Darren Bent shares ‘incredible’ words Leeds United said about Marcelo Bielsa after he was sacked
Darren Bent feels as though it may have been too soon for Leeds United to sack manager Marcelo Bielsa.
Bielsa, 66, was shown the Elland Road exit door on Sunday after his side lost 4-0 to Tottenham and moved within two points of the Premier League’s relegation zone.
However, Sky Sports pundit Bent feels as though there was still an opportunity for Bielsa to turn things around at Elland Road.
The ex-Spurs striker has also shared what some of the Leeds United players told him after the news broke of Bielsa’s dismissal.
“I think if they were rock-bottom, rooted to the bottom of the table and looked like they were gone, dead and buried, then I’d go, ‘okay fair enough’,” said Bent on talkSPORT on Tuesday, as shown on the radio station’s YouTube channel. “But the fact they’re not in the bottom-three yet… I know they’re sliding in freefall, there’s still an opportunity there.
“Even speaking to the players and listening to them speak, they’ve got a point.
“I think it was Jermaine [Beckford] yesterday when he talked about the players saying that [Bielsa] saw things in them they didn’t see themselves.
“I mean, what a line that is. That’s incredible.
“The likes of people like Luke Ayling, even Kalvin Phillips. If you look at him before Bielsa got there, yes, he was a good Championship player, but Bielsa turned him into one of England’s main men at the Euros.
“He was absolutely superb so I can understand the players waking up this morning and missing him. It’s going to take a bit of time but, as I said, I don’t criticise the Leeds board at all.”
More than a manager
Marsch has got an almost impossible job because even the slightest of mistakes are going to be heavily scrutinised.
While it’s not exactly the same, look at what happened to Rafa Benitez at Everton earlier this season.
It was a controversial hire so the Spaniard wasn’t offered much of a chance by a fanbase that really didn’t want him in charge.
And it’s not that we don’t want Marsch at Leeds, we just didn’t want to lose Bielsa and that’s why patience might not be a word that gets used too often in the coming weeks and months.
Leeds are in a relegation battle.
While we’re not in the bottom three, we’re within touching distance of it and there are teams below us in Everton and Burnley that have years upon years of Premier League experience.
They have top players who’ll be able to drag them out of this mess while our top players have spent most of the campaign injured and may find it even tougher than others to adapt to Marsch’s ways.
In other Leeds United news, Kalvin Phillips’ agent has spoken out about Bielsa’s dismissal.