"Even Hull" - Ex-Man United star's frank admission on Red Devils, Leeds United praise and derby prediction
A former Manchester United star’s frank admission on the Red Devils and Sunday’s Roses derby against Leeds United at Elland Road.
Former Manchester United star Paul Parker has made a frank admission about the Red Devils and their prospects in Sunday’s Roses derby against Leeds United at Elland Road.
The Whites and Red Devils will lock horns for the first time this season in Sunday’s 2pm kick-off at LS11, ahead of which the two teams have experienced vastly different recent fortunes.
Leeds went into last weekend’s return to action at champions Arsenal still unbeaten in the Premier League and the Gunners needed a second-half fightback to survive a big scare en route to an eventual 2-1 success.
Ex-Manchester United full-back Parker felt that Leeds dominated Arsenal’s midfield, giving Daniel Farke’s Whites a “great grounding” ahead of Sunday’s visit of the Red Devils.
Man United, though, suffered a third defeat from their last five games through Tuesday night’s 2-0 loss at Champions League hosts Atletico Madrid and Parker is already fearing the worst for Sunday’s trip to Elland Road.
Speaking to Free Bets, Parker said: “Well, I’m looking at the Leeds game at the weekend. It’s going to be very, very difficult. The Leeds fans are going to be at them. The performance and the result against Atletico Madrid could carry through into the weekend. If it’s not a right performance and the right result, Leeds will bounce off the back of that.
“This is Leeds’ big game. This is the one game. They win this game, given their performance at the Emirates, those Leeds fans are going to be buzzing.
“They’ve got great grounding at the moment to go into this fixture because of what happened at the weekend. Their midfield dominated Arsenal’s midfield.
“They were better than Arsenal in midfield in the way they went about that job. Can they sustain that when this fixture helps the manager in being the same because of the fixture? And every player knows what it means to those fans, those Leeds fans. So, it’s not the game that Manchester United needed or wanted.
“But I have to say, at this moment, which team would Manchester United want to play in this league at the moment, given their current form?
“They might have to say, “Oh, we could have done with playing Hull again, and we can maybe make things better than what we did the last time. But even Hull, when you look at them at the weekend, the way they fought back, it’s just fitness of mind.
“It’s just players who want to go out and achieve, doesn’t matter what jersey they’re wearing, to run hard for the person next to them, to help them. And there aren't enough of them doing that at this moment.
“There are not enough people who want to run. You can’t play football standing still. It doesn’t matter how good a quality you possess, you have to work hard, and before you can earn the right then to play the way you want to play and should be playing, to give you the desired result you want to achieve. And they haven’t got that at this moment in time.”