Gary Neville labels Leeds a ‘joy’ after Whites’ Old Trafford defeat

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Gary Neville has told The Gary Neville Podcast that he is not going to criticise Leeds United this season, insisting that they are a joy to watch, and making a comparison between Marcelo Bielsa’s side and the Barcelona team he faced in the late 1990s.

Leeds remain one of the biggest talking points in the Premier League following their heavy defeat at the weekend. They were beaten 6-2 at Manchester United in a game in which both sides could have easily scored double.

It was another incredible performance from Leeds. They were so poor defensively. But they never deviated from the game-plan that has brought them so much success, and put them in so much trouble on Sunday.

It has left some pundits claiming that Bielsa needs to be prepared to change his style. But Neville insisted that he will not get tired of watching the Whites under the the Argentine.

“You played against Barcelona in the late 90s, they weren’t that great at the time. But every time you played against them, they could score three or four. They just had such an incredible style, good players,” he told The Gary Neville Podcast.

“Leeds, it’s not really down to the individual brilliance of the players. They’ve got some really good players. But it’s just the fact that all 11 of them sprint forward, go into the box, they have four or five in the box on each cross. They overcommit.

‘An absolute joy’

“I’m not going to criticise them all season because I can’t criticise that. I don’t want them to change.

“I feel as though they deserve some leeway due to the joy that they bring when you’re watching them play. And there’s very few teams that can make you feel like that. They’re an absolute joy to watch.”

It will certainly take a while for the disappointment of Sunday’s result to subside. Many Leeds fans knew that a heavy defeat was likely at some stage. Of course, it came against the last opponent the supporters would have picked.

But what is so exciting about Bielsa’s Leeds is that they will come again. There are going to be further defeats which prompt a similarly-strong reaction from some pundits.

But there are also going to be times when everything clicks and Leeds justify why so many, including Neville, have been so impressed with their return to English football’s top table.