Beckford shares what he and Becchio noticed in recent visit to watch Leeds training
Jermaine Beckford has revealed that he and Luciano Becchio were impressed by what they saw in a recent visit to the Leeds United training ground.
Marcelo Bielsa is famed for the way he drills his tactics into his players, who he usually leaves physically and mentally exhausted due to his full-throttle methods.
Leeds are currently top of the Championship despite having one of the smallest first-team squads in the league that has usually always been plagued by injuries in Bielsa’s time at Elland Road.
And Beckford has suggested that is not a surprise considering what he and Becchio saw in a recent visit to Thorp Arch.
“I recently went along to watch Leeds training with my old strike partner Luciano Becchio and every player in each position was doing exactly the same thing,” said Beckford on the BBC Sport website.
“So, up front, every striker was making the same movements, practising the same things in terms of hold-up play and bringing other players into the game or turning and shooting.
“Yes they have got people such as Pablo Hernandez or Helder Costa who are technically gifted and can do things off the cuff, but Bielsa’s way of playing is drilled into everyone.
“They have got so many back-up players who can operate in very similar ways to the first-team regulars so, even if he rests some people on Monday, you will see a blueprint of the Leeds way under Bielsa.”
Bielsa is not your average manager and Leeds United fans are fully aware of that after seeing the Argentine in the Elland Road dugout for a year and a half now.
It is interesting to see what Beckford noticed at training because it just goes to show how the Leeds manager likes to instil his logic and tactics into every member of his squad.
It also means that each player could fill in for each other, which is why we have seen the likes of Ezgjan Alioski and Stuart Dallas play in a number of positions this season.
Leeds face Arsenal in the FA Cup on Monday and it will be good to see how some of the fringe players, like Robbie Gott, can perform.
In other Leeds United news, this 23-year-old has agreed a loan exit from Elland Road.