please log in to view this image Good Morning. It's Wednesday 22nd February, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road What can we expect from Gracia Having been sworn in yesterday, Javi Gracia wasted no time in preparing for Saturdays crunch match against Southampton. Prior to his appointment, the 52yo has already watched all of Leeds recent games, as well as paying special attention to Saints surprise 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge last weekend. He takes charge of training at Thorp Arch this morning, ably supported by Michael Skubala and Chris Armas. Early reports indicate that Javi Gracia's temporary head coach appointment should at least add stability and organisation within the Elland Road ranks, something sadly lacking this season. His calming influence both on and off the dugout will be a welcome change to the manic and somewhat frenzied demeanor of his predecessor. According to Phil Hay:- "Gracia is regarded as a calm and reserved coach, humble and courteous and not prone to outbursts. His off-the-ball ideas at Watford were fairly conventional in a modern sense: plenty of high-intensity running, good levels of pressing and a commitment to holding a relatively high line up the pitch, with a firm emphasis on work rate." "Ironically, given the results that led Leeds to sack Jesse Marsch this month, Gracia was not averse to employing his own form of the 4-2-2-2 system which Marsch worked on in his Red Bull days and used from time to time at Elland Road. Watford, with the Spaniard in place, moved away from the 3-4-3 formation favoured by Silva and used a mix of 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 formations in the opening phase of his tenure." "Gracia relied on a midfield base created by Capoue and Doucoure and would eventually deploy them in a double-six combination, with Pererya and Will Hughes in front of them. Pereya and Hughes often formed a narrow box midfield behind what was effectively a partnership of Deeney and Deulofeu up front. It could be deemed a 4-4-2 setup, but in the flesh, it often appeared more like 4-2-2-2." "While Doucoure and Capoue were more than sitting anchors — encouraged to get forward and set off counter-attacks — Hughes, a left-footer on the right, and Pereyra, a right-footer on the left, albeit comfortable with both, were inverted and would tuck in and rotate. Gracia encouraged his full-backs to get forward and contribute offensively, especially if the midfield was narrow." "At Leeds, Gracia will find players who lend themselves to similar tactics. The trick for him will be to make them less frenetic and less chaotic than they were under Marsch — and as a result, more effective. He has 15 games to go at but, all the same, not necessarily the time to make vast alterations." please log in to view this image It's the last throw of the dice After Saturdays crushing defeat at Goodison Park, it became abundantly clear that Messrs Skubala, Gallardo and Armas were way out of the depth; forcing the Elland Road hierarchy to rethink their strategy, and bring in a more experienced interim Manager until the end of the season. In doing so, they have played their final cards. Our backs are up against the wall, and there's nothing more we can do, than to come out swinging. Wikipedia was in high demand when news of Gracia's appointment started to filter through the dirt sheets, yet the more we hear, the better the appointment starts to sound. There's 45 points up for grabs. Leeds are four points worse off (19) than they were at this stage last season, and escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth on 38 points. How many points do Leeds need to stay up this season? please log in to view this image
I don't really remember Gracia himself but I remember his Watford side at the time. Very awkward to play against and often left me wondering how the hell they had won a game after watching them. Troy Deeney was in his pomp at the time and was the pivotal point in the team. The ball was regularly launched in to him and Andre Gray, Delefeu and Hughes would all feed off his scraps. When defending, they'd defend very narrow and in numbers. They weren't an enjoyable watch but they were effective.
This new coach doesn't fill me with great optimism, don't know much about it to be honest but we need to give him a chance, if he doesnt get off to a flyer and we're still playing ****e I can see the crowd turning on him and the board big time very quickly.
I did read one article this morning that said despite his (Gracia) hopping from one job to another, you never hear of any ex players complaining about him, they all seem to feel he was a decent coach.
Hope the players have all rushed to their preferred choice of Social Media Platform to welcome Gracia, else we will be reading that he doesn't have the support of any of the players
He’s only on a 4 month contract with an option for another 12… Anyway, everything I said about Jesse at the very start was proved correct, text book manager unable to change a game had the players watching Netflix to boost confidence. I didn’t turn on Jesse I didn’t like him from the start
So Gracia's profile appears to be.. on the one hand: - favours marsch-like formation and strategy - comes with rep of being liked by ex players (same as Jesse) - only ever been successful in sub standard leagues. (same as Jesse) on the other hand: - he’s calm in the dug out and doesn't leap about like a demented rabbit. So Emu, this book you’re running on risty turning, are you offering odds in months, weeks or days? Only teasing Rich. I’m sure ‘el Jesse’ will turn out great (i certainly hope so) and you’ll love him
No. He kept Watford up and took them to a cup final (albeit they got a tonking). He then got sacked by Watford after 4 games, so who knows what would have happened that season?
He wouldn’t be my first choice, it would seem he isn’t the clubs either but we could have got a lot worse. When Jesse took over and kept us up, the signs were there that he wasn’t going to be up to it. If this guy keeps us up great, if there are signs he isn’t up to it then fine we don’t renew the contract I’d love for him to be fantastic and all the fans think he’s a perfect fit, it would be great to extend his contract by 12 months and stick two fingers up at those that turned us down It’s good to have a coach that’s only going to get a bumper pay day if he keeps us up, he obviously believes in his own ability
TBH, we were never going to get a world class manager. We're at the bottom of the PL and unknown in Europe for donkeys years. We may have got one at the start of this season, but not at the midway point.
Hes here and we have to back him. personally don't have much of a clue on him but he has to hit the ground running. everyone at the club has to be backed now we have to get out of this slump asap. no good blaming him or him or he's not good enough nothing can be changed and we have to get behind our team and club and help pull them through this. everything has to go on the back burner all I'm bothered about is playing Premier League football next season regardless of anything else going on behind the scenes. it's past crunch time we have to start winning games not next week or the week after It's NOW!!!!!
