Pontus Jansson has lifted the lid on what life is like for the players at Leeds United as he revealed how Marcelo Bielsa “killed us almost” after the 2-2 draw at Swansea City.
Leeds have set the early-season Championship pace and go into Friday night’s Elland Road clash against Middlesbrough as the leaders after four wins and a draw from Bielsa’s first five games in charge in the competition.
Sweden international Jansson explained the mental challenges of working for the Argentine manager who has transformed the fortunes of the team.
“Yeah, we have started good, of course and it looks good,” Jansson said, as quoted by Leeds Live. “The good thing now is that Marcelo and his staff don’t want us to relax. I mean they are on us every day. Even if we win they can be on us, have a meeting, one hour about the game if we don’t play good. So they’re on us every game.
“We had a long meeting after the Swansea game which, 2-2 at Swansea was not a bad result, won a point but then we had a one-and-a-half hour meeting with Marcelo and he killed us almost. It was a good wake-up call and then we get 3-0 against Norwich. So that says all that he keeps us on our toes all of the time.”
OPINION
Jansson is a brilliant talker and his interview is the best insight yet from a Leeds player into what it is like to play for the demanding Bielsa. The Argentine alchemist is renowned for pushing the players physically – Jansson explained he has lost four kilos in recent weeks – as well making tactical demands of them that are different from they might have experienced before. There are also the mental demands, which appear to be pushing even the experienced Jansson more than he has been pushed before. It is telling that, behind the scenes, the players were toasted by Bielsa for dropping points after what seemed a creditable draw away at Swansea. Leeds fans will be loving that their manager is so intense and driven, and coaxing the maximum from a squad that limped to a 13th place finish last season with barely any use of the summer transfer window for reinforcements.