What Chris Wilder, Wayne Rooney and other managers have said about Leeds United this season

Leeds United will resume their Championship promotion charge with a trip to mid-table Swansea City next weekend. With a third of the season played, the Whites are in a strong position going into a pivotal period.

Daniel Farke's men are in third spot, having recorded an impressive 29 points from 15 matches. They have suffered just two defeats, losing to promotion rivals Burnley and Millwall. Victory over Queens Park Rangers before the final international break of 2024 moved them to within two points of the automatic promotion places.

LeedsLive has dug out quotes from what some of the Championship bosses have said about the Whites this term.

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Chris Wilder - Sheffield United

Speaking after their 2-0 defeat at Elland Road, the Blades boss said: "Beaten by a better side. No doubt about it. We didn't have any answers to them.

"Head and shoulders the best side we have played so far this season; no disrespect to the other teams that we have played. It's a disappointing evening for us but we didn't deserve anything from the game."

Wilder tried to combat United's strengths by switching from a back four to a three-man defence. "I am the manager and I have to go with what I feel is the best opportunity (to get the result)," he said. "It would have been easy for me to stick with that formation but we felt as a coaching group and myself personally that it was the best way to go about it.

"I have to take that criticism if it comes but I have to make those decisions. We hadn't played a team like Leeds United before; we hadn't played a team of their quality and structure.

"We got done from a corner for their first goal. It's a poor goal from our point of view. Listen, no complaints. Our performance wasn't good enough. We weren't good enough in terms of ball retention, decision-making and quality.

"Leeds were outstanding tonight and did a job on us."

Tom Cleverley - Watford

The former Manchester United and Everton midfielder claimed the Hornets dominated 55 minutes of their 2-1 defeat at Elland Road. Cleverley was left cursing 'freak' errors from his goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann that gifted the Whites a two-goal cushion early on.

"From minute 15 to 70 we totally dominated the game," said Cleverley. "Credit to Leeds, even when they're not at the best they know how to win. That's the sign of a top team. I thought we showed fantastic personality with the ball. All the things we work on and have done so well were there, we just gave ourselves too much to do after seven minutes."

Chris Hogg - Bristol City assistant coach

After playing out a hard-fought goalless draw at Ashton Gate, Hogg said: “Leeds are a top team. Every manager will say that about them. They showed second half how they take control at times."

The Robins limited the Whites to few clear-cut opportunities. "We changed shape in terms of our out of possession block today to shut out certain spaces," admitted Hogg.

"Resilience, hard to beat. In possession, showed signs first half, good territory, good momentum without testing the 'keeper. Second half we needed to do better with the ball. Really proud of the players to show that bit of grit and resilience during what's been a difficult week for them."

Wayne Rooney - Plymouth Argyle

Rooney's failed to register a single at goal in a one-sided Elland Road clash. "Leeds are a fantastic team, difficult team to play against. From our point of view we're trying to improve. We've got young lads coming on, it's a good atmosphere at a big club.

"I'm sure if you ask their manager, anything but promotion for Leeds will be failure. I'm sure that's the message he's getting. No doubt they'll be one of the teams fighting for the top two places."

Neil Harris - Millwall

Harris praised Farke and United after watching his side secure a narrow home win. He said: "Firstly I want to praise Daniel Farke, he's a top guy and a top coach, he's got a very good team there - best team we've seen this season. I can't see who comes above them in the league from what I've seen so far. I've not seen everybody, but best team we've played for sure. So, it was a special win for us.

"Classic Den performance, backs against the walls, not a lot of the ball, had to rely on being very good at what we do, breaking the play up, structured in and out of possession. Defensive discipline was mega, block shots, deal with crosses, deal with set-plays and then find a way to affect at the other end of the pitch."

Marti Cifuentes - QPR

The R's head coach admitted his team abandoned their attacking principles to try and frustrate United. "Leeds has been the better team in the game," Cifuentes said. "We tried to compete at the highest level we could according to the situation. We know they're a really good team, they can build very well with the two centre-halves and two midfielders dropping deep and full-backs really high and players in the pockets. We knew we needed nearly the perfect game out of possession.

"Sad for the guys, we're in a difficult trend. Fair play for them, a very good team. [It was] very difficult, it's not the kind of game I like and I coach in the past but that's perhaps our tool to compete in a game like today. We had a similar approach against Burnley. Today we had some sequences, they're very brave with how they defend, when we got into the situations where we could arrive to the last third we need this level of accuracy."