Marcelo Bielsa Leeds
How much of that victory was built on the defensive performance? Winning the battles and the physical battle overall?
I agree that particularly in the first half we had a great defensive performance. And even though we conceded a few chances in the second half, which we didn’t in the first, I link that to the fact that they attacked with more insistence. The resolution of the central part of the back three was very important. And also the contribution of our goalkeeper.
If we’re talking about individuals, we’ve seen some great goals today. Have we seen some world-class finishing from Rodrigo in your opinion today?
Rodrigo is a player like the one you defined. He is at a very high level. One of the strikers for the Spanish national team and the Spanish national team is a powerhouse. He is a player, like I said before, that takes a while to get to his full form. When he finally finds his full form, he is a player that is very unbalancing.
What did the referee come to you and Sean Dyche about and also the two captains?
I would prefer the referee makes this public. I’m not sure it corresponds that I comment. I apologise.
How much have you been willing Mateusz Klich to score and how pleased were you to see it go in?
He played a very good game against Tottenham. And he kept the same level in the game today. He’s at a similar level to his best level within this team. It gives me great happiness that he is playing as he is capable of playing.
Can you tell us why Robin Koch and Pablo Hernandez were not involved today?
Pablo had a small knock that is not important. And we didn’t want to take the risk as we play on Tuesday that he couldn’t play then. And Koch has a small knock in his hip and he could have played but we preferred not to risk him. The same with Pablo.
You said earlier in the week that you don’t want to play players until you felt they are ready. If they’ve been out for longer than ten days you felt that they needed time to get back to a level of sharpness where they could do themselves justice. At what point between now the Spurs game did you decide Kalvin and Raphinha were ready to start today?
We constantly evaluate all the training sessions and it’s not difficult to perceive a player. Apart from that they are players who have played a lot during the campaign and have been regular. The games that Kalvin played prior to getting injured, from West Ham all the way up until to the games against Manchester United, he had a very good level. It was the best of him this season. And quickly after he returned he was in good form. And also for the future of Leeds, the squad, the level that Koch showed in the same position as Phillips prior to the game against Tottenham. The feeling was that Phillips didn’t have a replacement in the team and after the game against Tottenham, Koch showed himself to be a very valuable option and at some point in time, Ben White also replaced Phillips efficiently. Kalvin has shown how important he is for Leeds, but it’s also good to know that we have different options of quality.
In the first half especially, Illan Meslier was going long quite a lot with his distribution, trying to find Patrick in the air, but obviously Ben Mee and Tawkowski are very strong with their heads. Was that something you wanted Illan to do?
No. And ss a result, none of those attacks prospered.
Players such as Rodrigo will be anxious to get minutes at the moment for the European Championship. Can you allow that to come into your thinking in any way?
The players have legitimate aspirations to play more, but the important thing for any player is to be in conditions to play well. After, when you’re in conditions to play, then you can play well or not well. If you are not in good form, it’s very difficult to play well. I think these 50 minutes Rodrigo played against Tottenham and today that were a very good level are preferable than to play a lot of minutes when you’re not at your best. I think that in the game against Tottenham and in the game today, I think that we saw a version of Rodrigo close to what he’s capable of.
Jack Harrison had an exceptional game today. How important is it to sign him permanently this summer?
For Leeds, it’s very important to be able to count on a player like Harrison. He has had a big growth throughout the duration of the campaign.
What was your reaction to Alioski’s gesture to McNeil? Will you or have you asked him for an explanation when you see a fuller replay of it?
I didn’t see that there was an incident between the two, if there was a gesture I didn’t see it. Even if in front of me I saw a dispute, I did not think it was too different to what usually happens within a game.
