Inside Javi Gracia's early Leeds United squad meetings and the culture he is trying to set - Leeds Live 7/3/23
Javi Gracia has not said a lot about his meetings with the Leeds United squad since arriving yet he gave some recent insight into what he told them in the week he arrived before the Southampton win
Six points separate the nine worst teams in the Premier
League, which may provide some crumb of comfort for those desperate to escape,
but not Javi Gracia. Leeds United’s new head coach is very much in the
wait-until-the-38th-game-is-played-before-looking camp.
The Spaniard has said as much to the players too. For the
first time, Gracia has pulled the curtain back on what was said to the squad in
those early meetings before the Southampton match.
Speaking to the media last week, Gracia and his coaching
staff had made it clear to the players they were only looking forward from here
on out. There was nothing to be gained in looking back at how dire their
situation had become.
“As you say, there are not many differences in the teams and
many of them are involved in relegation now,” he said. “To be honest, I don't
like to see the table.
“I don't like to see the table before winning, after
winning, I don't like. I prefer to put all my energy in my work, to put all my
energy in preparing the next game and that's the way we are well prepared to
get the points in the next game.
“When I spoke with the players I told them the same. I told
them ‘today we cannot speak about our situation, it’s our start, all of us know
you are 10 games without winning, you are in the relegation zone, but from
today we only speak about the next game.
“‘Day by day do your best preparing yourself for the next
training session, the next game and I am sure, if we do that, at the end we
will get our target.’”
