View: Bielsa belief in Leeds academy a lesson to PL managers
Leeds United have been one of the most unfortunate Premier League sides when it has come to injuries so far this season.
Marcelo Bielsa has often had his team selected simply by who he has available and the problems have heightened in recent weeks with the busy Christmas period.
But where the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Jurgen Klopp and more have complained profusely about players injuries and COVID-19 disrupting their title challenge, Bielsa has chosen to thrive in difficult circumstances.
Tuchel in particular has been very vocal at his side’s injury problems despite being able to field a side whose collective value is well into the hundreds of millions.
Even with one of the world’s best academies at his disposal, with players more than capable of performing in the Premier League, the German has refused to give his youngsters a proper chance.
This is where Bielsa shines bright against other Premier League managers and indeed the majority of managers in world football right now.
Under-23 stars Joe Gelhardt and Cody Drameh both started the Whites’ most recent game against Arsenal and the bench that night was packed with inexperienced players.
And it is often this inexperience that puts managers off giving a chance to young players, but it’s an act of shooting themselves in the foot.
Inexperience is a common problem for academy players across the country but very few ever get the chance to gain valuable minutes, with Premier League managers preferring to utilise their multi-million-pound backups instead.
Bielsa though has always operated with a small senior squad and up until this season has been fairly lucky with his players avoiding injuries for the most part.
This season though has been anything but routine for Bielsa who has had to lean on the youngest members of the club to help him out in a time of need, something that will stand them in good stead for their football careers.
In other Leeds United news, this in-form attacker could be making his way to Elland Road in January.