Ryan previews Leeds: “Every time you go to Elland Road, you have to be ready”
Sat 27 May 2023, 08:15|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ryan Mason has laid out what a team needs to win at Elland Road as we face Leeds United on the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season on Sunday (4.30pm).
“You have to be strong, you have to be a team, you have to compete,” said our Acting Head Coach. “So, first of all, that’s what we want to do, then we want to implement our style and try to hurt them.”
Match number 38 is key for both teams - European qualification is still on the table for us while, for Leeds, it’s simple - they have to win to avoid relegation. We’re challenging for seventh place with Villa (who play Brighton at home) and Brentford (City at home), Leeds go into the final weekend second from bottom, level on points with Leicester (West Ham at home) but with a worse goal difference, two points adrift of Everton (Bournemouth at home).
You have to be strong, you have to be a team, you have to compete
“Ultimately, this is a one-off game,” added Ryan. “For them, there’s a lot riding on it. That can work both ways, and we have to use it to our advantage. It’s a big pressure situation for them. They have to win. We have to try to manage the game in the best way possible and try to make it suit us.
“I think we know the type of game we can expect... regardless of the situation, every time you go to Elland Road you have to be ready, so I want the players to be ready. Yes, it’s the last game of the season, but that has to be the last thing on their minds.”
Ryan's pre-Leeds presser
Ryan hopes to build on a promising first half performance last week against Brentford, where he opted for a new 4-2-3-1 system that worked well as we dominated, created chances and led 1-0 at half-time – only for the Bees the level with their first attempt on goal five minutes into the second half and go on to beat us 3-1.
He said: “I always thought, and I said at the start of this spell, that by the end of the season I’d like people to see how I think Tottenham should play and what I think we should look like.
“In the first half (v Brentford), we really saw that, especially with the ball. Of course, I understand if you want to play an intense game and put high pressure on a team you have to train like that, work like that and you need time. We haven’t had that, but at the same time, there were some positives and encouraging signs. To be honest, I enjoyed watching us in that first half. That’s something to build on.”
