Ex-Arsenal star turned Sky Sports pundit, Paul Merson, isn’t short of an opinion or two, and Leeds United are the latest club in his firing line.
The all whites begin their 2023/24 Championship season on Sunday with a home fixture against Cardiff City, and Elland Road is likely to be packed to the rafters to welcome new manager, Daniel Farke, and his squad.
Over the course of the season, the hope will be that the German can guide Leeds straight back up into the Premier League, something he’s managed to do in the past with Norwich City.
After Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce couldn’t steady the ship at the club last season, it was imperative that new owners, 49ers Enterprises, got their managerial appointment spot on, but Merson is none too impressed.
“His agent should have got knighted. Should have got knighted, how did he get that job? They lost 27 games on the trot at Norwich didn’t they?,” he said on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday programme (h/t MOT Leeds News).
“That’s then. You’ve gotta weigh it up, I know he got them out before but this league’s a lot harder, he was at Norwich where like they couldn’t help but get in the playoffs and they didn’t get in the playoffs, you know what I mean?
“I think he’s very fortunate, I like him don’t get me wrong but for me, they are one of the biggest clubs about Leeds. I’m having Daniel Farke, I like him, I really like him, he’s fortunate to get this job for what he done at the end.”
Given that Farke hasn’t even overseen his squad in a competitive (rather than pre-season) game, Merson’s comments are a little disingenuous.
Surely the time to judge the new manager is after a few months in the hot-seat, rather than basing an assumption on what has gone before.
Such comments are also likely to have the opposite effect too. You can bet that Farke will be doing his upmost to serve Merson up a big slice of humble pie in due course.
Take no notice. Merson is anti-Leeds and probably been on the bottle