Trips to Leeds United have proven a flashpoint for several Premier League managers this season.
Leeds United have reportedly heaped pressure on another Premier League boss following a bruising trip to Elland Road.
Games at Leeds have been followed by flashpoints for a number of managers this season, with Ruben Amorim sacked by Manchester United following a 1-1 draw and Arne Slot under scrutiny in the wake of Mohamed Salah’s now infamous mixed zone interview. Oliver Glasner and Nuno Espirito Santo also came under pressure after defeats for Crystal Palace and West Ham respectively.
Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest travelled up to West Yorkshire on Friday four unbeaten in the Premier League but saw that encouraging run ended emphatically as Leeds won 3-1. Jayden Bogle, Noh Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were on target with the Whites utterly dominant after going ahead on 26 minutes.
The victory pulled Leeds three points clear of Forest, who themselves are now only three points above 18th-placed West Ham, who won 2-0 at Burnley on Saturday. And according to talkSPORT, pressure is now mounting on Dyche as the threat of relegation draws closer.
Forest only appointed Dyche in October and he is their third manager of the season, with Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou already axed beforehand. Owner Evangelos Marinakis is said to have expected a bigger and quicker upturn in results from the so-called relegation battle specialist, but that has not come.
While the Reds were unbeaten in four heading to Elland Road, they’d won just two of their last eight and that became two in nine on Friday. And with the form of key rivals Leeds and West Ham improving, Europa League Forest could drop into serious relegation trouble unless results improve.
‘Crunch clash’ for Sean Dyche after Leeds United defeat
Dyche’s side host Wolves at the City Ground on Wednesday in what is set to be a crunch clash for the Forest boss, who has only just overseen a busy January transfer window. An already massive game is even bigger, given a tricky spell of fixtures will follow.
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Worrying for Forest will be their defensive issues, given Dyche is renowned for keeping things tight at the back. While the Reds were without two first-choice defenders in Murillo and Neco Williams at Elland Road, Leeds were able to create chances and score far too easily for the manager’s liking.
"We knew they would start fast, we warned the players about that, how they've gone about their business here," Dyche said after the defeat. "We did suggest they would do that. The frustrating thing for me, we were having our best spell and it's such a poor goal... Straight ball over the top, we're trying to play offside, and distances are wrong, covering positions are wrong, and that's very frustrating for me as manager.
"[The response was alright] it was just the second goal. You can't concede another poor goal. The game was pretty, pretty even at 1-0 down. They didn't find that edge that they did so early in the game. Two nil down at half-time is not easy in the Premier League. And the third is the one that really kills you. We gave away another really, really poor goal defensively."
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