‘Great signing’ – Exclusive: Player ‘wasn’t ready’ for Bielsa but will be big 20/21 Leeds hit
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United…
Paul Robinson has said that Ian Poveda is a “great signing” for Leeds and while he wasn’t ready for Bielsa’s demands last season, he will be a big hit in the Premier League.
Poveda signed from Man City last January but didn’t make his debut until after lockdown.
He had been dropped from the squad for seven games prior to the season getting suspended.
Talking exclusively to MOT Leeds News, Robinson, “Bielsa has a way of playing, he has a system and we’ve seen players come in who haven’t been ready and haven’t been able to live up to these demands.
“We saw Jean-Kevin Augustin come in, he wasn’t match fit, wasn’t sharp and he soon got put to one side. In trying to get fit, he got injured and we never saw him for more than five minutes in a Leeds shirt.
“Ian Poveda was another one – I actually think he’s going to be a great player, a great signing for Leeds, but when he came in he wasn’t ready for the demands that Bielsa put on him.
“So we saw him on the bench a couple of times and then he was dropped to work on his fitness.
“Leeds will look at that when they’re recruiting this summer. Leeds were the fittest and strongest team in the Championship last season. They play with very strong intensity and their recruitment will be built around ensuring the players can come in and do this, or be able to get to that level.
“The Augustin signing went wrong because it was at the end of the window. They exhausted all the avenues with Che Adams and Augustin was a bit of a panic buy.”
We liked what we saw of Poveda last season, both in the Under-23s and in the first-team.
We also liked his attitude after being dropped. He put his head down, worked hard and got himself back in the frame for the first-team.
We’re expecting to see more of him after a full pre-season with Bielsa.
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