Long version of the Leeds Q&A.
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00:00 So, Lee, obviously, looking at Leeds United's start to the season,
00:04 can they catch Leicester and/or Ipswich?
00:07 Because, you know, they are flying now, really.
00:09 You look back at their form and you see a lot of greens as of recent.
00:14 Yeah, all you see with Leicester is greens apart from one defeat.
00:16 It's unbelievable, 30 points out of 33,
00:19 and Ipswich, obviously, not far behind either on 28 out of 33.
00:23 And obviously, you've got to remember that they would be on an awful lot more
00:25 if it wasn't for the visit at Leeds, who are the team who obviously went there and got the victory.
00:28 So, I mean, that's a big feather in Leeds' cap already.
00:30 But, I mean, to answer the question, can they catch them?
00:33 I think they definitely can.
00:34 Yeah. I mean, whether they can overhaul both of them, I mean, that remains to be seen.
00:38 But what you would say is that you wouldn't want that gap to get much bigger.
00:40 And I think that's why it was very, very important that Leeds
00:42 sort of recovered from that Southampton defeat with two positive results
00:47 and not just two positive results, but two victories, two three-point holes to get the six points there.
00:52 So, obviously, leaves them nine behind Ipswich and 11 behind Leicester.
00:55 So, it's a decent gap.
00:57 I mean, practically everybody who speaks about this says, 'Oh, it's only October.
01:00 You know, there's a long time to go.'
01:01 And I totally get that.
01:02 That is very, very true.
01:03 Obviously, there's only 11 games gone.
01:05 That said, it's not like you're sort of two points behind or three points behind.
01:08 I mean, that's a decent amount of points, is that.
01:10 And if it starts to get much bigger, then all of a sudden, you know,
01:13 you've got to sort of claw back an awful lot of ground.
01:15 With Leicester, they've got such a good squad, you know, strength in depth.
01:19 I was speaking to David Prutten for his column, who said basically,
01:21 the reality is Leicester's squad's even better than Leeds'.
01:23 And, you know, you can debate that point.
01:25 I mean, you know, but I know where he's coming from.
01:27 They have got a very, very strong squad.
01:28 There's no doubt about that.
01:29 Obviously, it depends who is fit.
01:30 But they are the sort of team that I would expect to continue this run.
01:33 You know, maybe not quite to the extent they are at the minute,
01:35 which is ridiculous, only dropping three points.
01:38 But, you know, I don't think there'll be any massive slump from them.
01:40 And I can well see why they're massive title favourites.
01:43 Ipswich is a different ballgame because obviously, they've just come up and,
01:46 you know, they came up with momentum.
01:47 But, you know, what you would say with them is even in the summer,
01:50 they were quietly fancied by a lot of people.
01:52 And it hasn't really surprised me that they've done so well.
01:54 And whilst they, you know, you might sort of say,
01:57 will they be able to keep up to the same extent as Leicester?
02:00 Possibly not.
02:01 I don't think they're going to suddenly slump massively either.
02:03 And I think, you know, they are two serious sides
02:05 that are going to take an awful lot of catching.
02:07 So basically, I mean, it's just down to Leeds to look after their own business
02:11 and keep going.
02:12 I mean, quite what they'll need in terms of points, you know, remains to be seen.
02:15 I mean, there's no point sort of working it out because you just don't know
02:17 how the season's going to unfold.
02:18 And obviously, like, how the runs of those two sides will come out
02:21 after the international break.
02:23 But I think what you can say is it's going to be a very exacting standard.
02:26 They're going to have to be on their A game.
02:27 They probably can't afford to drop many points.
02:29 And at some stage, I mean, it's pretty obvious looking at the points difference,
02:32 they're going to need to go on a very, very good run,
02:34 whether that's like, you know, four or five, six consecutive wins
02:37 or unbeating games or something like that.
02:38 So, I mean, Leeds are third favourites.
02:41 Very, very clearly so. Leicester are nearly odds on.
02:43 Ipswich second favourites, Leeds are third favourites.
02:45 Leeds are miles clear of the fourth, fifth and sixth teams in the betting.
02:49 But ultimately, in this division, if you come in third,
02:52 it doesn't mean you're going to be third best and go up,
02:53 because that will mean the playoffs.
02:54 And we all know what that can mean.
02:55 So, look, I mean, if Leeds get in the playoffs and finish in the playoffs
02:59 from where they were this summer in terms of the transition,
03:02 all the players coming and going, that will still be a big achievement.
03:05 But it goes without saying that automatic's got to be the aim.
03:07 And it goes without saying that they're going to need an extremely,
03:10 extremely strong run of results to get there.
03:12 I think they can do it, yes, but it will be difficult.
03:14 But it is doable, that's for sure.
03:16 And Pascal Strook, obviously, has been involved as a captain recently.
03:20 I suppose progress maybe has gone under the radar at the start of this new season.
03:25 What are your thoughts on him specifically?
03:27 Yeah, I think so, a little bit, because I think, you know, obviously,
03:30 all the... I mean, naturally in football, I suppose, to a degree,
03:33 the focus is on attacking players, if somewhat, you know.
03:35 So, obviously, Giorgino Routier has been the one that everyone's been talking about,
03:38 you know, the way he's started the new season,
03:40 obviously, Joel Perrault with his goals,
03:41 and then, obviously, the emergence of Archie Gray.
03:44 But you look at Pascal at the back and just quietly,
03:47 you know, he's really coming along and really improving.
03:49 And you have this situation, obviously, with Leeds now,
03:52 where, obviously, when everybody was fully fit and back,
03:54 you obviously would have Pascal Strook, Joe Roden and Liam Cooper in there.
03:56 You've got three centre-backs and, obviously, unless you go three at the back
03:59 or shift one of them to, you know, a full-back position, they can't all start.
04:02 And, obviously, we saw, you know, Roden come out of the side for the game at Southampton,
04:06 which, I mean, I can see why that happened, because, obviously, like,
04:09 they went into it on the back of a victory,
04:11 but ultimately, I think they missed him an awful lot.
04:13 And you sort of wondered, well, what about Pascal's place?
04:15 But, I mean, you know, he's probably been Leeds' most solid defender, really.
04:19 I mean, obviously, while the captain's armband in the last game
04:22 for the international break, that was somewhat, you know, by sort of default,
04:25 I suppose, because, obviously, Liam Cooper and Luke Hayling were both on the bench.
04:29 But, you know, he's not quite as vocal as those players,
04:31 but in his own way, he leads the side, really sets by example by his performance,
04:36 I suppose. And you've got to remember, with Pascal, he's still only 24.
04:39 So, I mean, there's an awful lot of improvement to come.
04:41 For a 24-year-old, he's only played 109 games for Leeds,
04:44 which isn't much because, obviously, like, you know, he came in,
04:47 basically, he's under 21 to start with and then sort of worked his way up from there.
04:50 But he's a really impressive player.
04:51 Obviously, he's got aspirations of international duties with Holland.
04:54 I'm sure he'll get there eventually.
04:55 But, yeah, I mean, it's already getting to the stage with him.
04:58 I think I was one of the people that said when everybody was fit,
05:00 he might be the one that might come out of the side,
05:02 but not in the way he's playing at the moment.
05:04 He's going from strength to strength.
05:05 And, you know, whilst the focus somewhat has been on more and other players in his own way,
05:10 Pascal's been very, very impressive indeed.
05:12 And long may it continue. There's a lot more to come from him, I think.
05:15 Another player, Archie Gray at right back, obviously, you know,
05:18 really, really impressive so far as well.
05:21 What's next for him and what are your thoughts on him as well?
05:24 Well, who knows where he'll pop up next?
05:25 I mean, you know, he sort of comes to the team as a centre midfielder and,
05:29 you know, he's done well just to even, like, come into the side and,
05:31 you know, take to it like a duck to water like he has.
05:33 And all of a sudden, he pops up at right back for the last game before the international break.
05:37 And not just pop up at right back, he had an absolute blinder there as well,
05:40 playing against a very, very good player down that flank.
05:43 He's an incredible talent, really, obviously still only 17 years old.
05:46 What's next for him, obviously, is England and England youth duty with the 19s
05:50 over the international break. Daniel Farker said,
05:52 I was put in his post-match press conference after the win before the international break,
05:56 that he'd like to just wrap him up in cotton wool, which I can understand that because,
05:58 you know, you want to keep him to yourself and make sure that he stays fit.
06:01 And, you know, he's that important already.
06:02 But obviously, you know, he's got international aspirations,
06:05 so he'll go off and, you know, he's the sort of,
06:07 you don't want to say too much about a player like that, like,
06:09 oh, he's going to do this, he's going to do that.
06:10 And he's going to, but I mean, it's pretty obvious with Archie
06:12 that he's got such a massive career ahead of him.
06:14 I mean, you only have to look at what he's doing now at 17 years of age.
06:17 So, and as much as I think we've said before,
06:20 and here you want to look after a young player like that and give him sort of like gradual introduction.
06:24 I think like even now, like he's,
06:26 he almost is becoming one of the first names on the team sheet, you know?
06:28 I mean, it's difficult in terms of like, obviously, you know,
06:32 you had Glenn Kamara coming into the side as he played at right back
06:35 and he did very well in midfield, Kamara.
06:37 So can you afford to leave Kamara out?
06:39 I mean, he showed at the weekend that you can have Kamara
06:42 and Ampadu and Gray as well.
06:43 So, I mean, look, I don't think he'll end up being a right back in the rest of his career.
06:47 I think he's going to be a midfielder and that's what he is.
06:49 And he's, you know, he's an incredibly good midfielder.
06:51 He's one that's got facets going back in both ways, you know,
06:54 defensively and attackingly.
06:55 But if needs be, he can quite clearly not just fill in at right back,
06:59 but play very well at right back.
07:00 We dare say he'll be able to play other positions too.
07:02 But yeah, Leeds have got a seriously, seriously talented player on their hands there.
07:06 And, you know, one that's quite clearly destined for top flight football.
07:10 They've just got to make sure that's with Leeds.
07:12 And so, you know, in order for that to happen,
07:13 you just need to get up as soon as possible.
07:16 And another player who's been fantastic as of late as well,
07:19 Georginio Ruta.
07:20 I mean, what's the sort of impact that he's had on this Leeds team?
07:24 Do you think he's possibly too good for the championship?
07:28 Well, I mean, if he starts taking his chances a little bit more,
07:31 he definitely will be, yeah.
07:32 But he's Leeds United's player.
07:33 And I mean, if he's Leeds United's player, he could well be not the secret,
07:37 he's not so much the secret weapon because everybody knows about him,
07:39 but he could be the difference between going up and not really because he's that good.
07:42 I mean, the second half of the game before international break against Bristol City,
07:46 it was just ridiculous.
07:47 I mean, in terms of his performance, like some of his skill,
07:50 he was just basically defenders just didn't know, like just couldn't cope with him,
07:53 you know, because he sort of had it all.
07:55 It wasn't just the fact that he had skill, but he's got pace,
07:57 but he's also got power as well.
07:59 I mean, so you combine all those three things together and he's just a really,
08:02 really hard man to stop.
08:03 And like I say, almost the only thing that's missing from his game at the moment,
08:06 I suppose, is the finishing touches in terms of, you know, he's got some assists,
08:09 but actually goals as well.
08:10 I mean, you won't get an easier chance than the one he stuck over the bar from three yards out against Bristol City.
08:15 I mean, it was absolutely ridiculous.
08:16 It's probably easier to miss, but the good thing with it was he didn't let it get him down, you know,
08:20 and even despite that miss, I mean, quite what you give him out of 10 for that performance,
08:24 you know, that's open to debate, but it's certainly an eight, if not a nine.
08:27 He was that good, honestly, in the second half, and he's only going to continue to get better.
08:31 People can say, well, what's been the key?
08:32 What's happened with him?
08:33 I think it's a lot of things, really.
08:34 I think, you know, he's a young, young player coming into the Premier League for a side
08:39 that was fighting relegation.
08:40 That's not easy.
08:41 Takes time to adapt to your surroundings.
08:43 You've got to remember also he's down a level now.
08:45 The Championship is a completely different ballgame to the Premier League.
08:47 The gap between the two leagues is massive, but I think there's no doubt about it that Rude's here,
08:51 especially at his age, obviously, you know, still only being 21.
08:54 There's no doubt that he's a top flight player in weighting,
08:56 and this is just part of his education, really, in terms of, like, you know,
08:59 getting it together in the Championship.
09:00 He's a seriously, seriously good player, you know, full of tricks.
09:06 You never really know what he's going to do next.
09:07 And as I say, once he starts to find the back of the net a little bit more,
09:10 then he's just going to be even better.
09:11 But yeah, Leeds, I mean, obviously, massive eyebrows were raised when Leeds signed him,
09:14 given the price fee, and, you know, whether that ends up being justified,
09:18 being quite that much, remains to be seen.
09:20 But, you know, it doesn't matter now.
09:22 He's Leeds United's player, and he's a very, very good one.
09:24 And, you know, one that defenders, when they see him lining up,
09:27 they'll just think, 'Christ, you know, how are we going to deal with him today?'
09:30 And another forward for Leeds, Patrick Brantford, obviously back into the mix after the injury.
09:36 Can he get back into the starting XI now?
09:38 Because obviously when he came out of the side,
09:40 Leeds were sort of struggling, looking around for that forward.
09:43 And now suddenly you've got Ruta, you've got Perrault as well,
09:46 who've come in, and they've been fantastic.
09:48 So how does he sort of get back into the side?
09:50 Yeah, they've got massive options now, that's it.
09:52 I mean, you're quite right.
09:53 I mean, obviously, you know, the season, Leeds went up,
09:55 and then the first season back under Bielsa, like, goals weren't really a problem and stuff.
09:59 Bamford, obviously, you know, was at the centre of that,
10:00 but obviously they created so many chances.
10:02 But after that, they started to dry up a little bit.
10:04 Obviously, he was unlucky with injury.
10:06 But all of a sudden now, you know, it's not quite goals galore at Leeds
10:08 because they still need to take the chances more.
10:10 There's no doubt about that.
10:11 But they've certainly got options there.
10:13 And can he get back in the starting XI?
10:15 He certainly can.
10:15 Yeah, I think in terms of like when he came on for his first game back,
10:19 second game back, sorry, in the midweek against QPR,
10:21 it made a big impact in that game, you know, straight away and stuff.
10:24 And, you know, straight away, it looked like what he could bring to the table.
10:27 But what I would say about Bamford is one thing that he's always, like,
10:30 you know, excelled at and continues to do so is his hold-up play, you know, and whatever.
10:35 But Routier is getting just as good as that, really.
10:36 So it's going to be difficult in terms of, like, you know,
10:38 bringing Bamford in for him because of that facet.
10:41 I mean, you can't really imagine a team without Routier at the moment.
10:43 What I would say is that Routier can quite clearly play out wide.
10:47 And then Pirro is quite clearly the man who's probably going to get the main goals this season.
10:50 But there is probably a way to get all three into the team, as I say,
10:53 if you get Routier out on the wing.
10:54 But I mean, you know, what happens if Patrick Bamford's role remains to be seen?
10:58 At the moment, obviously, he's going to be a player that comes off the bench.
11:01 But that's a great option for Leeds to have somebody like that
11:03 to bring on quite, you know, what he thinks about that.
11:06 Well, he won't probably, you know, be too massively thrilled with it.
11:10 He'll want to start, obviously, and he will be pushing for a start.
11:12 So it's a great option for Leeds to have.
11:14 The bottom line is, if you're going to get out of this division and go up,
11:16 you need, like, serious attacking options in depth.
11:18 Daniel Farker said that himself.
11:20 And Bamford is, you know, very much definitely part of that package.
11:22 So, yeah, fascinating one to see what happens.
11:24 At the moment, though, I don't think there's any doubt that, you know,
11:26 it's Pirro and Routier as the front two.
11:29 And don't ask Daniel Farker about playing Pirro deeper
11:32 because we saw in his 12-minute answer what he thought about that one.
11:35 And it was very much justified within scoring from outside of the box in the last game.
11:38 So, yeah, good options to have, though, and a big battle on for Bamford
11:41 that I'm sure will relish the challenge.
11:43 And we've spoken a few times about Leeds' full-back issues that they had.
11:47 It looks like Sam Byron could have been the solution to that.
11:50 You know, what's your thoughts on him?
11:52 And obviously, three full-back options are still to return into this side.
11:56 So how impressed with that have you been?
11:58 And is that the situation solved?
12:01 Amazing. Well, at the moment, I think it is.
12:02 Yeah, I mean, obviously, the only question, well,
12:04 well, I suppose the two question marks with Byron was in terms of, like,
12:06 how his performances would actually be.
12:08 But obviously, the main one was because of his injury record, you know,
12:10 like how would he stand up to the rigours of the Championship
12:13 and basically his fitness and injuries.
12:15 But I mean, three games in a week, he's not just come through three games in a week.
12:18 He's come through three games in a week.
12:20 He started every one.
12:20 He's played every single minute of every one.
12:22 And he's played really well in all three, especially the last two.
12:24 You know, obviously, nobody really excelled at Southampton in the defeat.
12:26 So and the way he's playing, you know, basically as things stand,
12:31 it is kind of like the situation solved.
12:32 I mean, he has to start.
12:33 There's no doubt about that.
12:34 I mean, obviously, there's big players to come back.
12:36 Junior Firpo, you know, you know,
12:38 Leeds spent decent money on him in the Premier League and did sign him to be,
12:41 you know, the first choice left back.
12:42 Quite what happens when he comes back from injury,
12:44 which I don't think will be that long, remains to be seen.
12:46 So obviously, you know, he'll be wanting to get in there.
12:49 Obviously, Jed Spence is still to come back.
12:51 You know, I mean, he's obviously a right back, but he's still another fullback option.
12:54 To some degree, they all sort of like, you know, dovetail to each other
12:57 because some players can play both those positions.
12:59 And you've got to remember,
13:00 Luke Ayling was on the bench as well for the last game.
13:02 So, you know, once everybody gets back,
13:04 they are going to have an awful lot of fullback options.
13:07 Jamie Shackleton as well, we should remember, of course, he's still out.
13:09 So he's to come back as well.
13:10 But yeah, on the way Byron's playing at the moment,
13:13 and, you know, there's no signs of anything in terms of that he can't get through these games.
13:16 As I say, he's got through three in a week.
13:19 I think he has to start at left back and, you know, just he offers a bit of everything, really.
13:23 You know, defensively, getting bombs forward,
13:25 sending lots of good crosses, fantastic clearance off the line
13:28 in the closing stages against Bristol City.
13:30 He's been a very, very important player for Leeds.
13:32 I mean, you could go through, you know, six, seven, eight,
13:34 well, the whole team of players who've impressed so far this season,
13:37 but he's definitely right up there.
13:38 And, you know, for someone who basically joined the club on, you know,
13:41 on a trial basis, really, I mean, it could be argued that, you know,
13:45 it could be one of the signings of the summer, really.
13:48 And finally, Norwich and Stoke away.
13:51 Two challenging away games when Leeds return after the international break,
13:54 but obviously they proved at Ipswich that they can do it on the road.
13:58 Is that a case now to rest, recuperate and then just go again?
14:03 Absolutely, definitely.
14:04 Yeah, it's two big games to come back to.
14:06 And they're all going to be big, obviously,
14:07 especially when you're trying to chase that gap to Ipswich and Leicester.
14:10 It's going to be interesting this weekend, well, the weekend,
14:12 everybody comes back because all three teams are away from home,
14:14 Ipswich are at Rotherham, Leicester are at Swansea and Leeds obviously go to Norwich.
14:18 And quite obviously, the backdrop, the main backdrop of that game will be Daniel Farker,
14:22 going back to his former side, where obviously he took them up twice.
14:25 And I remember like doing things about when Daniel first came to the club,
14:28 there was a story about there being a great big mural of him on a pub in Norwich,
14:32 which they had to quickly had to take down because they didn't feel it was sort of
14:35 appropriate to have him when he was managing a relegation, sorry, a promotion rival.
14:39 And that's exactly what it is going to be this weekend,
14:42 because, I mean, Norwich might not have hit the headlines in terms of their start to the season,
14:46 but they're only two points behind Leeds.
14:47 And I think whatever happens this season,
14:49 they're going to be one of the teams that's going to be there or thereabouts,
14:51 certainly in terms of the playoff mix.
14:53 And that'll be very hard going down there.
14:55 Jonathan Rose got a great start to the season.
14:57 I think it's seven goals.
14:58 Adam Ida as well.
14:59 He's another one who's got a few.
14:59 Josh Sargent's a player, obviously, who's linked to Leeds.
15:02 And then you've got the four-shore link.
15:03 Obviously, he's gone there.
15:04 He's not starting, but obviously he'll be very much in the mix.
15:06 So there's, you know, there's the sort of subplots to it everywhere you look in that Norwich game.
15:10 But that's a very, very hard game to go.
15:12 And I don't think you go there and think like, try and take a draw and not get beat.
15:15 But, you know, it's the sort of game where I think if you went down and things weren't going your way,
15:18 then you might look back at a good point there.
15:20 But equally, when there's that gap to Ipswich and Leicester,
15:23 they need to be going there and getting three points, basically.
15:25 And the good thing is they've gone into the international break with those back-to-back wins.
15:29 So confidence should be brimming.
15:30 And realistically, I mean, it's Norwich are a good side with good players.
15:33 But if Leeds go there and players that should do and take the chances,
15:35 there's no reason why they can't go there and get a victory.
15:37 But it will be a hard game.
15:38 Stoke is obviously hot on the heels of that.
15:41 Can you do it on a Wednesday night in Stoke?
15:42 I mean, whether it'll be, you know, wet and rainy remains to be seen.
15:45 They've obviously not had a very good start to the season, fourth bottom.
15:48 But, you know, like I mean, Alex Neil's a manager who sort of, you know,
15:51 knows the championship inside out.
15:52 He'll have them right fired up for that one and stuff.
15:54 And that will be a very, very difficult game as well.
15:55 So, yeah, two huge tests.
15:57 And then before you know it, Huddersfield at home and then you've got Leicester.
15:59 So, I mean, you know, and obviously we all know how big that Leicester game is going to be.
16:03 So they don't want to be going into that with like, you know,
16:05 a sort of grim haul of points from the three games that precede it.
16:09 Big, big games to come back to.
16:11 And, you know, really this is where we're going to see what they're made of in these two away games
16:14 and see if they can go there and get six points.