Sky Sports pundit speculates Leeds United injury blow for Raphinha after Bielsa comments
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United...
Paul Robinson cannot understand why Marcelo Bielsa took Raphinha off as Leeds United lost to Everton on Saturday unless he was injured.
Raphinha, 25, was hooked at half-time at Goodison Park on 12 February and was replaced by Tyler Roberts.
Leeds went on to lose the game 3-0 as Bielsa once again confused fans with his team selection and in-game substitutions.
Even though Raphinha wasn’t at his best, Robinson still feels that it would have been a better bet to stick by the Brazil international.
He also feels Adam Forshaw should’ve started over Mateusz Klich.
“If you take your best player off at half-time, you find it difficult to understand because a bad 45 minutes doesn’t make a player a bad player,” Robinson told MOT Leeds News.
“You’re better off having a below-par Raphinha than someone coming off the bench.
“You can only presume that it was because of an injury.
“I found it hard to understand why Bielsa played Klich when Forshaw was on the bench.
“There are a few selection decisions that you find strange at the moment with Bielsa.
“And I think the performance against Everton was worrying, especially with the games Leeds have got coming up.”
After the game, as quoted by the Daily Mail, Bielsa said that Raphinha’s shock half-time exit at Goodison wasn’t due to injury and was instead a tactical decision.
Stats by WhoScored show that Roberts completed just 13 touches in the second half was he was thrown into the game – the same number as Stuart Dallas, who was forced off injured after nine minutes.
Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper were all sidelined before the game against Everton and if Robinson is right, Dallas and Raphinha could be joining them on the sidelines.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are in pursuit of a goalscoring English midfielder.