Bielsa reveals divisive Leeds selection thinking amid calls to unleash goal machine
Leeds Utd boss Marcelo Bielsa revealed what it will take for him to unleash a goal machine the club’s fans have been clamouring to see.
Leeds remain win-less in the current Premier League campaign. An encouraging performance last time out against West Ham promised much, though an unfortunate Junior Firpo own goal and late Michail Antonio sucker punch cemented them to their third league defeat in six.
While that might hit the confidence levels of some stars, Bielsa revealed on Friday his players are as buoyant as ever.
“The players haven’t lost confidence so there’s no need to give something that’s conserved, that’s already there,” he said (via the PA).
“What we do in every case is to perceive the errors and to try and correct them. I sleep normally and I’ve always had the hope that we’re able to win our games.”
Saturday’s clash will see Watford travel to Elland Road. The Hornets have made a fine start to the season inspired by the mesmeric talents of Ismaila Sarr.
Nonetheless, Bielsa remains steadfast in his approach and stressed the importance of breaking their duck sooner rather than later.
“It’s always important to win, especially when you’ve gone six games without winning and if you occupy one of the last three positions in the table, even more so,” Bielsa added.
“The other reference is the performances, that go in the opposite direction to these negative aspects, and it’s (about) the support (to the players) to come back from this situation.”
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Will Bielsa unleash goal-per-game Gelhardt?
Patrick Bamford has not recovered from the ankle injury which forced him to miss out against the Hammers and Rodrigo is expected to start again as the central striker.
That has prompted growing calls for rising youngster Joe Gelhardt to be thrust into the spotlight. The former Wigan starlet has bagged six goals in six for the Under-23s this season.
But Bielsa hinted Gelhardt still had some climbing to do in the pecking order after suggesting he is still not a better option than any of his first-team forwards at this stage of his career.
“When Gelhardt is better than Bamford, Rodrigo and Tyler (Roberts), that will be a triumph for the work what we’ve done,” Bielsa added.
“What I’m looking for, what I want, is for (Gelhardt) to verify that he is good, not to verify that he doesn’t have the level to play.”
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