Marcelo Bielsa has paid tribute to outgoing West Bromwich Albion boss Sam Allardyce ahead of their final day showdown at Elland Road. Allardyce announced he would be leaving The Hawthorns earlier this week following Albion’s relegation to the Championship. The ex-England manager replaced Slaven Bilic in December and has led the team to four wins from 25 matches at the helm. Speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash, Leeds United’s
Marcelo Bielsa said: “The arrival of Allardyce helped them to improve the results. You can see clearly in the performances of the team and in the way they have competed. (There is) nothing better than to watch the production of the performances of the team to show the qualities Mr Allardyce has.”
Leeds will be without Diego Llorente due to a muscular injury sustained in their victory over Southampton last time out. Bielsa has already waved off key duo Robin Koch and Mateusz Klich ahead of their anticipated involvement at this summer’s Euros with Germany and Poland respectively.
Marcelo Bielsa added: “Every decision I have taken, I take it for the player and Leeds United, not in other aspects. I hope they go well with the national teams. I hope as many players as possible participate with their nations. Klich, Llorente and Koch, their absences are not linked to the Euros because I have no information about that. Koch and Klich decisions, I had no way of knowing what was going to happen with their nations. Same with Llorente. In no way did I want to risk Llorente having another muscular problem as he did earlier in the season, nor did I want to risk a problem in his hip to get worse for Koch. I considered the minutes Klich had played for three seasons. The effect the excess of competition produced in him made me think once he had recovered his level, he deserved a rest like the one I gave.”
