MY ACCOUNT
Sam Allardyce has four games to secure Leeds’ Premier League future.
The survival specialist has saved many teams from relegation before but never has he been given so little time to turn things around.
Now 68, Allardyce replaced Javi Gracia on Wednesday, after the Spanish coach was sacked following a disastrous run of form.
Ahead of the Whites’ ominous trip to Manchester City on Saturday, we examine the task ahead and whether it is possible for Big Sam to keep the West Yorkshire club up.
April woes
No team in the Premier League has let in more goals than the 67 conceded by Leeds this season.
Some 23 of those came in April alone — a Premier League record for a single calendar month — as the Whites lost five of their seven games.
Last season, only bottom club Norwich let in more.
Allardyce’s mission is clear. He needs to tighten a defence whose problems stretch back much further than the last few weeks.
As confident as the manager is in his own abilities, it is the toughest of tasks.
Formation decisions
In his last game in charge, Gracia switched from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 3-4-3, only to be thrashed 4-1 at Bournemouth.
There is reason to believe that Allardyce may elect to stick with three central defenders for the trip to City, despite that defeat.
On the only two occasions that the Citizens have dropped points at home this season — a 2-1 defeat to Brentford and a 1-1 draw with Everton — they faced such a formation.
Whether he plays with a back three or four, you can be sure that the veteran manager will elect to also pack the midfield and ensure that there are always plenty of players behind the ball.
Allardyce is flexible when it comes to formation. Where he tends to be more consistent, is being happy to concede possession and employing a direct style of play.
Yet though his teams have embodied a pragmatic style of football, he has also been able to get the best out of skilful players like Jay-Jay Okocha and Jermain Defoe, who seemed at odds with his methods.
This could be good news for winger Wilfried Gnonto, who has look unplayable at times this season, but had fallen out of favour in recent weeks.
Tough finish
Allardyce was considered as a replacement for Jesse Marsch back in February, only for the club to turn to Gracia.
Had the former England manager taken over back then, he might have had sufficient time to turn things around.
Now he has just four games, of which the first is against a rampant City side who are at home and desperate for points themselves.
The most that Leeds can expect from that fixture is a narrow enough defeat to give some encouragement for what is to come.
Third-placed Newcastle at home follows before a trip to a West Ham team that may still need points to avoid relegation. Then finally, Tottenham at Elland Road, with the visitors fighting for Europe.
Allardyce will deserve all the plaudits he receives if he manages to mastermind survival from that tricky quartet of fixtures.
