Leeds United have battled hard to lift themselves out of the relegation zone, but Gordon Strachan remains doubtful about the overall quality of Daniel Farke’s squad.
Farke’s men have shown resilience in the face of adversity and picked up four points against Chelsea and Liverpool at Elland Road in the last week.
They have benefited from a change in system, with the manager deciding to shift to a 5-3-2 formation after his 4-3-3 was struggling to get any results in the Premier League.
Leeds sit 16th in the Premier League table, and are now looking like decent bets to survive again. However, Strachan remains unsure about the quality of their squad.
Gordon Strachan feels Leeds United would benefit from having a player like Scott McTominay
The Leeds legend pointed out that the players have not given up on Farke. However, he doesn’t believe that they are of the required quality for the Premier League.
He feels Leeds have done decently with the squad they have this season, and stressed that they will have to continue to earn points through hard work, as they do lack a bit of quality.
The former midfielder feels Leeds will do well to sign a player like McTominay, who will add that little bit of quality that the team need in the Premier League.
“When you see a manager under pressure, or a team that is struggling, you usually see players who are disheartened, lacking confidence, or having trouble putting effort in. But with Leeds, I never saw that. The players were always putting in the effort”, Strachan told BestBettingSites.
“But at the same time, a lot of Leeds players, I thought, if you put them up for sale, I wouldn’t see many Premier League clubs rushing in to buy them. I don’t mean that disrespectfully; it’s just that they didn’t quite have the ability for the Premier League.
“But usually you see a struggling manager who loses the dressing room, they say, or the players down tools, but that wasn’t happening at Leeds.
“I think they will have to get by on common sense and effort, and hope that is enough, because there are not enough star players there. They’re a bit like Scotland. They need to make the most of what they have, and they have to earn their wins as a team; every move has to be earned. Unless they get a Scott McTominay, they will struggle in the best league in the world.
“I’m quite happy with how they are going now, because they spent a fair amount, but I don’t want to see them go and spend £300 million that could put themselves back into the crisis they found themselves in a few years ago. Will they beat the drop? I’m saying yes, absolutely.”
McTominay is way beyond Leeds’ reach
The Scotland midfielder has emerged as one of the hottest properties in Italian football since leaving Manchester United to join Napoli in the summer of 2024.
He was instrumental in Napoli winning Serie A last season and was voted the best player in Italy. He has continued to remain pivotal this season
| Club | Napoli |
|---|---|
| Matches Played | 55 |
| Goals | 18 |
| Assists | 8 |
McTominay is also set to star in the World Cup for Scotland next summer as he prepares to showcase his talent on the biggest stage.
He is unreachable for Leeds, and there are question marks whether he would agree to move to Elland Road given his deep connection with Manchester United.
Leeds should be unreachable for him given his connection with also ran united.