Sam Allardyce has no regrets about taking on the challenge of keeping Leeds in the Premier League – but admits the task has become a lot harder after both Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo sustained injuries in Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham.
Allardyce’s rescue mission reached crisis point after goals from Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini denied them the victory their new manager admitted they needed to have any realistic chance of staying up.
Allardyce arrived at Elland Road as a last-ditch appointment with four games to go, but his first three matches have provided just two points.
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Now Leeds need to beat Tottenham next weekend and hope a Bournemouth side with nothing to play for can do them an almighty favour at Everton.
With his side’s fate out of his hands, Allardyce didn’t pull any punches as he reflected on Sunday’s chastening loss.
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Image: Patrick Bamford sits injured on the pitch
“It doesn’t take you long to work out [what needs to change] when you’ve managed 1,155 games,” he said bullishly when asked if he regrets taking on the challenge of keeping Leeds up.
“I sorted this club [West Ham] out when I came and they’re still here [in the Premier League] 10 years, 14 years on. I sorted it out in one season and I’ve sorted a few other clubs out.
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“Our only challenge now is to beat Tottenham and try to not make the same mistakes we made against Newcastle. Our only hope is that we win our game and see what happens.
“It was always going to be a difficult task. A lot of people say I was mad to take it but I’m not mad. I just love football and Leeds United was too big a job to turn down, however short it was.”
Image: Rodrigo shows his dejection at the final whistle
No side has lost more points from leading positions in the Premier League this season than Leeds (25, level with Nottingham Forest). Indeed, the Whites have won just two of the last nine league matches in which they have opened the scoring.
It is why Allardyce knew his side would need to score twice to stand a chance of winning. He acknowledged the difficulty of preserving a clean sheet. Leeds have now conceded 153 Premier League goals since the start of last season.
“Obviously, the result is very disappointing,” he continued. “There were lots of things that suggested we had opportunities to get three points in the first half but unfortunately failings in the final third let us down.
Image: Rodrigo puts Leeds 1-0 up at the London Stadium
“The second half was a bit of a battle, a bit of a struggle and then whatever we tried in terms of changes didn’t improve the situation for us.
“In the first half, there were opportunities galore but not enough quality. In the second half, we needed to defend better and wait for our opportunities to take but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The West Ham players showed better ability in the final third than we did.
“We have to look at ourselves and say if we do win next week and do miraculously stay in the league, we have a long way to go in terms of quality for the squad.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the clash between West Ham and Leeds
“The first XI really show up there but when we need that squad these days they haven’t quite shown the impact in the short period of time. I may be being unkind to them but it is only what my very experienced eyes are seeing at the moment.
“We have to keep going, we have to lift the spirits for next week, they have to accept the criticism, it is constructive criticism. We should show a bit more of what we did against Newcastle and perhaps get a win because Tottenham are not the best at the moment, so we will try and take advantage of that.
“We only have ourselves to blame. We are responsible and we have to lift everyone up to give that last performance in front of our own crowd.”
Allardyce critical of sub impacts
Image: Leeds boss Sam Allardyce was back at his former club
But of equal concern were the injuries to Rodrigo and Bamford, with the latter withdrawn with a hamstring strain. Rodrigo battled on and risked aggravating his own knock – but it was ‘needs-must’ for Leeds and for Allardyce.
Given how ineffectual his substitutes were, a busy week lies ahead in coming up with a strategy to defeat Tottenham.
Allardyce added: “Both Rodrigo and Patrick [Bamford] are struggling badly and the impact from the subs wasn’t there. That gives me an even bigger look at the situation and the squad as a whole because the subs didn’t make a difference when we needed them.
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“It now depends on the injuries. If both Rodrigo and Patrick miss out, it is a big ask. We may have to play a completely different system. From a defensive point of view, we need to work on keeping Harry Kane and Son quiet. We had to keep Rodrigo on as we were in the game.
“Whether it’s the pressure or a lack of confidence, I’m not sure. The bigger failure in the second half was the quality of the final ball. As a manager, your subs are your impact on your team to get better and sadly that’s something that didn’t work today.”
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Should Leicester beat Newcastle on Monday Night Football, the Whites will start the final day second from bottom. They got off to a great start at the London Stadium as well, with Rodrigo volleying them into an early lead.
Allardyce said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better start, can’t cause problems without scoring though. That opportunity came and went, we’re bottom and the opposition are bound to come back with their quality then you have to defend better – we didn’t.”
West Ham mentality delights Moyes
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David Moyes was pleased to see West Ham overcome a sloppy start after the celebrations of reaching the Europa League Conference final on Thursday night to earn a comeback victory over Leeds.
Rice, named West Ham’s player of the year before kick-off – six years to the day since he made his debut against Burnley – marked what is likely to be his last home game for the club by equalising with his 15th goal in claret and blue.
The Hammers, safe from relegation and with a Europa Conference League final to look forward, should have been easy pickings. They even walked out carrying their children as mascots, giving a distinct end-of-season feel to proceedings.
West Ham boss David Moyes was delighted with the character his players showed, three days after sealing their Europa Conference League final spot with victory over AZ Alkmaar.
Image: Jarrod Bowen gives West Ham a 2-1 lead
“It was terrific after the week we had. You never quite know how your players will perform after playing on the Thursday but we showed great character and a great mentality. It was a hard-fought one.
“Naming the team wasn’t easy as I had to look at how the players were, but we wanted to go as strong as we could. I knew we had the chance to change one or two defenders, but after such a big win, we got back at 3am in the morning on Friday.
“I wondered if the players could get back on it quickly, and apart from the opening 15 minutes, I thought we were really good.”
What’s next?
The final day of the Premier League season is on May 28 with every game kicking off at 4.30pm. Free match highlights will be published across Sky Sports’ digital platforms shortly after full-time.
West Ham end their league season with a trip to Leicester before heading to Prague for the Europa League Conference final against Fiorentina on June 7.
Leeds host Tottenham in their last league outing this season.
Sourse: skysports.com
