Leeds United: Phil Hay claims that their may have to be change at Elland Road

Phil Hay has been speaking about how Leeds United may have to make several changes in the near future.

This season already appears to be one of struggle and a slog given they are fighting in and around the relegation places in the early stages of this campaign having failed to beat teams such as Southampton, Newcastle United and Burnley, although they have suffered from key injuries to Patrick Bamford and Luke Ayling.

Leeds appear to still be playing with the same tactics and intensity from last season under Marcelo Bielsa, as they’ve set up the same way as they did on occasions last time out and are in the top two for applied pressures in the Premier League.

However, other managers and teams may have figured Leeds out, and their overreliance on the squad that did so well last season may well come back to haunt them if these performances and results continue.

They did not bring in a central midfielder over the summer, with owner Andrea Radrizzani claiming that Adam Forshaw would be their de facto new midfielder, but he’s still yet to start a league game this season.

Speaking on the latest edition of The Phil Hay Show, Hay believes that once this season is out of the way, changes could occur at Elland Road.

“I think they do need to get to the end of the season. I think they can get to the end of the season with what they’ve got, and if they do, then it feels like job done, for me.

“But they are going to have to be honest about the fact that every single model needs updating from time to time, it needs refreshing from time to time. Not every player can go on forever, Bielsa can’t go on forever, Radrizzani isn’t going to go on forever.

“I think next summer, we could see quite a bit of change. I don’t know, at this stage – it’s impossible to say what that would constitute, what that will involve. But certainly, on the transfer front, I think they are going to have to be more aggressive.”

TIF Thoughts on Leeds United…

If Leeds are wanting to remain in the Premier League for a prolonged period of time, then they may indeed have to ‘be more aggressive’ in transfer dealings and not just settle for a solid starting lineup, as the best teams have the squad depth to ensure they can overcome adversity.

An example of being more aggressive may have been completing the signing of Conor Gallagher or Lewis O’Brien – two players they were widely linked with but failed to land this summer.

As you move further up the pitch in terms of looking at Leeds’s squad, options appear to be few and far between as they have just one recognised and experienced striker, the same can be said for the right-wing and in the defensive-midfield positions.

Those three positions are usually occupied by Bamford, Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips, so it appears that Bielsa trusts these players so much that he feels competition may not be necessary for them, but he may have to change his thinking in the near future if he sees his and the club’s long-term future in the English top flight.

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