Fri 07 May 2021, 09:06
Tottenham HotspurRyan Mason previews our Premier League encounter against Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday (12.30pm).
1 - This week
What a contrast - one week’s preparation after a cup final defeat, this week after a 4-0 win. How has the week been?
Ryan: “It’s been a good week, we’ve worked well. Obviously, it was nice to get the win against Sheffield United, that was good, and we enjoyed that, but we’ve worked hard this week in preparation for another tough Premier League match. When you are winning football matches, the feeling is different. Everyone has been excellent. We’ve worked hard, trained hard and we’re prepared for this match.”
2 - Team news
Ryan told us that Ben Davies remains the only player sidelined as we head to Leeds...
Ryan: “Ben is the only player who hasn’t trained this week. It’s just a case of day by day. There is improvement, it just how quickly it improves. He’s doing all he can to get back out there. Lucas took a knock in the Carabao Cup Final and it needed a few days to settle down, Tanguy had a muscle problem, and they only trained the day before the (Sheffield United) game. They’ve trained fully this week.”
3 - Bielsa
What are the challenges when preparing to face a team managed by Marcelo Bielsa?
Ryan: “Bielsa has quite a unique way of setting his teams up. He’s had a couple of seasons to get Leeds where he wants them physically and mentally. We have to focus on ourselves. Yes, they will pose certain problems, but we can’t worry too much about them. We have to focus on us, focus on our strengths and hopefully that will be enough.”
4 - Elland Road
Leeds are unbeaten against City, United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal at home this season - all draws...
Ryan: “Hopefully we’ll change that. We go there with the mentality and the mindset to win the game. We believe we can win the game, and we believe we can win every match we play. It’s not that easy, of course, but we’ll go there, compete and hopefully we’ll get a positive result. It’s a shame there are no fans in the stadium. It would have been electric.”
5 - Tunnel vision
Lots of talk about European/Champions League qualification but Ryan and the squad have a one-track mind - win the next game...
“It has to be like that. We’ve all been involved in football long enough where you can’t look ahead, you can’t think, ‘we’ll win the next four matches’ because football doesn’t work like that at any level. This is the most difficult, most competitive league in the world. The next match is always the most important. People may think that’s a bit of a cliché, but it’s absolutely true. Leeds will be intense, difficult, but we go there determined to win the game.”
