Phil Hay: Leeds player went to extreme lengths to cut weight under Bielsa
Marcelo Bielsa has transformed every part of Leeds United, from the training ground to the players and the division they play in.
Much has been written about his brutal training regime that has made Leeds possibly the fittest side in the land.
There’s no hiding place. That regime includes every player at Leeds, from the big-name first-team stars to the Under-23s and the players that flit between the two sides.
Robbie Gotts is a great example.
In a fantastic piece in The Athletic, Hay has detailed the lengths that Gotts went to to cut weight, including cleaning his teeth in the evenings to stop himself from eating.
And he said the results have been “spectacular”.
Hay wrote, “He [Gotts] was a little over 10 stone when Marcelo Bielsa became head coach at Leeds and he was one of numerous players who were told to trim their weight after the Argentinian’s appointment.
“Gotts went from 65kg to 61.5kg and would sometimes brush his teeth in the evenings to stop himself eating. ‘Cutting out the snacking was the big thing for me,’ Gotts said. ‘Everyone’s guilty of snacking and I knew that if I snacked I’d be cutting corners. Even after my evening meal I’d be straight on the scales, just so I knew where I was at.’
“The regime was gruelling but as Gotts found out, if you bit your lip and went with it then the results were spectacular.”
Gotts wasn’t sure about the regime to start with but ended it saying, “All you can say is that it works. Between that and the work you do during the week, you go into games and you’re flying.”
Big summer for Gotts
Gotts is out on loan at Salford at the moment and finally enjoying his football after a first-half season loan to Lincoln didn’t work out.
He started as a right-back at Leeds but has now started playing in a more advanced, attacking midfield role.
He played in central midfield on his debut for Leeds, under the lights and the TV cameras at the Emirates in the FA Cup.
Gotts started well in that game before fading in the second half, and he’s now got to prove himself to Leeds with his contract expiring in 2022.
He’s a popular player with the Leeds fans after coming up through the academy.
However, he’ll be aware that breaking into the Leeds first-team squad is getting harder and harder each season.
Leeds are looking to break into the top-half of the Premier League next season and will be strengthening again. Midfield is an area we expect them to add to, and that means it’s going to be a tough ask for any of the Under-23s to break in, let alone one who’s been allowed to leave on loan.
Bielsa likes to keep his favourites close.
Another loan could be good in the summer and that could represent his last chance to do what the Leeds fanbase have been hoping for, and make the leap up into Bielsa’s reckoning.
In other Leeds United news, ‘Superb’ – Ben Parker drools over Leeds U23s ace who was a ‘nightmare’ for Newcastle today