Sam Allardyce has said “the fear of relegation” should motivate his Leeds United players to “fight hard” in their bid to avoid dropping out of the Premier League.
In his first game in charge last week, Allardyce saw his new team lose 2-1 at title-chasing Manchester City and, after relegation rivals Everton and Nottingham Forest both picked up victories on Monday, Leeds find themselves second bottom of the table, two points from safety.
Allardyce – who became Leeds' third manager of the season after both Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia were sacked during a disastrous campaign – now has three games left to prevent the dropping down to the second tier.
“What I am hoping for is good mental resilience that allows them to perform at their highest quality,” said Allardyce, who takes on former club Newcastle at Elland Road on Saturday, before facing West Ham United away and then Tottenham Hotspur at home on the final day of the season.
“The fear needs to drive them on. The fear of relegation, the fear of losing their Premier League status, which should make them hopefully fight, and fight hard for their status and their position at Leeds United. But I am very pleased with the attitude of the players.
“We have got nine points to go for. We know if we get nine points, which is a massive ask, we will stay up. If we get six we might do, or maybe if we get five.
“I don't know, but at this moment in time, I want to be still in it when we play Tottenham [in the final game of the season on 28 May]. That's what I want. I would be very satisfied if, when we play Tottenham, we are still in it.
Man City 2 Leeds 1: Player ratings
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MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson - 6. Outstanding save from a point-blank header from McKennie in the 29th minute. Played the sweeper-keeper role to perfection when he stepped off his line to intercept a Firpo pass to Bamford after the break. AFP -
Rico Lewis - 6. Combined well with Mahrez in the first half on the right flank. Played an impeccable pass to set Haaland free in the second. AP -
Manuel Akanji - 6. Reacted quickly to dispel the danger after Ederson parried McKennie’s header in the 29th minute. Lost possession on the edge of his penalty area to give Rodrigo a chance to bring the visitors back into the game. PA -
Nathan Ake - 7. Saw his glancing header cleared on the stroke of half-time. Forced off early after he picked up what looked like a hamstring injury in the 54th minute. Reuters -
Aymeric Laporte - 7, A quiet game in the centre of defence for Laporte. Didn’t have much to do but looked assured when called into action. AP -
Ilkay Gundogan - 8. Found the bottom corner from the edge of the Leeds penalty area after a brilliant pass from Mahrez in the 19th minute. Grabbed his second goal of the day with almost a replica of the first after receiving a pass from Mahrez in the 27th minute. Missed the opportunity to score his first career hat-trick by hitting his penalty kick against the post in the second half. AP -
Phil Foden - 7. Got close to scoring Manchester City's second in the 22nd minute but his dinked effort went just wide. Then, a shot narrowly whistled past the post with the last kick of the first half. Brought down in the Leeds penalty area for Gundogan’s missed penalty. EPA -
Riyad Mahrez - 8. Had the beating of Firpo to assist Gundogan in the 19th minute. Repeated the trick against Firpo to grab his second assist of the day in the 27th minute. EPA -
Kevin De Bruyne - 7. Brilliant cutback to set up Alvarez in the 16th minute, who unfortunately couldn't convert. Executed a sensational back heel to create a chance for Haaland shortly afterwards. EPA -
Julian Alvarez - 7. Fluffed his lines from 10 yards after a brilliant pass by De Bruyne. Denied from close range by a sensational save from Robles in the 32nd minute. Nice clipped pass to find Haaland for a chance he should have converted. EPA -
Erling Haaland - 6. Thwarted by a big save from Joel Robles in the 17th minute. Awful miss in the 24th minute after being set up by a lovely flick from De Bruyne. Miscued an effort on his weaker foot in the 34th minute. Struck the post after going for placement over power after being set free by Lewis in the 62nd. Getty -
SUBS: Kyle Walker (Ake, 54') - 6. Great run on the overlap in the 69th minute but his delivery wasn’t good enough. Getty -
Bernardo Silva (Alvarez, 87') - N/R. Came on too late to make an impact. AP -
Rodri (Gundogan, 90+3') - N/R. No time to contribute. Getty -
LEEDS UNITED RATINGS: Joel Robles - 6. Did well to deny Haaland early on in the game on his first start in six years in the Premier League. Made a mess of an aerial ball in the 32nd minute but atoned for his error by denying Alvarez from close range. Good positioning to deny Haaland after the break. EPA -
Rasmus Kristensen - 6. Fumbled his clearance of a De Bruyne cross but recovered quickly to block Haaland’s resulting effort. Made a number of blocks in the second half. Reuters -
Junior Firpo - 3. Was easily bypassed by Mahrez for City's first goal. Beaten too easily by Mahrez again in the build-up to Manchester City’s second. Won an important aerial duel in the build-up to the Leeds goal. AFP -
Maximilian Wober - 6. Good interception to deny Haaland from going through. Made a goalline clearance to deny Foden. Stayed very close to Haaland and stopped him from having an effort after being played through on goal by De Bruyne in the 34th minute. PA -
Luke Ayling - 4. A tough day for Ayling on the left-hand side of Leeds’ defence. Foden had the beating of him for most of the afternoon. AFP -
Adam Forshaw - 5. Presented Mahrez with a good opportunity to increase the damage when he brought Haaland down on the edge of his penalty area in the 67th minute. Was overrun by the City midfield. AP -
Marc Roca - 5. Not one of his better afternoons. Never stopped running but was mostly anonymous until he went off early in the second half. AP -
Jack Harrison - 6. Struggled against his former employers at the Etihad. Industrious performance but not too many moments of real quality. AP -
Weston McKennie - 6. Did well to track back and quickly deny Mahrez space to find Haaland in the penalty area halfway into the first half. Put Ederson to work for the first time in the match with a header into the ground in the 29th minute. AP -
Wilfried Gnonto - 5 Earned the first yellow of the game with a rather meaningless tackle on Mahrez on the stroke of halftime. Failed to provide any sort of spark in attack until he was subbed off in the 58th minute. AFP -
Patrick Bamford - 5. Worked hard as the lone man up front but he was well marshaled by the duo of Akanji and Laporte. Reuters -
SUBS: Rodrigo (Gnonto, 58') - 7. Made an ill-timed challenge on De Bruyne to earn himself a yellow in the 71st minute. Gave Leeds a lifeline with a brilliantly placed finish in the 84th. EPA -
Sam Greenwood (Roca, 58') - 6. Worked hard but lacked the extra bit of quality needed to trouble City’s expensively assembled defence. PA -
Crysencio Summerville (Harrison, 65') - 4. Barely got on the ball and was mostly a passenger after coming on. AFP -
Pascal Struijk (Forshaw, 80') - N/R. Carelessly nudged Foden in the penalty area and gave away a penalty two minutes after coming on. Getty -
Brenden Aaronsen (Bamford, 80') - N/R. Came on and brought a much-needed industry into Leeds’ midfield. Getty
“I have said it to the players – we can't afford to lose on Saturday.”
Next up for Leeds will the high-flying Magpies, who are third in the table and looking to secure Champions League football next season for the first time since 2004.
“Newcastle have got some talented players on the front three, with more to come on,” said Allardyce, who has also managed Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Everton and West Bromwich Albion in the English top-flight.
“They have a big goalscorer in Callum Wilson, which we have to manage, but then at the other end you can get in behind them and down the side of Newcastle if you can break through their midfield.
“It depends on our quality when we get to the final third and what we decide to do with that final ball.
“Hopefully, we can have something to go forward with because I would like us to score the first goal if we can, that is very important. Getting the first goal would be a big lift.
“I'm not saying we would win but to go a goal down would be a very difficult job, mentally, for the players to come back from.”
Allardyce's spell on Tyneside was a short one after the club was sold to British businessman Mike Ashley soon after his appointment with the new owner replacing him with local hero Kevin Keegan eight months later.
“It's a long time ago, 2007. Was I disappointed? Yes. What did it do to my career? A massive knock-back, but I always recover and move on,” Allardyce said of his reign that lasted from May 2007 to January 2008.
“In the end, I couldn't avoid a change of ownership, which was unexpected. I have no criticism of Mike Ashley, it was his club and he wanted to do what he wanted to do with it at that time.
“For me, it was a blow to my career at that time because I wanted to take Newcastle as far as I possibly could, like it is doing now. That was the ambition for me and [former chairman] Freddy Shepherd at the time, but it wasn't meant to be.”
