‘Everyone got kicked’ – Former Leeds star makes claim about Bielsa regime
Former Leeds United striker Kemar Roofe has claimed that there were “no fouls” given during ‘murderball’ training sessions under Marcelo Bielsa.
The striker left Leeds for Anderlecht last summer after one year under Bielsa, and has since moved on to play under Steven Gerrard at Rangers.
The 27-year-old impressed under Bielsa in their one season together, scoring 14 goals from 27 starts and generating 0.52 expected goals per 90 (via FBRef).
Asked what playing under the Argentine tactician was like, Roofe said that “everyone got kicked” during training, and that the sessions entailed “non-stop running”.
Roofe told The Times: “We ended up giving it the nickname ‘murderball’ because it just killed everybody, physically. It was very tiring, non-stop running.
“There were no fouls [given]. Everyone got kicked. Everyone gave it out, taking a yellow card for the team when you’re having to chase someone down and you clip them from behind, tactical fouls, just to stop the whole attack.”
Harsh taskmaster
Bielsa is renowned for his incredibly tough and taxing demands in training and it is no surprise to see that Roofe found the sessions so difficult.
However, the emphasis on fouling and tactical fouls is not so evident in Leeds’ game. So far this season, the Whites rank 14th for yellow cars received, while they are yet to have a player see red (via WhoScored).
Similarly, they ranked 17th in the Championship last season for fouls committed, with 535 in total and 11.6 per game. So far this season, they have made 10.6 fouls per game (via WhoScored).
In terms of cards, Leeds picked up an average of 1.6 yellows per game last season and 73 in total, seeing them ranked 14th in the league. The Whites’ tally of two red cards was surpassed by 12 other sides (via WhoScored).
In other Leeds news, ‘I’ve changed a lot physically’: Leeds star claims Bielsa has transformed him on & off the pitch