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Leeds: Phil Hay admits Victor Orta already knew Alfred Schreuder
Phil Hay has claimed that Victor Orta knew Alfred Schreuder prior to him being approached for the Leeds United job.
The Lowdown: Orta failed to land a new manager
After being met with a brick wall in their attempts to appoint both Andoni Iraola and Arne Slot as Jesse Marsch’s successor it appeared as though Orta changed tactics and started looking at people who were already out of a job.
This seemingly saw him turn to former Ajax manager Schreuder who was in attendance for the club’s defeat at the hands of Manchester United, although nothing ever came of that meeting.
The fact that Schreuder was invited to Elland Road would suggest that Leeds certainly had an intention of handing him the keys and letting him crack on until at least the end of the season, which may have been down to the fact he was known by Orta already.
The Latest: Schreuder was certainly of interest to Leeds
Hay has admitted on The Phil Hay Show that Orta certainly knew Schreuder before he attended a Leeds game which shows he may well have been looking out for someone he knew.
He said: (25:10) “I think he does know Schreuder but it seemed to me that it became an option towards the end of the week when it was apparent that Iraola wasn’t going to be coming out of Rayo Vallecano.”
The Verdict: Leeds can’t afford relegation
The fact that Orta was looking to bring in someone that he already knew within football isn’t a good sign of how he must like to operate by connecting with people he is familiar with and not necessarily just the best man for the job.
It is a huge amount of pressure that Orta and Andrea Radrizzani have thrust upon the inexperienced shoulders of Michael Skubala as he is tasked with guiding them away from the bottom three despite having no first-team managerial experience prior to this stint in charge.
Leeds can’t afford to drop down a division because of their impending takeover by the 49ers enterprise and also the fact that they’ve spent very heavily in the last few windows which would certainly harm them financially if they were to be relegated.
