Jermaine Jenas has accused Leeds United’s players of looking resigned to their fate at the full-time whistle of the defeat at West Ham United.
Jenas was speaking on Match of the Day 2, where he criticised the players’ body language despite still having the chance to avoid relegation.
In the end, Leeds were well beaten at the London Stadium despite opening the scoring through an excellent volley from Rodrigo Moreno.
Leeds failed to build on their positive start to the match and goals from Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini mean it is now 25 points dropped from winning positions this season.
Jenas criticises Leeds body language
Leeds now sit 18th in the table, two points adrift of Everton in safety and possess an inferior goal difference of three, with their hopes of survival now slim.
Should Leicester City avoid defeat at Newcastle United this evening they would also drop to 19th heading into the final day of the season.
In order to survive, Leeds must beat Tottenham Hotspur and hope Everton are defeated at home to Bournemouth. They can also stay up if the Toffees pick up a point, but would need to win by a three-goal margin.
It will be even more difficult to finish outside the bottom three if Leicester are able to earn a point at St. James’ this evening, as Leeds would also have to better their result on Sunday.
While the odds are certainly stacked against them, there is still a chance which has prompted Jenas to criticise the reaction of the players at full time.
He said: “With regards to body language after the game I saw players on their knees, dejected – almost accepted that they are going down. And then the messaging from the manager and from the players, all I can hope is that the internal message is very different.
“It’s quite damning and I don’t know if it’s reverse psychology but it’s very strange.”