Leeds United are one of many teams in the Premier League right now that are proving incredibly difficult to play against.
The standard of the Premier League from bottom up to the top has risen significantly recently. Leeds’ promotion and subsequent survival under Daniel Farke have weighed into that shifting narrative.
There are many other clubs now also adding to this in the Premier League. And it makes the likes of Man Utd look even worse as their turmoil continues.
Jamie Carragher outlines difficulty of Premier League after Leeds United victory over Spurs
Leeds’ victory over a resurgent Spurs last time out was the latest proof that nothing is guaranteed in the top flight. We were five games without a win and desperately short of attacking quality, while Roberto De Zerbi’s side were on a three-game winning run.
It just goes to show that there are so many sides in the Premier League that are going to take points off each other right now. So, when a side is seriously out of form and has had multiple bad years on the spin, it’s highlighted even more. *Cough* Man Utd *cough*.
Speaking on The Overlap Daily, Jamie Carragher believes that the strength of the Premier League right now is “very, very good” right down to the bottom of the division.
“I think it shows the strength of the Premier League,” Carragher said. “People keep talking about the quality of the Premier League. I understand it when you look at the top teams; they’re not all flying – Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea – but the bulk of the teams in the Premier League are very, very good.”
“If Man United beat Brentford, that’s a really good result that they wouldn’t get credit for because they’re Man United.
“The strength of the Premier League, near the bottom, is so good. I saw Fulham, who I think have been one of the weakest teams in the league, go to Villa (a Champions League team) and should’ve won. I’ve seen Forest play Man City, that’s not a team that should be in the bottom three. Sunderland beat Chelsea.
“It’s not easy to beat these teams at the bottom that you’re expected to.”
Mark Goldbridge then added Spurs’ defeat to Leeds in that regard. He said it’s disrespectful to Leeds to simply assume Spurs should’ve won.
“Exactly,” Carragher agreed. “Tough team to play.”
Leeds United must continue with ‘horrid to play against’ tag in Premier League
It’s the nature of the beats at the moment for Leeds and other clubs in the Premier League.
You’re not going to survive at first by trying to outplay everyone in the league. Southampton, Leicester, Ipswich, and Burnley all proved that attractive football just won’t work. You need so much quality across the squad to play that way consistently, which promoted teams don’t have.
What does work is trying to better the physicality of your league rivals. Leeds have done that tremendously well, and that showed against Spurs.
We took the game to them in a way that best suits us. De Zerbi’s second-half subs outlined how he knew which way the game had gone, doing away with his most technical players and bringing in more runners – it didn’t work.
As Carragher says, no game this season, even against bottom of the league, is to be taken for granted. Anyone can beat anyone right now.
