Leeds Live 29/7/21 Rodrigo lifts the lid on Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United message to players at Blackburn Rovers

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Rodrigo played a little over an hour in Leeds United's 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night.

Busting the inevitable rust around the edges of Leeds United’s intense patterns of play was the message from Marcelo Bielsa to his players at Blackburn Rovers.

The Whites turned their pre-season programme up a few notches from the curtain-raiser at Guiseley on Tuesday night with a strong squad at Ewood Park.

Aside from Sam Greenwood, everyone to feature could be considered bona fide members of Bielsa’s core group for the coming season, and yet the match failed to catch light.

Pascal Struijk levelled affairs as late as the 81st minute in what was an archetypal pre-season friendly full of disjointed phases, loose passes and wayward shots.

Speaking after the match, Rodrigo summed up what the head coach’s message had been going into their first match for more than two months.

“He wants to see in the team the intensity which is characteristic of our group,” he said.

“We know from the physical point of view we are a very strong team and, of course, it’s not easy to achieve this level in the first game of pre-season.

“It’s quite a long process and that’s it. We have to work on the co-ordination of movement, the offensive movements and defensive movements because we are a team that needs it.

“I don’t know if he’s happy or not because he hasn’t said anything, but I know, for him, it’s another training [step] to keep going and arrive in the best way for the next season.”

Rodrigo is in the midst of his first full pre-season at Thorp Arch where he now has more than four weeks of heavy training in his legs.

The Spain international got through a shade beyond one hour at Ewood Park with tired legs and while it wasn’t the perfect performance he wanted, it’s all a part of the process.

“It’s another good training, another good step for arriving in the best conditions for the first game of the league,” he said.

“Of course, we have been working really, really hard those last few weeks, so legs are a little bit heavier than normal, but it was a good game and we are looking forward to the next season.”

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