Paul Merson sends brutally honest Premier League survival message to Leeds United as 'phenomenal' point made
Leeds United have a huge challenge ahead of them.
Paul Merson has urged Leeds United not to get carried away ahead of their Premier League return - with a 17th-place finish good enough to bridge the ‘phenomenal’ gap between England’s first and second tiers.
Leeds look set for what chairman Parag Marathe recently described as the most important summer in decades, having secured promotion and the Championship title at the second time of asking in recent weeks. Reports suggest Daniel Farke could be backed with more than £100million as he looks to strengthen a number of key areas within the squad.
49ers Enterprises harbour ambitions of guiding Leeds back towards the top-half of the Premier League and Europe but know the reality of next season will look very different, with Marathe adding in a recent interview with local press anything other than survival ‘would be gravy’. But to just stay afloat, Farke and his squad will have to buck a worrying recent trend in which all of the last six newly-promoted teams have been instantly relegated.
Leeds appear to be entering a perfect storm this summer with promotion achieved, money to be spent and plans for the expansion of Elland Road gathering serious pace. But key decision-makers aren’t drifting away from the main goal of survival and Merson insists anything above the bottom three will present a successful campaign.
Asked on Sky Sports what the biggest challenge for newly-promoted teams is, Merson said: “People not getting carried away. I think that's the problem, getting carried away. If you're one of the promoted teams who come up, you want to finish 17th in the league. If you can get 17th in the league, you have pulled up trees at the highest level, for me the manager should get manager of the season.
Premier League survival the only goal for Leeds United next season
“Then you stay in the league and you get some more revenue so you can buy another quality player or two, then you stay another season and buy another two. Before you know it, you're a Brentford or a Fulham or a Brighton and all of a sudden you're a solid middle of the table team who can beat the big boys on their day.
“But fans come up, the owners come up and they all look at [Nottingham] Forest this season and think ‘we can do what Forest did’, and everybody gets carried away. Come up, get 17th, and build. Everybody starts to sprint before they can walk in the Premier League. The gulf is phenomenal, it's phenomenal how big it is.”
The challenge of surviving in the Premier League is growing ever harder and Leeds will take note of the trio who pipped them to promotion a year ago enduring miserable campaigns. Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton could feasibly fail to win 60 points between them this season, having racked up close to 300 combined in the second-tier 12 months back.
Having come out to publicly back Farke amid speculation over his future, 49ers Enterprises will now be putting plans in place for a busy summer of transfer business. Reinforcements will be needed across the board with first-team additions expected in goal, central defence, midfield and upfront.
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