New Leeds United manager Sam Allardyce has been motivating his players with tales of his recent battles against Liverpool.
Allardyce has taken over at Elland Road, attempting to steer Leeds away from relegation. And according to The Daily Mail, he has quickly set about trying to inspire his new charges.
It’s claimed that upon meeting the players for the first time, Allardyce ‘regaled them’ with the story of West Brom’s 1-1 draw at Anfield in 2020. That was one of his first games in charge of WBA, and bears some resemblance to his first game for Leeds – away at Manchester City tomorrow. We wonder if he included how that season ultimately ended…
Allardyce prepares for Leeds battle
Plenty of Liverpool fans might not even remember this game. It did come during the ‘lost’ season without fans in 2020/21 after all. But here at RTK, we certainly can.
Sadio Mane gave the Reds an early lead against the relegation-threatened Baggies. But having failed to kill them off, Semi Ajayi scored an equaliser in the last ten minutes.
The game was notable as it sent Liverpool into their 6-game losing spiral at Anfield. Without the fans there to cheer them on, the Reds simply couldn’t get going.
However, it seems strange for Allardyce to be bragging about such a match. Having taken over with plenty of the season left – this game was in December – he couldn’t keep West Brom up.
If Liverpool supporters can’t remember the home game against Big Sam that season, then they’ll definitely remember the away. That was the day Alisson Becker became the first goalkeeper to score a winning goal in the Premier League. It also kept Liverpool’s ultimately successful dreams of claiming a top-four spot alive against an already-down WBA.
Perhaps Big Sam would have been better off regaling this tale to the Leeds players. That day, Alisson proved that anything is possible in football. In their current predicament, they may have needed to hear that.
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