Leeds United Chat • Re: The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Wednesday 29th June) - Raphinha set for Chelsea move
In comparing us to the Leicester model people tend to look at Leicester of the last 3 or 4 years (title winners and on the fringes of European qualifying) and judge us against that rather than actually looking at Leicester of the last 10 years and how they spent a few years narrowly avoiding relegation - including winning something like 7 out of 8 games at the end of the season before they won the title to complete a remarkable escape from relegation when they had looked doomed. If Leicester had got relegated that season then there would have been no title win and a mass selling of players. So every model relies on a bit of luck at times to succeed (Man U were about to sack Alex Ferguson but they scraped a 1-0 FA Cup 3rd round win and he survived, they went on to win the FA Cup, the European Cup Winners Cup the year after and then a couple of years later the league title and then went on to win it regularly for the nex 20 years).
So where we are at presently is similar to early days Leicester. We need to sell the stars to improve the first team as a whole and the squad. Fans tend to demand success straightaway but the club needs to build. We've gone from a midtable championship squad 4 seasons ago to largely still having several of the same players but gradually bringing new players in. You can't simply replace an 18 man squad with huge upgrades overnight.
So where we are at presently is similar to early days Leicester. We need to sell the stars to improve the first team as a whole and the squad. Fans tend to demand success straightaway but the club needs to build. We've gone from a midtable championship squad 4 seasons ago to largely still having several of the same players but gradually bringing new players in. You can't simply replace an 18 man squad with huge upgrades overnight.