da betway： Marcelo Bielsa is something special.
da doce： Let’s not get that twisted, the Argentine is a truly great manager and his impact at Leeds United over the past 18 months can’t be understated. He’s taken them from mid-table mediocrity to the brink of the Premier League as they sit in the automatic promotion places.
However, his reputation precedes him in some ways, meaning pundits and journalists love to wax-lyrical about him despite shortcomings in some areas.
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Over the past month the Yorkshire Evening Post and The Athletic have both produced pieces centred around the supposedly brilliant job the Argentine has done with the youth at Elland Road, but you have to question whether his actual work is worthy of this praise.
Graham Smyth detailed in his piece: “Bielsa is renowned for giving youth its chance and developing talent – it was one of the key reasons Lille made him their head coach in 2017 and that trust he places in youngsters has yielded 10 senior debuts for academy and Under 23 players at Leeds.”
Bielsa has handed out numerous debuts to teenagers since joining the club, but how many of those have become bona fide first-teamers in that time?
This isn’t a trait of Bielsa that has completely transformed the way Leeds have looked at their academy. The Whites have never been hesitant to utilise the products of Thorp Arch as the likes of Lewis Cook and Sam Byram had no trouble cementing their spots first-teamers as teenagers, and any manager in the country would hand out chances to U23 players after winning a PDL National title last season.
The cold reality is that these players have been somewhat limited for chances under the Argentine.
Even the youth players who’ve made the most appearances under Bielsa, Jack Clarke and Jamie Shackleton, haven’t been afforded that many opportunities. Clarke played just 19 minutes this season before being recalled by Spurs and Shackleton has only played 874 minutes of league football under the Argentine since the beginning of 2018/19.
Yes, these players are impressive when they do play. Shackleton’s performance against Barnsley earlier this term was fine evidence of that, making four tackles and three key passes. However, it isn’t Bielsa’s willingness to hand them first-team chances that are getting those types of players to that point.
Individuals who deserve chances simply aren’t getting shots at proving themselves, Ryan Edmondson netted 20 goals for the U23s as a 17-year-old and he hasn’t appeared at all this season despite a lack of depth up front, and the manager has publicly stated that he feels guilty about the way Robbie Gotts has been treated.
There’s a lot to love about Bielsa, but fans shouldn’t be fooled by this perpetuated myth that the Argentine has been brilliant at handing out chances to youngsters.
In other news, Victor Orta should treat a recent transfer update as a wake-up call.