Ignore what Leeds United’s Thomas Christiansen says in regards to transfers

With Leeds United currently in 8th place in the table, outside of the playoff places, Leeds fans are looking forward to the January transfer window for reinforcements to help the club push on towards the playoffs, especially considering last year’s slide down the table at the end of the season, as many felt that the club could have avoided their fate if more had been invested in the side last season.

The club is once again looking at a very clogged fixture list in December, and with a few positions unsettled, it remains to be seen what, if any, reinforcements are coming in January to help the club get back into the top six this season.

Of course, when the head coach says things like “I’m happy with my current squad,” many Leeds fans would be tempted to put their head in their hands out of frustration, assuming that, once again, the team would not be strengthened in the January transfer window.

But hold on people, the transfer policy at Leeds isn’t up to Christiansen. Here is a longer quote by TC about the team and the possibility of adding a player or two,

If the club decide to bring in a player or two then it’s an option but it’s nothing I want to think about or speak about. I have my job to do and if they come and tell me something then I’ll listen to it and give my opinion but up until now I’m very happy with what I’ve got

Or how about this quote,

Victor is working on that and if it’s necessary - again, it’s not a must to sign players but of course he’s in the market to see what could be interesting. I’m very pleased with the players I have, how they train, how they perform and how they are with the ideas we have. I cannot complain.

It’s important to remember that Christiansen is not in charge of the transfer policy at the club, the Director of Football Victor Orta is the one in charge. And while Orta may consult with and speak with Christiansen about the players at the club, he’s the one in charge of recruitment and transfers, not TC.

Christiansen’s job is to build his players up and get them motivated to perform at their highest level, not publicly say to the press that, “gee, I’d really like a left back that wasn’t crap”, or “have you seen the goalkeepers I have to choose from? Are you kidding me?” or “Lasogga is a lazy bum, I don’t want him back.” Those kind of conversations might be taking place between Orta and TC, but the public, and the players on the team, probably shouldn’t be privy to them.

We already know, from team selection, that TC isn’t happy with his options at left back, and he’s dropped Felix Wiedwald in favour of Andy Lonergan, only to go back to Wiedwald after Lonergan proved why he was brought in to the the backup keeper. And while Pontus Jansson and Liam Cooper have been playing well the past few games at central defender, TC’s had to rotate those two positions because of injury, suspension, and poor form in the past few months. He might have settled on a pairing for now, but it’s not as if those two have been 100%, so it’s not surprising to see the news that Leeds are rumoured to be in for a young central defender (most likely the young center back from Sporting Clube de Portugal, Tobias Figueiredo).

TC barely gives accurate updates on injury news during his press conferences. It’s a running joke here at Through It All Together that if TC says that a player is good to go that he’s almost certain to not take part in the match, so don’t take his statements that the squad is good enough to go up to mean that there isn’t going to be new players coming in. Christiansen’s job is coach the players he’s got to be their best, and you can’t tell players that you believe in them to get the job done while saying in public that the team needs a few more players to be any good.

So please, ignore what Christiansen says about transfers. Leeds fans have every right to be suspicious, but the rumours are starting up again from overseas, which means that Orta and his scouts are looking for ways to improve the squad, for both now and the future. Help is on the way.