Angus Kinnear slams ‘deliberately erroneous’ report on Leeds United

Leeds United chief Angus Kinnear has blasted what he called “a deliberately erroneous press report” that stated Marcelo Bielsa and his players were flouting social distancing and running full training sessions at Thorp Arch.

Following the report, LeedsLive stated that while players had been using the running track, all social distancing rules had been followed.

LeedsLive claimed Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas, Ezgjan Alioski and Gaetano Berardi were all using the outdoor track at Thorp Arch, while Adam Forshaw, Leif Davis and Jean-Kevin Augustin were getting treatment for their injuries.

It also said that Leeds would stop players using the facilities from that point.

Writing in the Yorkshire Evening Post, Kinnear re-iterated what was said in LeedsLive.

“On the football side, a deliberately erroneous press report online last weekend suggested that Marcelo Bielsa was still running full training sessions at Thorp Arch.

“Nothing could be further from the truth.

“As you would expect, Marcelo and his team are meticulously following EFL and governmental protocol. The training ground is only being used for individual rehabilitation and for locally-based players to undergo solo outdoor exercise in a lower risk environment than residential streets.”

The running track at Thorp Arch was commissioned by Marcelo Bielsa and has been the location of some brutal sessions for the Leeds players.

We don’t see the problem with players running on it as long as they’re not running together.

As Kinnear said it would be safer for the players and for the public than running on potentially crowded residential streets.

However, it seems that stories can get skewed in the media and Leeds have obviously taken the decision to play things safe in the light of the government guidelines.

Perhaps they could get the track officially sanctioned for use by their players? We can’t see why this wouldn’t be allowed.

In other Leeds United news, Sky Sports to feature nine Leeds United games on Saturday in EFL special