When Premier League giants Arsenal visited Leeds United in November it was astonishing to see how turgid, blunt and vacant they were. It was a major surprise the Gunners, down to 10 men for more than 40 minutes, departed West Yorkshire with one point that night. It’s real and very exciting for England fans to know he is only 19.
Marcelo Bielsa said: “Sometimes we make changes with doubts, sometimes you are correct and sometimes you make mistakes]. For example, the substitution of Ayling generated more us to be a bit more fragile down the right-hand side. That’s to say that change wasn’t the correct one. We had some defensive difficulties and [Stuart] Dallas as a midfielder was making important contributions. For example, the substitution of Rodrigo gave us bigger weight in attack. The entry of the number seven of our rivals (Saka) made it more difficult for us to defend.”
The Arsenal side Leeds will visit on Sunday is different to the side which visited Elland Road. The Gunners took a nosedive around that Leeds draw with no league win in seven, but their two recent defeats were preceded by an unbeaten run of seven. Bielsa is unlikely to make the same error again, especially with the form Ayling has been in of late.
