OPINION
Leeds United impressed once again with a victory away at Norwich City, as the Marcelo Bielsa train rolls on in the Championship – but what can fans take away from the win?
Mateusz Klich opened the scoring for the Whites at Carrow Road in the first half – his third goal of the season – before Ezgjan Alioski netted a second just five minutes later with a firm strike past Tim Krul between the sticks.
Pablo Hernandez added the icing to the cake with a brilliant curling strike with just under 25 minutes to play, and meant sure that Bielsa’s side topped the Championship after their opening fixtures.
This is Futbol has picked out three things learned about Bielsa’s side in their clash against the Canaries:
Jansson proves Bielsa needs centre back loan
Marcelo Bielsa has been struggling with options at the heart of the defence since the season kicked off, and they have so very nearly come unstuck with a lack of experience or natural performers already.
The attacking talents saved their defence’s bacon in midweek against Swansea but at Carrow Road, everyone contributed to the result.
With Pontus Jansson back after his injury issues, there was so much more composure which gave those ahead of them in the midfield and attack a platform to build off – and the 27-year-old was arguably the surprise game changer for the Whites with his display at the back.
Bielsa seems adamant he does not need another centre half but if injury or suspension hit he is risking losing that assurance – surely one more experienced figure can be found to plug the gap before Friday’s deadline.
Klich is a man reborn
If anyone had predicted that Mateusz Klich would be a regular starter for Leeds, let alone one of their key men, back at the start of the summer, people would have thought them mad.
Exiled from the first team with a loan move to the Netherlands after just six months at the club, his turnaround has been nothing short of sensational – and Bielsa is getting the very best out of the Polish international.
He epitomises everything the manager wants in a player – energy, dedication and talent, and those attributes were all on display against Norwich.
His goal came from him being at the right place at the right time and that is not luck – that is footballing knowledge, and shows just how far he has come from 12 months ago.
Missing men face fight to return
This was an impressive performance from the Whites, and even more so when you consider that Bielsa had a number of first team names missing from his side.
The likes of Adam Forshaw, Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas are all out through injury, Tyler Roberts is simply absent from the first team and Patrick Bamford and Lewis Baker have been forced to sit on the bench after their summer moves.
It is hard to see how any of those names are going to force their way into the starting XI any time soon with their team mates performing this well.