Leeds United have placed the outcome of their entire 2022/23 season on Sam Allardyce’s shoulders, and it’s therefore no surprise to understand that the new man in charge might well be changing things at Elland Road.
All that matters over the next four games is that ‘Big Sam’ gets the results that keep Leeds in the Premier League for another season.
That could be easier said than done given that Leeds have to play Man City, Newcastle, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur in their final matches of the campaign.
Conceivably, he could lose all four and still keep the club up if the clubs below Leeds fare similarly, but that’s unlikely to be in Allardyce’s thinking.
If they can rely on themselves without worrying what’s going on around them, then we could see one of the English top-flight’s great escapes again.
Leeds are only out of the bottom three on goal difference, which is incredible when you consider that they’ve lost 4-1 (to Bournemouth), 6-1 (to Liverpool), 5-1 (to Crystal Palace) and 4-1 (to Arsenal) within the last seven games alone.
The free fall needed to be halted, and everyone connected with the club will surely be hoping that Allardyce is the man to stop the rot.
When you’re conceding that amount of goals too, question marks have to be placed against the goalkeeper and defence, and as The Athletic’s Leeds correspondent, Phil Hay, noted on his Twitter account, Allardyce has hinted that he could well drop Illan Meslier for the run in.
Allardyce going to speak to Meslier to decide whether he'll stay as number one. Says it's obvious that Meslier has made mistakes. "Whether it's right for to keep him in and hope he gets back to what he can be, we'll wait and see. Makes that decision on Friday, probably."
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) May 3, 2023