Leeds United man shifts focus as players get full Javi Gracia Liverpool debrief and hope for boost - YEP 18/4/23
Leeds United must move on quickly from their Liverpool nightmare in order to focus on three 'massive' games this month.
By Graham Smyth
The Whites travel to Fulham on Saturday then host fellow
relegation threatened Leicester City on Tuesday night, before a trip to
14th-placed Bournemouth. That home game against the Foxes looks particularly
significant in the run-in, with Leicester currently sitting 19th, four points
behind Leeds.
Beyond that trio of fixtures lies a quartet of daunting
ones, including a visit to ominous title-chasers Manchester City, but Leeds
can't think about that just yet. Even as the stadium was still emptying after
Tuesday's 6-1 humiliation by Liverpool, Leeds defender Robin Koch was
attempting to shift the focus on to the challenges just around the corner.
"Obviously it's hard for us but we need to put this
game aside now because we have three massive games coming," he said.
"It's extremely hard for us now but we'll put this game
aside now and go for the next three games."
Koch, who lamented the gifting of so much space to the Reds
during Monday’s defeat, will by now have had a full and frank debrief from boss
Javi Gracia, alongside his team-mates. Gracia revealed in his post-match press
conference that he prefers to say more about the game the next day, than in the
minutes that immediately follow the final whistle. Speaking to the press the
Whites boss struggled for an explanation as to why Leeds had fallen so short of
their standards, so suddenly, in the past two games. The Spaniard also admitted
that losing consecutive games by an aggregate 11-2 scoreline was not only an
unprecedented experience in his career but one that was 'hard to manage.'
