Memories of the night Leeds United took Manchester United all the way at Old Trafford off the back of 55 hours in the job and 20 minutes of training will last a lifetime for Michael Skubala. The under-21s head coach was approached on Monday with an offer to step up and take caretaker charge of the first team alongside Chris Armas and Paco Gallardo.
Not only would the match be away from home, but it would be against one of the country’s form sides and just three days after the loss which saw Jesse Marsch get the sack. Skubala had a little over two days between the job offer and kick-off to oversee rehabilitation, but, crucially, some semblance of a match plan too.
It transpires the squad only had a window to work on their desired match shape for 20 minutes on the pitches at Thorp Arch. Skubala said: “Twenty minutes of shape with the whole session.
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“It's difficult, but yes, 20 minutes of shape. They were really concentrated. We did, obviously, the analysis and the video because it was a matchday plus two. Not a lot, but enough.”
If that was the kind of performance Leeds served up with so little preparation time, confidence should be high for what may be coming for the rematch on Sunday. There is an extra day between these Man United games compared to post-Nottingham Forest.
That has to be an advantage to United’s caretaker team and a squad with tails up after a superb point at Old Trafford. Should they remain in charge and no new head coach materialises, Skubala sees another big plus for the Whites.
“I need to go away and assess [what we may change],” he said. “I need to rely on the staff to support that assessment, but it's always tricky playing the same team back to back, but, again, it's tricky for them as well and they've got to come to Elland Road, so let's see.”
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