Leeds United have appointed a new manager named Javi Gracia and fans are eager to know more about him, learn about his brief bio, and age, manager career, tactics, preferred formation, trophies and more
The Whites have finally found Javi Gracia as the replacement for their recently sacked manager Jesse Marsch, with the hopes of guiding Leeds away from relegation.
Who is Javi Gracia new Leeds United manager, his age, tactics, playing style, formation, stats, salary, contract details
Leeds United are now in talks with Javi Gracia as potential new manager, he’s serious candidate for the job to replace Jesse Marsch ⚪️🇪🇸 #LUFC
Club will make internal decision soon on the manager situation — there are two names in the shortlist. pic.twitter.com/hVXLAnN1IR
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 20, 2023
🚨 Leeds United announced the club have agreed terms with Javi Gracia to become the clubs new manager.
Flexi contract agreed that could become more permanent, performances depending.
His first three games:
Southampton (H)
Fulham (A)
Chelsea (A) pic.twitter.com/rRrOxEzJAR— Fraser Fletcher (@FrazFletcher) February 21, 2023
Leeds are currently in the relegation zone of the premier League, which is a tough spot to get out from with a lot of strong teams in the bottom half of the table.
Moreover, many clubs saw managerial changes following the January transfer window. All these factors make up for an unpredictable season up ahead.
A club statement read: “Leeds United are delighted to announce the club have agreed terms with Javi Gracia to become men’s first team head coach, subject to obtaining a work permit.
“The experienced 52-year-old has agreed a flexible contract at Elland Road.” His salary is not known tough.
Javi Gracia brief bio and age
Javi Gracia is a Spanish professional football manager who was born on May 1, 1970 in Pamplona, Spain and is currently 52-years-old. Gracia began his managing career back in November 12, 2006, when he was just 36 years-old.
The new manager is also former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder during his playing career. His playing career lasted 15 years and he played around 430 matches across both major levels of Spanish football.
Leeds United previous manager Jesse Marsch
Leeds United sacked their American manager Jesse Marsch just 11 months after they chose him to replace Marcelo Bielsa. The club hierarchy decided to sack him after they did not get the desired performance. Marsch’s last match in charge was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.
Following the sack, many fans expected a new manager since Marsch was sacked in early February. However, fans were a bit shocked that Gracia was appointed on the 21 February 2023, leaving some weeks in between without a manager.
New Leeds United manager Javi Gracia managerial career
Javi Gracia previously served as the manager for former Premier League side Watford. The Spanish manager took charge of the Hornets for 66 matches over a couple of seasons. In those 66 matches, Gracia won 25, lost 29, and drew 12 matches. He averaged 1.32 points per match, and his team scored 84 goals and conceded 103 during those games.
The Hornets eventually sacked Grcia in August 2019 following Premier League season start, while Watford relegated the same season. Outside England, Gracia has managed quite an impressive number of clubs from across the world. Gracia has managed 11 clubs including Pontevedra, Cadiz CF, Villarreal B, Olympiacos Volou, AO Kerkyra, UD Almeria, CA Osasuna, Malaga, Rubin Kazan, Valencia, and Al-Sadd SC.
Altogether, Gracia has managed 500 matches, and won 205, drawn 116 times and lost 179 matches. This means that he averaged 1.46 point per match, while his teams scored 667 goals scored and conceded 626 goals.
Javi Gracia Tactics
Javi Gracia has not managed a club since June 2022, and hasn’t managed one in England since 2019. As such, lots of people are curious to know his preferred tactics.
Interestingly, Former Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster gave a bit of insight into the Spaniard back in 2018.
Foster shared:
He is very big on pressing and pushing higher up the pitch, and that suits us because we’ve got the players to do it. But the main thing is work-rate: There’s a lot of high-intensity running, closing down and closing the space. We’re quite aggressive as well.”
If Foster is right, then Gracia sounds like a perfect fit more Leeds. Both the previous managers Marsch, and Bielsa preferred high pressing tactics. And while it can cause a leaky defence, the tactic has caused huge problems for multiple sides in the division.
Preferred Formation
Javi Gracia’s preferred formation is reportedly the 3-4-2-1 formation, which sees the use of wing-backs in both defence and attack. However, Gracia didn’t seem to favour this formation as much when he was at Watford. Back at Watford, Gracia usually played with four at the back, using the 4-4-2 double-six.
This flexibility in using both formations could help him find the ideal formation for Leeds. He will however, need to find a formation that suits the team fast and find some consistency.
Javi Gracia trophies
Throughout his career, Javi Gracia has won one trophy, which is the Qatari league in the 2021/22 season with Al-Sadd. Gracia also came close to winning a trophy with Watford when he got them to the FA Cup final. However, his side against Manchester City.