‘Said I wasn’t good enough’ – Leeds ace claims Bielsa battered him for 30 minutes after PL clash
Leeds United mainstay Kalvin Phillips has claimed that he was “absolutely” battered by Marcelo Bielsa for 30 minutes after the Premier League clash against Liverpool at the start of the season.
Phillips made his England bow before playing in the Premier League and that marked an incredible week for the midfielder.
Phillips played 76 minutes for England against Denmark on September 8 before playing at Anfield a few days later and helping give Liverpool a real scare.
Talking to the Leeds That podcast, Phillips said he thought he did okay in the games but said Bielsa saw things differently.
“I played the game for England, and thought I had done reasonably well, and same against Liverpool, but the meeting after that he took half an hour to just absolutely batter me.
“He just said I wasn’t good enough, the first game I was alright but the second game I didn’t look myself.
“He does it to keep you grounded, to not think ‘oh we beat top of the league last week and we are playing Leicester next week’.
“He does it to let you know you have bad games and you can always improve. That is something he does very well, doesn’t let you get too high and doesn’t let you get too low, and if you do get too low he will just keep consistent with you.”
The Bielsa effect
England drew 0-0 with Denmark when Phillips made his debut and it was a disappointing result and a poor game to watch.
Phillips was played alongside Declan Rice as Gareth Southgate experimented with a new formation that didn’t work out.
Since then, Phillips has won another three caps although the last 90 minutes he played saw England lose 1-0 to Denmark in another disappointing performance.
We absolutely love the story about Bielsa battering him, though.
Players take it because they know how much Bielsa has improved them. Phillips is probably the standout example.
It’s why there’s such a brilliant team spirit around the club at the moment.
Bielsa is a taskmaster, on and off the training ground, but he has a huge amount of loyalty for his players and they know how good he is as a coach.
Not many Leeds fans would have thought the current squad, which contains a lot of players from the squad that finished 13th in the 18/18 season, would be flying high in fifth in the Premier League.
That’s the Bielsa effect and the players know it.
In other Leeds United news, Bielsa gave debut to one Leeds player after admitting he didn’t know if he was ‘any good’