MOT View: Bielsa comments should make Leeds fans very excited for clash v Man Utd
It’s almost time! As soon as the champagne had gone flat following promotion, the thoughts of all Leeds United fans turned to Man United.
The trip to Old Trafford on Sunday is the biggest game of the season so far for Leeds and United’s 3-2 win against Sheffield United on Thursday will boost hopes that we can rattle in a few and come back with the points.
Leeds will need to be at the top of their game to do that but there are exciting signs that this is starting to happen.
Club-record signing Rodrigo is a case in point.
He’s shown flashes of brilliance already, especially in the 3-0 win against Aston Villa.
Marcelo Bielsa issued his verdict on the £27m-man after the Newcastle game – and what he said should excite fans ahead of the Man United game.
“As he [Rodrigo] gains more minutes, he improves every time and today he had a lot of incidents in the game.”
When asked what he thought was the best goal, Bielsa responded, “The ones I have most in my memory at the moment are the Rodrigo one and the last one from Harrison”.
Both goals were goal-of-the-season contenders but Rodrigo’s shaded it for us.
Rodrigo started it with a ball out wide to Jack Harrison, who controlled it brilliantly at full stretch and pinged a cross in.
Rodrigo met it with a diving header that left the goalkeeper absolutely no chance.
It was an incredible one-two.
Rodrigo got a 7.72 rating from WhoScored in the Newcastle game, his highest of the season.
He’s found his feet in that central role behind Patrick Bamford and he will be the man who pulls the strings at Old Trafford.
We think he’s a true Champions League-level player and he’s been waiting for the Man United game almost as much as the Leeds fans.
When he signed he said, “The Premier League is special because it’s very competitive, but of course we always want to play against Liverpool, Tottenham, Man City, but, for me, the special game is going to be against Man United.
“Play against Man United and, of course, play against my national team-mate David de Gea. It would be special for me to score some goals [past him].”
De Gea has been dropped so he will have to take scoring against Dean Henderson instead but he knows how big the game is for Leeds.
It could be a battle between Bruno Fernandes and Rodrigo for the points and if the Leeds man can improve again for Sunday, we think it’s going to be a great, great day.
In other Leeds United news, ‘Level above Harrison’ – Phil Hay claims ‘steal’ signing will be Leeds regular ‘for a long time’