‘What Allardyce is doing’: Journalist shares what Big Sam wants Leeds’ players to do outside of training

Add as preferred source on Google

Sam Allardyce really doesn’t want Leeds United’s squad to focus on football when they’re not at the training ground.

Speaking on the Inside Elland Road Podcast, Graham Smyth has been speaking about the Allardyce regime, and he says that the Leeds United manager is really supportive of his players separating their professional lives and their personal lives.

Indeed, Allardyce apparently doesn’t want his players to be obsessing about football when they’re not in training, with the Leeds boss apparently telling his players to get some headspace and rest when they’re not at Thorp Arch.

Allardyce setting relaxing tone

Smyth shared what he knows about Big Sam’s instructions outside of training.

“What Allardyce is doing is putting the reality down in front of the players, he has been keen to support them, he wants them to have headspace and rest away from Thorp Arch. He’s been keen that when players are at training they’re there and they’re there to learn, but he doesn’t want them thinking obsessively about relegation and football when they leave,” Smyth said.

Difficult

It’s hard to know if Allardyce is doing the right thing here.

On one hand, players often play their best football when the pressure is off and they’re happy off the pitch, but at the same time, they need to grasp the reality of their situation.

This isn’t the time to play without pressure, this is crunch time.

Leeds United’s Premier League status is on the line, any self-respecting professional footballer probably would allow this situation to takeover their lives.

We can see what Allardyce is trying to do here, but while this could be a smart approach, it could also backfire.

Allardyce knows better than anyone what to do in these scenarios though, so we have to trust that he’s got this one right.