An Ipswich Town individual has expressed his views on the gap between Leeds United and the potential shortcomings of Marcelo Bielsa…
This weekend, Leeds United is well aware of the limited room for error in the Championship as they strive to keep up with the leading two teams. They find themselves nine points behind the automatic promotion places, a position that likely disappoints most fans at the start of the season.
Nevertheless, credit must be given to Daniel Farke for steering Leeds into a position where they can still compete for promotion, especially considering the challenges they faced during the transfer window with loan exits.
As of now, Leeds has played 13 games, approaching the one-third mark of the season, a point at which the table usually starts to reveal the top promotion contenders.
For context, at this stage in the 2019/20 season, Leeds held the second position with two more points than Farke’s current side. Importantly, the gap to the top spot in the promotion race was just two points, while Leicester City currently enjoys a 14-point lead over third place.
Leeds is currently projected to accumulate just under 78 points this season, a performance that would result in them finishing outside the top two for the first time since the Championship was rebranded in 2004.
Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town appears to be the team Leeds is primarily targeting this season, a side that Farke’s team defeated earlier in the season with a 4-3 victory in August, one of the rare instances where the Tractor Boys dropped points.
Despite holding a comfortable nine-point lead over third place, Ipswich’s manager, McKenna, isn’t focusing on the league table at this point. Instead, he emphasized the importance of concentrating on the immediate task at hand rather than getting caught up in promotion aspirations.
In his own words, McKenna stated, “I think realistically, come the halfway point in the season, it’s natural… Every manager’s probably different, teams will be looking at it in a different way, but my belief, my experience, is that things can change very, very quickly, and it’s not too wise to look too much past your next performance.”
He highlighted the unpredictability of the Championship and how quickly fortunes can change, urging a focus on delivering consistent performances throughout the entire season.
McKenna’s approach is justified, given Leeds’ own history of starting strong but ultimately missing out on promotion, such as their experience in the 2018/19 season when they led the table at Christmas but ended up in the playoffs, while Farke’s Norwich secured the league title.
In their subsequent season under Bielsa, Leeds had an 11-point lead over third place in December, which was gradually eroded by early February. This history serves as a stark reminder that promotion races can be unpredictable, and Ipswich must remain vigilant to avoid being drawn back into the competition by consecutive dropped points.
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