Leeds United: I’ll get a grip promises Milanic

Milanic’s first game as head coach ended in disappointment as goals in either half from Jota and Alan McCormack ended Leeds’ run of four games without defeat on Saturday. United paid the price for a flat performance in London and were kept in the game for long periods by another excellent performance from goalkeeper Marco Silvestri.

The Italian produced numerous saves as Brentford attempted to add to Jota’s finish on the stroke of half-time but McCormack’s deflected effort in the 77th minute put the match beyond Leeds.

But Milanic, who took up a two-year contract at Elland Road last week, said the experience of watching his squad play would lead to a noticeable improvement ahead of back-to-back home fixtures against Reading and Sheffield Wednesday.

“We have to get better,” Milanic said. “This game, it was not the limit of the squad. We have to do better. The players have to do better in the next game.

“But this is an experience for me, a better experience for me than a (training) session is normally.

“This is a real experience for me.

“I saw my players, I saw how they move and how they think, the faces that are on the bench. This is very important to me.” Milanic cut his teeth as a head coach in Slovenia and came to Elland Road after a year in charge of Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga.

He took the reins from United academy manager Neil Redfearn who stepped in as caretaker after David Hockaday was sacked by Leeds owner Massimo Cellino on August 28. The club are 13th in the Championship and Milanic admitted that he has much to learn about the intricacies of the league, saying: “Generally I know that it’s a very difficult league.

“It’s strong and powerful, the teams play directly and have a lot of tempo.

“But I can’t only know generally.

“I have to learn better every team, every player.

“I need time.”