Marcelo Bielsa right to block £35m Leeds United deal as star slammed for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ — Leeds United News 13/2/25
Dan Owen
There was never any question about the talent of a player
Marcelo Bielsa turned his nose up at during the Argentine’s spell in charge of
Leeds United.
But, as Samu Saiz in particular would discover, Bielsa
demands more than fancy footwork in the final third from his attackers. The odd
strike of inspiration, the former Leeds United boss felt, was not sufficient to
make up for an absence of perspiration.
And Noa Lang would explain, in an interview back in 2023,
that it was the ‘doubts’ of Marcelo Bielsa which meant Leeds pulled the plug
£35 million deal for the then-Club Brugge ace.
“I was previously close to a switch to Leeds,” Lang
explained. “Leeds wanted to buy me for 40 million euros from Club Brugge. In
the end, the deal fell through and then I was really mentally exhausted.
“Marcelo Bielsa doubted how much work I could do without the
ball.”
In another interview, Ajax academy graduate Lang admitted
that Leeds had made three bids during the summer of 2021. The Yorkshire giants
even sent people to the Netherlands to negotiate with the winger directly.
But, such was the power he wielded at Elland Road, as soon
as Bielsa made up his mind, that was it for Noa Lang’s hopes of a shot at the
Premier League.
And as PSV threw away a lead to draw with lowly Willem II
over the weekend – the reigning Dutch champions leapfrogged at the top of the
table by Ajax – the duality of Lang was there for all to see.
If his strike to put PSV 1-0 up on the hour was inspired – a
wonderfully taken first-time volley – then his subsequent celebration, shushing
the home support who had been critical of his recent performances, was anything
but.
Questions about Lang’s attitude have arisen throughout the
25-year-old’s career. Erik ten Hag does not suffer fools lightly – Jadon Sancho
found that out the hard way – and it did not take long for the then-Ajax boss
to banish Lang from the first-team picture at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
The similarly strict Bielsa, meanwhile, had serious concerns
about Lang’s off-the-ball work. Concerns that only ring true when watching
Willem II’s equaliser at the home of PSV over the weekend.
To say Lang made a token effort to track the run of Willem
II wideman Mickael Tirpan would be a compliment.
As Tirpan burst forward, Lang barely even broke out of a
jog, leaving 18-year-old defender Wessel Kuhn in a one-v-one battle he would go
on to lose as Willem II snatched a late, and potentially decisive point, off
the former league leaders.
“He’s still a bit of an ‘odd duck’. [Coach] Peter Bosz
pretends to have Noa Lang under control, but that’s not true,” former Dutch
international Pierre van Hooijdonk told Studio Voetbal after another
performance which highlighted Lang’s strengths but also shone a harsh light on
his weaknesses.
Or, as is maybe more appropriate, the attitude problems that
had Marcelo Bielsa running for the hills. It’s certainly hard to imagine a
fanbase as demanding and as passionate as Leeds taking to a player with these
kinds of vices.
Noa Lang slammed for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards PSV
fans
Feyenoord icon Mario Been perhaps sums up the debate
surrounding Noa Lang better than anyone. On a weekend in which all the talk
should have been about his fierce, fizzing volley, all the column inches were
instead dedicated to an autopsy of his attitude.
“When you see this behaviour…The player is disappointed,
because you have to win against Willem II, but the fans are also disappointed.
And then you, as a player, start to turn against the fans. I think that is
really inappropriate behaviour,” Been said in response to Lang’s ill-advised
‘celebration’.
“There is absolutely no discussion about his talent. You can
question his performance, but you can see from everything that he can play
football well. He simply has everything a footballer needs.