Jaap Stam has had a subtle dig at Leeds United’s playing style under Garry Monk as he hailed the 2017-18 for being more expansive than last season.
Reading manager Stam exchanged verbal blows with Monk last December when he slammed Leeds’ cautious style during a 2-0 win over his side at Elland Road, claiming it was “not my cup of tea”.
The Dutchman takes his side back to west Yorkshire on Saturday and paid tribute to the changes made by new manager Thomas Christiansen, who arrived in June after Monk quit to join Middlesbrough.
The Royals, without a win in their past five league games, face a Leeds side who have lost their past two matches.
“They’ll want a good result after that,” Stam told BBC Radio Berkshire, as quoted by the BBC Sport website. . “They’ve had a good start to the season despite that.
“They have a good feeling [this season], they play in a certain way, a bit different to last season as well. They want to play more football, so that’s nice as well, they’ve got a good side, a good team.”
Stam was appointed by Reading in the summer of 2016 and guided them to the Championship play-off final, but they lost out on promotion to Huddersfield Town following penalty shoot-out heartache.
The Berkshire club have struggled in the new campaign and are placed 20th after 10 matches.
OPINION
There is little love lost between Stam and Monk, and the Manchester United legend is clearly having a thinly veiled dig at his dugout opponent as he delivers his verdict on the new-look Leeds. Not that the purveyor of pure football is wrong. Leeds were indeed one-dimensional last season, although supporters were over the moon at the club having a manager who could keep Massimo Cellino at bay while putting out a side that didn’t cave in at the first sign of pressure. Under Christiansen, there has been more emphasis on attack and creating goal-scoring opportunities. With Chris Wood gone, goals are spread more evenly around the team. It is more fun to watch, few would disagree with that.