Phil Hay names Leeds player that ‘didn’t cope well’ v Cardiff, questions one Bielsa decision
Pascal Struijk struggled for Leeds United after he came off the bench in their 3-3 draw against Cardiff on Saturday, according to The Athletic journalist Phil Hay.
Struijk, 20, was substituted on in the 84th minute to replace Gaetano Berardi in the defence but just four minutes later, Robert Glatzel scored the third goal of Cardiff’s comeback at Elland Road.
The Dutch centre-back was largely responsible for that late Cardiff equaliser and understandably, fingers have been pointed at him for two points behind dropped.
Former Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Hay has also pointed out Struijk as an underperformer while he admits that Marcelo Bielsa’s decision to send Eddie Nketiah on for Patrick Bamford was one that baffled him.
“Struijk didn’t cope well but they were already struggling by that stage. Was Nketiah for Bamford needed? I’m not sure it was,” said Hay via a Q&A session on The Athletic’s website on Saturday after the match.
Bielsa’s substitutions usually change games in a positive way for Leeds but on Saturday they had an adverse effect.
Struijk and Nketiah had shockers after they were sent on in the second half and you could argue that Bielsa really did not need to make either of those changes with the Whites closing in on a win.
However Bielsa has always shown a willingness to play his squad players.
Nketiah has not started a Championship fixture this season but he has still came off the bench 13 times.
Struijk only made his debut for Leeds last week and impressed when he was substituted on against Hull.
If he can do well against such an attacking team like the Tigers, why not expect him to do well to see out a win against Cardiff, who have won one away game this season?
Hopefully this will go down as just one of those days and will be completely forgotten about by the time we approach May.
In other Leeds United news, fans have slaughtered one player for his performance against Cardiff.