Phil Hay: No behind-the-scenes issue with Rodrigo at Leeds
The big talking point this season has been the slow start to life at Leeds United for Rodrigo over the past year.
After arriving as our record signing last summer, the Spaniard has failed to hit the ground running and has come in for big criticism.
The attacker has been shoehorned into that attacking midfield role, and it clearly isn’t helping given that he was substituted at half-time against Liverpool.
Phil Hay has been questioned on whether or not there are behind-the-scenes issues causing these problems at Thorp Arch, but it appears not.
“It’s frustrate Bielsa as well,” he said. “He’s very vocal in defending Rodrigo, defending the way he trains.
“Defending the way he plays and looks after himself, and if you ask around about him, people will say he is an extremely dedicated trainer at Thorp Arch.
“There really is no issue with his attitude, there’s no issue with his talent.”
What is going wrong?
It very much looks as though this experiment in attacking midfield is going wrong for all parties.
Rodrigo isn’t fit enough to play that role which was made clear against Liverpool, and his pressing leaves Leeds very vulnerable through the middle.
The Spaniard may be better off as an impact substitution in games against the huge clubs, but could still start against Newcastle.
Leeds will be expected to dominate possession on Friday evening, and that could see Rodrigo in a better position with more of the ball.
Having said that, he did fluff his lines with that massive chance early against Liverpool, he will need to take one of those if it comes his way tomorrow.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay shares further major update on Pascal Struijk saga, club are set to receive written reasons