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Bielsa gave debut to one Leeds player after admitting he didn't know if he was 'any good'
Marcelo Bielsa used an unusual tactic to help bed in Will Huffer, when he made his senior debut for Leeds United at the tail-end of 2018.
Both Huffer and Aapo Halme made their bows for the first-team in the match against Bristol City.
Neither player are with Leeds anymore but both helped the club to keep a clean sheet that day, with a 2-0 victory keeping up the push at the top of the Championship.
In the team meeting ahead of the game, Huffer recounts what Bielsa said: “I don’t know if Will and Aapo are any good. So you all need to get around them.”
Huffer claims he thought it was strange at the time but came to realise it was Bielsa’s way of telling the senior players to look after them.
Unfortunately, injuries eventually did for Huffer, a player who came through the youth ranks at Leeds.
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He made the bench nine times after his debut but didn’t play for the first-team again and was released this summer.
Halme was sold to Barnsley in the summer of 2019.
Bielsa the perfectionist
Huffer went on to say that Bielsa “knows exactly what he wants in any situation. And if everyone buys into it, you’re sorted.”
The Leeds players have certainly brought into Bielsa’s methods – which aren’t always conventional.
The players might have wondered what was going on when Bielsa had them picking up litter, in a bid to teach them humility and to appreciate what the fans go through as they work to fuel their passion.
The holistic approach to football has paid off in spades for Leeds, though, who have gone from a mid-table Championship side to fifth in the Premier League under Bielsa.
We feel sorry for Huffer, who is now trying to salvage his career with a trial at Bradford Park Avenue. He was a popular player and did well for the Under-23s.
Bielsa and Victor Orta signed Illan Meslier this summer on a permanent deal after the young goalkeeper had initially joined on loan.
He’s looking like an incredible bargain and has taken the gloves and become Leeds’ number one despite being just 20 years old.
In other Leeds United news, ‘Fraud’ – Some fans think Leeds dodged big bullet this summer as L’Equipe post 3/10 rating