Premier League Fans Preview: Leeds, Leicester and Liverpool

The 2020/21 Premier League season is less than a week away so Matchday FM is getting the views from fans across the most watched league in the world.

In today's article, we get the thoughts of fans from Leeds United, Leicester City & Liverpool ahead of the new campaign

Leeds: Kris Smith (@krissmith98/@LeedsAllOver)

After 16 long years, how good does it feel to be back in the Premier League?

Leeds are back in the Premier League after nearly two decades away, how does Whites fan Kris see it going?

I’ve only really been old enough to support Leeds United since we dropped out of the top flight in 2004, so my early experiences with the club were abject misery and controversy around every corner.

There have been seasons where we thought we had what it took to get at least in the promotion picture, but that idea has been completely blown out of the water by Marcelo Bielsa’s arrival. 

After a bumpy spell around the turn of the New Year, a draw at Brentford in February signalled a huge shift in momentum where we looked unstoppable, even after lockdown when football returned.

Promotion was expected last season but it’s hard to quite put into words how that moment felt when Huddersfield did us that favour against West Brom. It only really sunk in when the boys lifted the trophy in front of thousands of fans outside Elland Road, knowing that the trophy we lifted was the exact same as the last one we lifted back in 1992 under Howard Wilkinson.

There’s always that regret of wondering what the games would have been like if fans were allowed in for the last games, but the scenes across the whole city and beyond show you just how much this has meant to the club, from the players, to the management, and to every single fan who’s seen us lose to Histon and Hereford.

How do you think “Bielsa ball” will cope in the top flight? What do you think is the best way to approach this season?

There’s always going to be scepticism around Marcelo Bielsa given his infamous ‘burnouts’ at different clubs, but his time at Leeds has completely rubbished those claims.

Bielsa’s methods got us to the point where we comfortably had the best side in the Championship (a 10-point lead to prove it), with our rock-solid defence the core of the side, allowing the platform for an extremely creative attack to go win the games. Many will point fingers at how Leeds weren’t the highest scoring side around with Patrick Bamford often scapegoated for missing chances, but the creation of chances is mind-blowing and with new signings coming in, that shouldn’t be as much of an issue.

The most intriguing thing about how Bielsa will approach the Premier League is the lack of fear or even apprehension around what other teams do to counter our system, the philosophy throughout his reign has been: ‘if Plan A isn’t working, we will endeavour with this plan because eventually, it will produce results’. Lo and behold, this approach got us the league title.

Leeds got this far by adopting Bielsa’s very methodical approach and it would make sense to keep going this way, and I think some teams might not be able to live with the intensity.

You see teams like Liverpool and Man City who can carve teams open at will and there’s no reason why they can’t do that to us, but teams with less quality and tactical nous might be overwhelmed by it.

How disappointing was it that Ben White hasn’t returned to the club? How can this team adapt to play without him?

After clinching promotion, everyone affiliated with the club was dead-set on making sure ben White came back to the club on a permanent basis, regardless of what had been said from the Brighton end, with the #FreeBenWhite trend as an example of that.

It wasn’t for the lack of trying from the Whites to prize him from the Seagulls, but you’ve got to hand it to them with how stubborn they have been in their valuation of White and where they see him in the future.

It’s gutting that White won’t be a Leeds player for years to come, given how he was a massive part of why we’re in the Premier League now, but no one is bigger than the club, and as White proved with Pontus Jansson's departure, no one is irreplaceable.

It’s quite obvious now that the club had other irons in the fire while the White deal was struggling to get any traction, and the moment the third bid of £25million was rejected, the club moved on and found someone who looks a carbon copy of White.

Robin Koch arrived shortly after White signed his new deal at the AMEX, and for around half the price of our third (rejected) bid for White. For that cost, we’ve bagged a German international with bags of experience in the Bundesliga for Freiburg.

Time will tell whether he’s the same calibre of player as White but if Joachim Low wants you in his international squad, you can’t be too bad a player. 

With that being said, I think we’ll be fine without White.

What have you made of Leeds’ business in the transfer market so far? Who would you like to see them bring in?

As I mentioned, we’ve reacted well to not being able to capture Ben White by bringing in Robin Koch, especially after he was attracting interest from a handful of clubs in the Bundesliga.

Along with Koch, Leeds have made Helder Costa and Illan Meslier’s loan deals permanent, Jack Harrison is on for another year from City (sure to be permanent next summer) and the big one: Rodrigo Moreno signing from Valencia.

The club stressed that this transfer window would be about quality over quantity and they have stuck to their word.

We needed a striker with proven quality that can do more than just score, and we’ve done that by bringing in Spain’s starting striker, and we needed an aggressive defender with the confidence to move the ball forward, which we’ve found too.

A glut of youth signings have come through the doors too showing that this club isn’t about ‘living the dream’ anymore but building long-term prosperity, which I love to see.

There are two main signings we’re looking to wrap up currently and if we got these, there can’t be many complaints at all about this transfer window. Udinese’s star attacking midfielder Rodrigo De Paul could be the next transfer record for the club and I think that would be the biggest statement of intent yet. Then, the club have been pushing hard Croatian wonderkid defender Josko Gvardiol, with a deal edging closer to being struck, adding more depth to Bielsa’s defence behind Liam Cooper. 

Rodrigo De Paul is a signing you’d expect for a side in the Champions League, not a team who’s just returned to top-flight action after 16 years.

What are your hopes/expectations for the 2020/21 season?

The dream for most Leeds fans this season is to follow in a similar trajectory to the likes of Sheffield United and Wolves under Wilder and Nuno, pushing for Europe straight away under unique management.

While at the other end of the spectrum, you also have to be hoping to just finish 17th to stay in the Premier League for another season.

This club hasn’t had stability for some time now and Andrea Radrizzani has delivered that, so his hopes might just be to ensure this cub remains a Premier League outfit for as long as possible, before aiming towards the top end, but there’s a quiet confidence around that there could be more in this season than just finishing one place above the drop.

When looking at relegation candidates, goal-scoring ability is rarely the yardstick, but more how well teams can defend and earn points that way, which Leeds did immensely last season.

With that in mind, I’d be surprised to see Leeds scrapping in the relegation zone this season but pushing towards a lower-mid-table finish around 14th. There’s a lot more quality in the top half of this division in recent seasons with Leicester, Sheffield United, Burnley and Wolves (among others) all putting themselves in contention.

It’s hard to think Leeds could break into Europe as Wolves did but it’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility with El Loco in charge.

Leeds could finish 20th or 6th, but one thing that you are guaranteed to get from us this season is entertainment and a few scalps along the way.

Leicester: Jack Johnson - Leicester City Writer for Vavel (JackJ_2000)

How does Foxes' fan Jack assess Leicester's fifth place finish last season?

Firstly, how do you assess last season after looking set to finish in the top four only to drop out in the final few matches?

Last season was ultimately really disappointing. It seems silly as a Leicester fan to being saying that after a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League, but it was. To have been in such a good position heading into the business end of the season and then to fall out of the Champions League spots like we did was really poor.

After Christmas, the team seemed to have a huge drop off in quality and we just slowly fell away from that point on. We lost a lot of our firepower which was key to us getting into the top four earlier in the campaign. Vardy had his drought and we struggled to get goals from elsewhere on the pitch.

We then won 4-0 against Aston Villa and that seemed to be us returning to our former selves but unfortunately that ended up being the last game before COVID-19 struck. Maybe we would’ve secured top four if it wasn’t for the break, but when we returned we just weren’t the same and the slump continued. We lost key players to injuries and our squad depth caught up on us leading to us slipping out of the top four.

How excited are you for the Foxes European campaign this season? Is winning the Europa League a realistic target?

I’m extremely excited for another European campaign. The experiences in the Champions League in 2016/17 were brilliant and made us want more and only a few years later we’re back, albeit in the Europa League this time.

We really impressed and stepped up in Europe last time, making it to the quarter-finals, and I believe we could go even further this season. The squad we have now is far superior to that team quality-wise and a lot of our players now have some experience in Europe which can only benefit us. My only doubt is our poor squad depth. With more games creating a busier schedule it’ll take its toll on us, so plenty of recruitment is needed if we want to cope with the extra fixtures.

I think winning the Europa League is a realistic target but only if we recruit well. We know how well we did in the Champions League and if we can replicate that with the current team then there’s no reason as to why we can’t go and win it. However, if we don’t improve the squad depth then the chances of that happening will be lowered.

Despite Ben Chilwell’s departure, there was good news with James Maddison and Jamie Vardy signing new contracts. How important was that and how much do you think Vardy still has to give at the top level?

It was so important to tie Maddison and Vardy down with new contracts.

Maddison is one of the brightest young talents coming through in the Premier League at the moment and is key to the way we play. A lot of our creativity comes through him so to have him sign a new deal reassures us fans that he’s here to stay and hopefully he will continue to develop under Rodgers.

Vardy is a club legend and is one of and if not the best striker in the league as shown by him winning the Golden Boot last season. Getting him signed until the end of his career is probably our way of rewarding him for everything he has given us over the years and hopefully he can keep it up.

It’s so tough to call when Vardy will stop performing at the top level. He constantly defies logic and continues to improve despite his age. In my opinion he’ll be able to perform for another two or so years until we will reluctantly have to move on. Although if he can continue his amazing story for longer then there will be no complaints from Leicester fans.

What have you made of Leicester’s business in the transfer market so far this summer? Any names in particular you’d like to see come in?

I think our transfer business, or lack of, has been worrying for all Leicester fans so far. At the end of last season we knew we needed more quality out wide and a lot more depth in defence. Rodgers spoke well about signings and seemed to want the same but nothing seems to have been done about it and concerns are growing as we head into an extremely busy season.

Timothy Castagne from Atalanta looks to be the only done deal of the window so far and he will be a good signing for us. He can play in both full back positions so not only does he provide a replacement for Chilwell but he is also versatile which will be key for the busy schedule. Despite this we’re still in desperate need for some more creativity out wide but there have been no signs of any progress in negotiations for rumoured incomings.

I’d love to see any of the Brentford front three come in. I’m sure we’ve been linked to all of them at some point! Said Benrahma would be a perfect addition for us after his superb season as well as Ollie Watkins for some competition at striker. We’ve also been linked with Dwight McNeil from Burnley recently and I feel like he would be a great player for us and would provide exactly what we need.

What are your hopes/expectations for the 2020/21 season?

It’s hard to call how well we’ll do this season. I think a lot of it will come down to the signings we make from now until the end of the window. The teams we were battling last season have massively improved and have much better squads now, leaving us with an even harder task to finish in the top six.

If we sign the right players then I believe we will challenge the top six once again and do well in Europe. But if the squad remains as thin as it is now then a top half finish would be lucky with the extra fixtures expected to take its toll on the team.

It could be a similar story to when we were almost in a relegation battle the year after we won the league as we couldn’t cope and didn’t recruit well. Hopefully, Rodgers will be able prevent this from happening again.

Liverpool: Keifer MacDonald (@KeiferMacd)

Does Liverpool fan Keifer Macdonald think the Reds' success under Jurgen Klopp will continue this season?

After a 30 year wait, the top-flight title finally returned to Anfield. Describe your emotions and best memories from what was an historic campaign.

It was a season for the history books wasn’t it? I don’t think anyone was expecting the ruthlessness that we saw from the lads, prior to the season being halted in March, especially to have narrowly missed out on the league title by a single point the season before.

The mentality that Jurgen Klopp has installed in the dressing room is phenomenal, there’s a real sense of these lads knowing how good they are, and they proved throughout the season, winning in every type of way.

The standout for me Leicester away, that’s the day I knew this side was well on their way to being Champions. I think you’ll struggle to collectively see a better performance, especially given the circumstances surrounding the fixture. Trent Alexander-Arnold was absolutely outrageous that night. I think the whole performance really kicked Liverpool on, especially going into the January fixtures, with the likes  United, Tottenham and Wolves in the space of a matter of weeks.

The night the title was sealed was, I think, as emotional as it comes. I watched the Chelsea- Manchester City game at home with my brother and mum, more in hope, rather than any actual belief. It was a fitting way to celebrate the first league title of my lifetime. Hopefully the ribbons stay red for the next few years!

How do the Reds go about retaining the trophy? That’s the next step isn’t it?

The talk that always goes around is that it’s always harder to retain the title, I don’t know if that’s because some teams don’t have the same intensity the following season.

We’ve seen in previous years the likes of Chelsea (15-16) and City (19/20) having massive drop offs the following season and not being able to defend their crown. I think this Liverpool side is slightly different tho, I think we’ve seen they have the mentality to gear themselves up and go again, something we’ve seen after near misses in Kiev and during domestic league seasons.

It will be a test for sure, especially with all those in and around the reds strengthening. With Liverpool yet to make any signings of real intent, it will be a huge test for the squad to get themselves going again with no significant new faces coming through the door for the second consecutive summer.

Plenty of links with Thiago, would he be the perfect signing? Are there any other areas you’d like to see strengthened?

The Thiago saga is a complicated one, it seems as if all the talk coming out of Germany is that the player is looking to move onto a new challenge and Liverpool is his preferred destination.

Liverpool’s problem in this situation is that it seems very much like they can’t bring in Thiago until the Wijnaldum saga is resolved. I would like to see us bring in a Central defender to replace what we lost in Dejan Lovren, do I think we will? Absolutely not.

I think we’d be lucky to bring in Thiago, apart from that I think it will be another quiet window for the Champions.

On the flip side, I’d be gutted to see Wijnaldum leave. I think he’s been one of our best players in Klopp’s system over the last four years. He’s not a headline grabber, but the job he does is so key to the system. He’s ability to retain the ball, win it back, bring it forward and even just his all-round athleticism is incredible.

He’s scored such vital goals for Liverpool too over the years, I’m sure I don’t need to mention the two he scored on *That* night in May 2019.

Are you concerned at all by inconsistency of the side since the winter break in February? Or will the quality shine through once the competitive action starts again?

I was concerned at the time, I remember being down in London for the Chelsea FA Cup game and leaving the ground I was fearful for the upcoming Atletico Madrid game. Liverpool’s form wasn't great post lockdown,there were some silly defeats and some poor performances, but I think that was only natural.

The players wouldn’t have been blamed for taking their foot off the gas slightly after winning the league. As much as no one wanted to admit it, their human too, and even if it’s a slight drop off in terms of one or two percent, it can still be huge in the Premier League.

I think also people forget, after the winter break we did have a rough patch for a couple of games, but the performance against Atletico Madrid was one of the better performances, that tends to get forgotten due to the manner of the defeat. Liverpool were absolutely brilliant that night, Oblak was fantastic for them, keeping them in the tie. It was a tale of two goalkeepers.

But I also think some perspective is needed, just because we won’t have spent 100m or 200m this summer it doesn’t make you a bad side overnight. Yes, a few new faces would be ideal, but this side will be there or thereabouts come next May.

This summer we’ve seen the likes of Takumi Minamino putting themselves in strong positions ahead of the new campaign, as cliché as it sounds, he’s essentially like a new signing this summer, due to the minimal amount of him we saw in his first half season. He’s a really exciting player, who’s previously shown glimpses. I’m excited to see how he gets on this season.

What are your hopes/expectations for the 2020/21 season?

Hopefully continue to build on Klopp’s project and continue to pick up silverware. We’ve seen the mentality change over the last few years. For a few years Liverpool weren’t winning trophies and over the last few years most of them have won the biggest trophies on offer.

The squad will want to build on what they did last season, I’m sure they will all have their eyes on breaking that 100-point barrier this season and there’s no reason why they can’t.

I think as well not having that moment of lifting the league title at Anfield in front of 50 thousand plus fans will also be used as a sort of internal motivation, I’m sure they’ll all be feeling desperate to put themselves in the position to be able to parade the League title around a full Anfield next May!