Garry Monk - The Leeds United Effect

Garry Monk for me will always be a Swansea legend, regardless of how it ended and how easy that word is thrown round these days. My respect for him will never leave not because of what he's done for the club but the way he's done it. Especially after the way he was sacked which I believe was the right decision at the time.

A testament of a man is not how he reacts when he achieves greatness it's how he responds after each setback. Monk was classy in every interview thereafter, which sums up his entire playing career. Honest, modest but with a particular style.

In June, Monk was appointed as the new Leeds manager, a job he not only deserves but will thrive in. Massimo Cellino will hopefully give him the time he needs to mould the squad he has. Leeds are possibly a top half side but with the right additions particularly defensively it could be a special season.

Monk will be a success at Elland Road

Leeds in my opinion have always been too big a side not to be in the best league in the world. Their average attendances and the sheer size of the club merits matching success on the pitch. 

The facilities are there for him and the youth products continue to make their way into the first team. Even with Lewis Cook leaving, Alex Mowatt and Charlie Taylor show more potential than most players in Premier League academies. 

There needs to be a clear direction which should follow a wipe of the slate. Leeds will always be overshadowed by their rich past but also their miserable recent turn of events. Hopefully Monk can be the man to start a blank page and create a new piece of history.

QPR 3 Leeds United 0

Interestingly I kind of saw this result coming, QPR at home is no easy proposition that's for sure. The R's definitely deserved this result but watching it with a Leeds hat on there were so many positives believe it or not.

0 shots on target from the away side clearly show there's a bluntness still apparent from last season. Only scoring 50 goals altogether. Stuart Dallas is a clever player and was playing on the wrong side and so was Kemar Roofe although he should have been up front.  

With the introduction of Pablo Hernandez, this opens up Roofe to play down the middle where he thrived so much for Oxford United even if it was playing off another striker. Pablo is an astute signing and delivers more often than not. 

The Championship is the toughest league in the world but Chris Wood would have been more effective back on holiday than he was today. So little impact and often getting in the way of his attacking midfielders.

Matt Smith showed for Fulham that use a target man well and he can deliver but he was also poor despite his goal on friday night. You need more mobility if you're going to play one up top. Burnley had Andre Gray playing off Sam Vokes last season and Leeds might have to follow that blueprint.

Don't restrict Kemar Roofe's ability to float

Monk won't do that he rarely changed from his 4-2-3-1 at Swansea and that was often his downfall. His resources are slightly limited here. Matt Grimes is another who looked invisible today and was hooked off around the hour mark. Either play Roofe there and have him flutter around Wood or even let Hernandez play there, he has the ability and positional awareness.

Address The Problems At The Back!

Losing 3-0 it's pretty obvious there's an issue still at the back and I don't think Rob Green is the man to martial the back four either. Taylor and Berardi are brilliant going forward but a little naive going the other way. Both very young of course and Taylor is a special talent and Leeds will do well to keep hold of him.

Now the partnership of Sol Bamba and Kyle Bartley, I'm going to put it nicely and say one of them has to drop out of the team if not both. Bartley in particular showed why Swansea were so comfortable loaning him out. His Marking was all over the place and his lack of pace and positional awareness continues to hinder him. Bamba wasn't helpful either, it's a recipe for a plethora of goals conceded. 

There needs to be a commanding centre half coming through the doors this window with a powerful voice ironically Garry Monk would have been perfect, 5 years ago. All foundations are built from the back and I'm sure he knows this and hopefully we should see some development on that front. 

A reserve keeper from the Premier League would be ideal who wants a chance to prove himself, maybe Swansea can be raided again for recent Aussie signing Mark Birighitti. 

I actually thought Ronaldo Viera was pretty effective today despite conceding the penalty. His physical presence with be a perfect match once he gains plenty of experience. Perhaps someone a bit more diminitive alongside him to protect the back four as well. Leon Britton would be perfect for his old manager. 

The style of play today was a work in progress but there were enough combinations slowly being made to suggest that this could easily be a successful season but there needs to be a few more recruits and we will know a little more about Monk's squad come the end of August. 

There's plenty of potential, there always has been. I hope Monk will replicate the closeness and team ethic he had at Swansea particularly early doors. More mobility in attack and more defiance in defence is needed to return this club where they richly deserve to be.

Thanks for Reading, See you in the next one

Daniel