Reliable journo shares behind-the-scenes Leeds plan to play Yorkshire rivals & Liverpool
Leeds United are one of few top Championship clubs to have not played a warm-up fixture against another team in the last few weeks.
Marcelo Bielsa has instead had his team preparing for the clash against Cardiff on Sunday by playing 11 versus 11 fixtures between themselves at Thorp Arch.
However that doesn’t mean that Leeds tried to plan friendly matches against other clubs.
According to The Athletic journalist Phil Hay, Leeds had discussions about having warm-up matches against Premier League clubs Everton and Liverpool while there were also plans to play Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield.
“Interestingly, they haven’t done any friendlies against opposition teams,” he said on the Phil Hay Show podcast.
“There was some discussion about playing Everton and also Liverpool. But neither of those worked out.
“I think the idea of a game against Huddersfield was floated as well.”
Let’s hope that not playing any of these games affects how well the Whites perform once the season gets back underway.
It would not have hurt them to play against another side in the build-up to this weekend’s action.
Not only would it have helped with fitness but it would have also given Bielsa a better idea of the form his players are in and, against the Premier League clubs, could have been big confidence boosters.
Take West Brom for example. They beat Manchester United and drew with Aston Villa in their preparations, so that could be a big boost for Slaven Bilic’s men.
Leeds won’t have that boost but they have also limited the potential spread of coronavirus and limited the number of injuries they have had.
It didn’t help for Pablo Hernandez but the situation might have been made worse by playing someone like Huddersfield.
In other Leeds United news, this loan star has confirmed he wants to extend his stay at Elland Road.