Llorente and Koch to return from injury: Early Leeds United team news v Tottenham
Diego Llorente and Robin Koch are available to return for Leeds United when they play Tottenham at Elland Road on Sunday, Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed.
Llorente, 28, and Koch, 25, both missed the 6-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night due to respective hamstring and head injuries.
Speaking to the media on Friday [25 February], Bielsa spoke more about the criticism aimed at Leeds for Koch staying on.
“Llorente and Koch are available,” said Bielsa, as shown in a video on the official Leeds United Twitter account on Friday morning.
Speaking about Koch’s head injury, Bielsa added: “I never said it was dramatic for a player to receive a knock on the head.
“I said the knock is grave and very dramatic.
“I said we should not dramatise things that should not be dramatised.”
Huge pressure
Bielsa hasn’t known pressure like this in his time as the Leeds United manager.
Yes, our capitulation at the back-end of his first season in charge in the Championship was terrible, as was the play-off defeat to Derby County.
However, that doesn’t compare to the crisis that Bielsa currently faces with all his hard work at Leeds under threat of coming undone.
Relegation is unthinkable.
We’ve spent far too long out of the Premier League to drop back out of it after just two seasons.
There are some fans calling for Bielsa to be sacked right away with the Whites now just three points clear of the bottom three while there are some who want Bielsa to stick it out and keep us up.
Either way, we don’t think Bielsa will stay past the end of this season but what does the board do? Do they sack a legendary manager because of the plight he’s in? Or do they stand by him and put faith in him to get the job done?
We don’t think they’ll sack Bielsa. Not yet, anyway.
In other Leeds United news, here’s when Patrick Bamford is set to return from his injury.