Leeds United legend Gordon Strachan is backing his former club to beat the drop – because Daniel Farke still has the players on his side.
United boss Farke had been under increasing pressure after five defeats in a row saw them drop into the relegation zone. But a spirited 3-3 draw against Liverpool last weekend gave Strachan enough evidence to suggest the dressing room is still firmly behind their manager ahead of an away trip to Brentford.
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Strachan, who spent six years at Elland Road as a player, said: “When you see a manager under pressure, or a team that is struggling, you usually see players who are disheartened, lacking confidence, or having trouble putting effort in.
“But with Leeds, I never saw that. The players were always putting the effort in. But at the same time, a lot of Leeds players, I thought if you put them up for sale, I wouldn’t see many Premier League clubs rushing in to buy them.
“I don’t mean that disrespectfully, it’s just that they didn’t quite have the ability for the Premier League. But usually you see a struggling manager who loses the dressing room, they say, or the players down tools, but that wasn’t happening at Leeds.”
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Strachan thinks Leeds’ works and endeavour, similar to his country Scotland, will be the way to achieve success.
He said: “I think they will have to get by on common sense and effort, and hope that is enough, because there are not enough star players there.
“They’re a bit like Scotland. They need to make the most of what they have and they have to earn their wins as a team, every move has to be earned. Unless they get a Scott McTominay, they will struggle in the best league in the world.
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“I’m quite happy with how they are going now, because they spent a fair amount, but I don’t want to see them go and spend £300million that could put themselves back into the crisis they found themselves in a few years ago. Will they beat the drop? I’m saying yes, absolutely.”