Leeds United are under pressure after winning just one of their last four Championship games. Their poor form is threatening to derail their bid to earn automatic promotion to the Premier League. They need three points from their trip to Luton Town on Saturday, and a former White has echoed a Howard Wilkinson mantra to inspire the players.
Daniel Farke and the Leeds United players are under the cosh ahead of their trip to Luton, and anything less than a win on Saturday could further pile the pressure on the Whites.
Leeds seemed destined for promotion a few weeks back when the players were celebrating a win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, but they have won just once since then.
The Whites need some inspiration to spark them back to life and a former Leeds star recalled what Wilkinson did in 1992 to inspire the team to the league title following a poor defeat during the run-in.
The boss would said, ‘trust your swing’ – Former Leeds United star
Leeds suffered a poor 4-0 defeat against Manchester City during the title run-in in 1992, and Tony Dorigo revealed what Wilkinson did to get the team back on track.
He stressed the legendary Leeds boss just asked the players to get back to what they have been doing all season and trust themselves to get it right.
The former White insisted that the current crop of Leeds players also need to have faith in what has worked all season for them, as they have been a treat to watch for most of the campaign.
“After that 4-0 defeat, the boss quickly got us back on the training ground and said, ‘all the things we have been doing before? Same again'”, Dorigo said on the Square Ball Podcast.
“Howard Wilkinson would say, ‘trust your swing’. You have honed that swing all season and you have worked at exactly what you need to do. Just get back to that and get back to what you do.
“We didn’t look too far ahead. Next game, what should we do? Just get back, play well and win that one. We won 3-0 [against Chelsea], and we just kept winning games, went unbeaten and got the job done.
“We are not asking these boys to do anything that they can’t do. I see some great players, I have seen some great performances and it’s about getting to that zone to perform at that level again.”
Leeds need to take a page out of the former Whites boss’ page
Farke has already announced a major change ahead of the Luton game, with Karl Darlow set to replace Illan Meslier in goal at Kenilworth Road.
The Leeds boss could make a couple more changes to the team, but he is unlikely to shift the way Leeds play, and we can expect to see similar patterns again on Saturday.
Can you name these 10 Leeds United players from the 2000s?
Leeds have been the best team in the Championship, and Farke, like Wilkinson, is unlikely to steer away from a style of play that has worked for most of the campaign.
While Leeds are not chasing a top-flight title 33 years later, promotion would be celebrated equally by the fans if Farke’s men get over the line in the coming weeks.
