Here are the Leeds United evening headlines on Wednesday, October 12.
Championship boss hails importance of former Whites midfielder
Blackpool manager Michael Appleton has described the importance of former Leeds United midfielder Liam Bridcutt after his debut for the Seasiders at the weekend.
The 33-year-old came on at halftime for Sonny Carey and made an impact as Blackpool beat Watford 3-1 at Bloomfield Road to move up to 19th in the table after a tough start to the season.
Bridcutt made 53 appearances for Leeds over two seasons before a knee injury ruled him out of the entire 2017/18 season, after which he moved to Nottingham Forest.
READ MORE: Arsenal must deal with something new as they prepare for Leeds United trip
Speaking to the Blackpool Gazette, Appleton was honest in his assessment of the 33-year-old's debut and what he could mean for his side going forward.
“I’ve known Liam for a number of years now. He was my captain at Lincoln. He does a job and he knows that role, especially out of possession, better than anyone at this level.
“You can play certain types of number sixes in your team. You’ve seen Charlie (Patino) in there for a couple of games and he’s a different type, he’ll get you playing.
“But Liam just gets you into good areas. He snaps into tackles and he demands from his teammates. You can see he doesn’t shut up on the pitch either, he’s constantly dragging people in.
“That won’t just help the young players in the team, it will help the likes of Marvin (Ekpiteta) and Jud (Thorniley) in the middle of the defence as well because they’ll know he can patrol that area.”
'They know I'm genuine' - Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch addresses Ted Lasso comparisons
Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has compared his handling of his players with fictional TV football coach Ted Lasso.
When the Whites hired Marsch back in February, comparisons were made between the two 'coaches'.
Given Lasso, played by Jason Sudekis, is hired as a coach of the fictional Premier League side AFC Richmond without having coached a single minute of professional football, some of those comparisons were incredibly disrespectful to Marsch.
Arsenal injury concern as key pair miss training ahead of Leeds United clash
Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus sat out of training on Wednesday morning as Sunday’s clash against Leeds United begins to loom on the horizon.
The Gunners are busy preparing for their latest Europa League group stage fixture against Bodo/Glimt, which will be played on Thursday evening, and according to Football.London, the club’s top scorer was not involved in the training session ahead of their trip to Norway. As such, with Arsenal set to make the journey to West Yorkshire to meet Jesse Marsch’s Whites in just four days, there are now some question marks about his availability.
Jesus did play 90 minutes on Sunday in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Liverpool, but he appeared to pick up a knock at one stage after being caught by Kostas Tsimikas. The Brazilian was tested for concussion before being allowed to re-enter the game, shortly after leaving the field.
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