Marcelo Bielsa insists small squad is not a reason for Leeds’ struggles - Independent 25/11/21
Leeds are bidding to avoid a sixth Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday at Brighton.
Mark Walker
Marcelo Bielsa remains adamant that injuries to key players
and the small size of his squad are not the reason behind his side’s poor
results.
Leeds are bidding to avoid a sixth Premier League defeat of
the season on Saturday at Brighton, which could see them slip back into the
bottom three.
Whites fans have urged the club to strengthen in January,
but Bielsa insists the blame lies with him and that the transfer window does
not hold the answers.
“To summarise, I think the club has put enough human
resources at my disposal for the results to be different,” he said. “I can’t
attribute the position in the table, nor the injuries, to an insufficient
amount of players.
“Obviously what’s left is the management of the players that
I have and I think that’s where the focus of attention is.”
Leeds pair Raphinha and Rodrigo are back in contention for
Saturday’s evening kick-off at Brighton.
Brazil winger Raphinha missed out last week through illness
and Spain forward Rodrigo was absent due to a foot injury as a depleted Leeds
side lost 2-1 at Tottenham.
Jamie Shackleton has also recovered from injury and is
available to Bielsa, who confirmed Patrick Bamford, Robin Koch and Luke Ayling
are still not ready for first-team action.
Bielsa said: “Shackleton is available, Raphinha is
available, Rodrigo is available, Ayling is healthy – it’s likely he will play
with the under-23s on Monday.
“The only two players in the final period of their recovery
are Koch and Bamford, who has an ankle injury. It has been a serious injury.”
Leeds were without six regular starters at Tottenham and
seven of their nine substitutes were under-23s players with next to no
first-team experience.
But Bielsa argued his preference for an 18-man squad,
supplemented by the club’s leading academy players, had allowed for the
development of the likes of Joe Gelhardt and Charlie Cresswell.
The Argentinian said working with a limited number of
first-team players also encouraged those such as Kalvin Phillips, Stuart
Dallas, Pascal Struijk and Ayling to thrive in different positions.
“Of course, when I make these observations I always measure
what the public and you guys thought of their performances,” he added.
He referred to the “many signings” during his spell in
charge at Elland Road, listing Rodrigo, Dan James, Raphinha, Diego Llorente,
Junior Firpo and Koch.
Bielsa added: “Not to have brought in more players has
allowed Gelhardt to express himself and the absences of Raphinha and (Jack)
Harrison have been covered by (Crysencio) Summerville and James, and always
with the acceptance of the public and the media.
“So I have to see if we really have to adhere to these
demands for (new) signings or to keep the same players and to have patience.”