say it, but Coady remains a leader at Leicester and you wouldn't want your leader going on national radio and waxing lyrical about the team who is gunning for a title that looked beyond them a few weeks ago, a title you have been favourite for, for months. He has a dressing room to walk back into and does not want to stand accused of pumping Leeds tyres or giving them any more confidence than they already have. In an ideal world, he'd likely choose not to give Leeds a single mention this season, unless he felt it would rattle cages at Thorp Arch.

It's interesting to put questions about Leeds to those competing against Leeds, because if you sift through the deflection from their own failings, sometimes it does reveal where some admiration might lie or how the club and its team is viewed outside of the Elland Road bubble. But as the season draws towards what will be a thrilling finale, expect lips to tighten around the top four. Loose lips sink ships, after all, and no one wants to be a Jonah.