Leeds United boss Javi Gracia drops hint of past penchant as he grasps Elland Road hot potato

The Spaniard was appointed on Tuesday, agreeing what Leeds called a 'flexible' contract and taking on a task every bit as daunting as any in his long, job-filled managerial career.

Masterminding an escape from relegation for a team who have won just four of 23 games and sit second bottom having struggled against teams around them, will be no mean feat. They could go bottom tomorrow if Southampton celebrate an Elland Road win. It would likely rank among Gracia's greatest ever managerial achievements, were he to meet his remit.

Managerial targets spoken to in the immediate aftermath of Jesse Marsch's sacking were said to be keen, their only reticence linked more to current jobs going well or difficulty in extricating themselves. But dropping a job going well to take over one that could so easily go badly and, in turn, leave them jobless in the summer, had to have played a part. Even out-of-work status was no guarantee of Leeds' ability to land a candidate, for Marcelo Gallardo was in the 'maybe this summer' camp.

When the hot potato of this opportunity landed in Gracia's lap, it wasn't tossed around and ultimately lobbed back. It was one he was ready and willing to grasp.

"When I finished my job in Watford I didn’t know if I had another experience in the Premier League [coming]," he said.

"I had the chance to be in Spain in Valencia, I had a chance to go to Qatar, different experiences of life and working as well. But when this experience appeared I didn’t have any doubts. It was something I was waiting for, because all thsese years I had other chances to train but I was waiting for someting in the Premier and it was really exciting for me.”

Be careful what you wish for, perhaps, but that statement held more earnesty that the 'no brainer' cliches trotted out by so many at new clubs. Cliches were, mercifully, few and far between in a relatively brief first encounter with the media for Gracia. There were no bold statements either, just a quiet confidence that goes a little way to explaining his optimism that this job can go well. His confidence comes from the players and what he's seen of them on television, watching along this season with his three Premier League-mad kids.

"Before coming I didn’t know more things about Leeds, what I know is what I see on the TV or what I see in the games," he said.

"When I see them and the club called me, then I look at what I was seeing in the team, in the games, the way they were playing and [albeit] knowing the players have many things to improve, I like the way the players were playing and I can see the ambition, the passion, all the things you can see on the TV.”

This week, while waiting for his visa to be granted by the FA and Home Office, Gracia has had a proper up-close look at Leeds, in the flesh, and evidently seen and said enough to believe that they're all on the same page for the Southampton game. There are prepared, there is a plan and the players know what to do. Gracia, though, wasn't going to tell the media, and therefore Ruben Selles, what that plan was.

"Try to play well and after we can speak about this and what it is to play well," he said.

"But I think we have to play in the way that the players feel comfortable, in a way that the players feel secure and in a way that our supporters enjoy with the team, all these things. We have to find a balance and after we decide if we play with 4-4-2, with 4-3-3, with 5-3-2, with whatever you want.

"I can’t tell you something concrete. I love different teams playing different ways. In my opinion there is no bad game. The difference is the eyes are looking for the game. I am open to find the way [in which] my players characteristics play better or feel comfortable and we get the best of them. That’s my job and I try to find it that way.”

He was in no mood to give up his team news, either, preferring not to address the latest injuries. Pulling back the curtain on Rob Price's medical department will not be, you feel, a move this manager makes. Specific detail was scarce in most of his responses, which was perhaps fitting, given the club had not confirmed Gracia would be the man taking the press conference until 15 minutes prior when news of his successful visa application was released. What was said, or not said, came with a smile, though. It was more poker face than po-faced.

There was, however, a hint that the penchant for defensive solidity that was noted at previous clubs, will make itself known again in his work, or at least how he attempts to go about it, at Leeds, where they have been giving away goals in almost all manner of ways. He was successful in thwarting

“I think you have to first analyse the team, try to understand why different things are happening and after try to find the balance you are looking for," he said.

"In this case, in my opinion, the team is conceding goals - the third [most in the division] if I am right - and you have to improve that and to improve that is not that you are going to be more defensive, but you have to find a better balance because you this way you have more options to win, to get better results. There are different things to improve. I know we don’t have much time but we need time to work on it and to give the players solutions and the ways the players feel more comfortable on the pitch.”

For almost a year Leeds fans heard that things were moving in the right direction, that the work being done every day was speaking volumes, even if it often didn't make much of a noise on the pitch. There was too much talking, too often, and too little evidence to back it up.

Gracia might not get that long at Elland Road, a fact he was only too happy to recognise with his 'it could be one game or one life' summation of a modern day coach's lot, but at this stage of the season no one wants to hear much from anyone - they want the football to do the talking. It needs to say wins. It needs to say safety.