A look at this morning's Leeds United headlines on Thursday, March 23.
Joe Gelhardt's lack of goals defended by Sunderland team-mate
Sunderland defender Luke O'Nien believes Joe Gelhardt deserves more credit for his recent performances in a red and white shirt, despite scoring just once in ten appearances since joining the Championship side. The youngster has led the line in the absence of talismanic striker Ross Stewart, whereas at Leeds, he played in a slightly deeper role.
Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, O'Nien said: "O’Nien said: “I think a lot more credit has got to go to Joffy, I think he’s brilliant especially the last three, four, five games. Ok strikers are judged on goals but he brings way more than that. I think he’s been brilliant. I watch him, even when I play I watch him, I think his body position, the way he’s willing to receive it.
“You have to remember he’s an isolated man. The way we are playing we’re not as close to the goal maybe when you are playing off a big guy. We are further away from goal so he has to graft harder, he’s got to get the ball and hold it up.
“Me personally, I’m a big fan of him. I think he’s brilliant and the goals will come for him.
“We have to work harder to dominate the ball further up the pitch so he’s closer to the goal because he’s doing so much work from deep. I know a few people give him stick saying he’s not scoring but they can come to me and argue that because I think he’s brilliant.”
Tactical tinkering, width and individuals - How Javi Gracia is making his mark at Leeds United
Javi Gracia is five games into his reign at Leeds United and his impact is already there to see. The Spanish head coach hasn’t had it all his own way in that time, but the seven points Leeds have earned have been enough to push them out of the relegation zone and up to 14th in the Premier League table.
There’s a renewed sense of belief around Elland Road and Gracia will be keen to see more progress in the coming weeks with some absolutely pivotal fixtures to come. Here, LeedsLive take a look at some of the changes we’ve noticed from Gracia's first month.
Defensive strides
The Whites may have only kept one clean sheet under Gracia’s guidance so far, but they’ve made telling progress at the back over the last few weeks. That’s something Gracia set out to achieve when he joined the club at the end of February as he spoke about balance and the importance of being difficult to break down defensively without taking away from what the club had to offer in attack.
Leeds United star Max Wober's remarkable transition from striker to defensive lynchpin
Max Wober has firmly established himself in the heart of defence at Leeds United, and has built a promising partnership with Robin Koch since arriving from Red Bull Salzburg in January.
One trait which attracted former Leeds boss Jesse Marsch to the Austria international was his versatility, with Wober previously playing left-back on multiple occasions for RB Salzburg.
He was first trialled in the left-back position during his brief stint at Sevilla in 2019, but it turns out that Wober played virtually every position on pitch across his youth spell at Rapid Wien.
Norman Hunter, Vinnie Jones, David Batty and other 'fearless' Leeds United hardmen
Leeds United supporters have witnessed several hard-as-nail stars grace the Elland Road turf over the years. While the likes of Don Revie, Howard Wilkinson, David O'Leary and Marcelo Bielsa have all produced sides that play brilliant, thrilling, flowing attacking football, Whites fans will know as good as any that the club has regularly featured individuals who were able to five as good as they got.
And more often than not, these are the players that the Elland Road faithful really take to.
Here, we have profiled 10 football hardmen that spring to mind when you think of the Whites...
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