OPINION
Phil Thompson shared that he thought the Leeds United players need to make the most of their break in games by getting away from it all.
The former Liverpool player claimed that with the Championship being so demanding in terms of fixtures and with their potential being immense pressure on Leeds players due to getting back to the Premier League being like the holy grail, the squad need to get away.
Thompson shared that the Whites’ squad should divide up into little groups and play golf or something, instead of continuing to push themselves hard in the time they have off.
“They spend so much time together, so many games together, Championships club play a whole host of games, more than the Premier League, and seem to be playing every midweek,” said Thompson on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports News February 16th 14:16pm)
“Sometimes it’s good to get away and there now Charlie (Nicholas) you said about it being Leeds as it’s the holy grail to get back to the Premier League and sometimes that brings… sometimes instead of keeping the key in the motor, get away, get away from it, get away from each other and go split into little groups go and play golf.”
The pundit is spot-on with his advice for Leeds and Marcelo Bielsa should heed it for this reason.
Many Leeds supporters, perhaps the whole city, are all glued to the club’s promotion bid this season and due to this the players are kind of in a fish bowl environment.
While it’s nice that there is so much passion about Leeds getting promoted, being under such scrutiny is no doubt stressful and very taxing on the players’ mind.
With Leeds having a break in fixtures, their next game isn’t until the 23rd of February, they have to make the most of it as it’s not a luxury that has been afforded to Norwich City.
There may be fear that Bielsa doesn’t want to see his squad drop the ball due to not having matches, but a break mentality for them, could see them come out firing when they return to action against Bolton.
Therefore while the Leeds manager has proven he knows what’s best for the team based on their success this season, he does need to heed Thompson’s advice on this occasion.