Following Leeds United’s victory over Sheffield United on Friday, Pascal Struijk expressed his thoughts on the team’s future.
With a glowing assessment of Leeds United’s victory over Sheffield United on Friday night, Pascal Struijk declared a “higher” opinion.
Chris Wilder’s Blades arrived at Elland Road as the final undefeated team in the Championship, but goals from Mateo Joseph and Struijk handed the visitors a 2-0 loss, moving Leeds up to second place ahead of the remaining games this weekend.
After winning five of their previous six games, all of which resulted in clean sheets, Sheffield United came to LS11, however the Blades were soundly defeated and did not provide a shot on goal target.
Speaking to the media following the game, Struijk commended his team’s defensive effort as a whole and said that with such a convincing win over the Blad
Struijk praised the Sheffield team’s season-long accomplishments, but he was equally anxious to emphasize that, despite a disappointing outcome, his team’s performance in the 2-2 draw against Sunderland prior to the international break could not be disregarded.
Before an enormous mistake from Illan Meslier gave the Black Cats a point in stoppage time during the second half, the Whites seemed headed for a 2-1 victory against leaders Sunderland.
However, Leeds came back to win against the Blades in a big way, and Struijk believes there’s just one direction to go.
When asked if the win would boost confidence, Struijk responded, “There is already a lot of confidence in the group with us.” Unfortunate goals scored prior to the international break shouldn’t significantly alter our performance in that particular game.
“We had excellent football play. Our team has strong defensive play, so if we win these games—especially a local derby like this one—our confidence will only grow.
When asked if he was nervous about playing the unbeaten Blades, Struijk said, “I think it speaks for itself—six clean sheets, five wins, and one draw.” They have a great side.
“We were pretty good today, and the chances that they would normally produce, like sometimes on the counterattack, they will be really sharp. We did an excellent job as a team and as a counterpress.
“I have to give the squad a lot of credit for this because we truly work very hard defensively, and that means everybody—it starts from the front all the way to the back. We put up a lot of effort in our work. We anticipated that they would be strong as well, but it will be difficult for us to concede goals if we don’t miss opportunities.