Marcelo Bielsa: Rodrigo has not hit his best form at Leeds
Marcelo Bielsa believes there is more to come from Rodrigo after the Spaniard showed his class with two goals for Leeds United against Burnley.
The 30-year-old has started to hit a bit of form after his most recent injury lay off with three goals in his last two appearances, both of which came from the bench.
But after a stop-start campaign Bielsa thinks there is a lot more to come from the £26million signing [BBC].
As quoted by Colm Hayes, the Leeds boss said, “He [Rodrigo] is at a very high level. One of the strikers for the Spanish national team and the Spanish national team is a powerhouse.
“He’s a player, like I said before, that takes a while to get to his full form. When he finally finds his full form, he’s a player that’s very unbalancing.”
More to come
It is fair to say that Rodrigo has not exactly lived up to expectation but there are reasons for that.
Firstly, some players can struggle to adapt to the style and demands of Bielsa, and that can be even harder when adopting a new position, as Rodrigo has done this term.
Added to that, he has been plagued by injury and never really had a regular run in the side, so once he reaches his fitness peak we should begin to see what he can deliver.
He also suffered from Covid earlier in the campaign, but his last two performances have displayed the real Rodrigo.
He was so sharp up-front against Burnley, brilliantly trapping Jack Harrison’s pass before showing a touch of genius to chip the ball over Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
Both goals were taken like a natural finisher and we wonder whether Rodrigo should have been playing as a striker all this time.
Regardless, if Bielsa is confident he can be a top player for us then we cannot wait to see how he performs next season.
Fingers crossed he stays injury free.
In other Leeds United news, Leeds want to sign ‘Outstanding’ £6m-rated Premier League speed machine – report.