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Leeds United has doubled down on an official club tweet that sparked a showdown against former England women’s international Karen Carney, with president Andrea Radrizzani, rejecting suggestions that the club should be “ashamed” of its actions.
Carney, who won 144 games for his country, had suggested that Leeds’ promotion offer had benefited from the coronavirus breakout in March and that they “could explode at the end of the season” during Amazon Prime Sport’s coverage of the victory. 5-0 over West Brom.
However, Leeds was quick to respond on Twitter mocking his comments to his 664,000 followers, prompting a backlash from those who warned he would encourage online abuse of Carney. Those critics included former Leeds Rio defender Ferdinand, who said he agreed with a tweet that said the club was “trying to embarrass a hardworking expert who will now be subjected to vile abuse by LUFC fans.” Ferdinand asked Leeds to delete the tweet.
The Women in Football network also had a poor opinion of the club’s position. “Whether I agree with the comment or not, flagging and ridiculing a person on an official club account is not what we are here for.” tweeted. “Karen Carney is a knowledgeable expert. This tweet is provocative and inappropriate. It doesn’t look good now, or at any time. “
However, Radrizzani said he supported the club’s post, which had pointed out that they had won the championship by 10 points, and accused Carney of making comments “completely unnecessary and disrespectful.”
“I take responsibility for the club’s tweet,” Radrizzani wrote in response to a Twitter message saying Leeds should be ashamed. “I consider that comment [from Carney] completely unnecessary and disrespectful to our club and in particular to the fantastic hard work of our players and coaches, who were understanding on the field during the last two Championship seasons by all accounts.
I take responsibility for the Club’s tweet. I consider that comment to be completely unnecessary and disrespectful to our Club and, in particular, to the fantastic work of our players and coaches, who were understanding on the field during the last two seasons of the championship by all statistics.
– Andrea Radrizzani (@andrearadri) December 29, 2020
Radrizzani was supported by Brighton defender Ben White, who was on loan at Leeds last season when Bielsa’s team claimed 93 points from 46 games to finish 10 points clear of second-placed West Brom. White posted three faces with tears emojis and current Leeds player Mateusz Klich also used emojis to show disgust at Carney’s comments.
Leeds’ win over West Brom lifted them to 11th place in the table with 23 points from 16 games. Only six promoted teams in Premier League history have won more than Leeds’ seven at this stage of the campaign.
While initially praising Leeds’s performance against West Brom, Carney went on to point out that they could walk away due to fatigue. “[Leeds] leave everyone behind and give them credit, “he said. “My only concern would be: would they explode at the end of the season?” We saw that in the last few seasons and I think they were promoted by Covid in terms of it giving them a little breathing space. I don’t know if they would have gone up if they hadn’t had that break. “
Marcelo Bielsa has been criticized before for his tactics, which some have suggested could lead to burnout in the later stages of a season. While the Leeds manager was in Marseille, the team fell from first to fourth place in Ligue 1 after leading mid-season, while Leeds also escaped from Championship promotion spots during Bielsa’s first year in the club.
However, last year, Leeds had won five in a row before the Covid break and won the championship comfortably.
In 2018, the Football Association was forced to call in the police and social media companies to help end online abuse after Carney was subjected to horrific threats. Phil Neville, the England coach, pointed out the abuse Carney had received, sharing an Instagram post wishing him “cancer, leukemia and rape”, and wrote: “A message sent to one of my lion players last night, absolutely shameful”. He went on to ask Instagram, “Are you going to do something about it?”
Leeds responded similarly in October following the social media posts of former Aston Villa player Gabriel Agbonlahor before the two teams met. Leeds won 3-0 at Villa Park.
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