Craig Bellamy is convinced Leeds United must strengthen their team in the January window because the players will be “burned out”.
United only recruited six players in the summer, four of whom were on loan, as Marcelo Bielsa put his faith in most of the squad already in place before his arrival.
Leeds have soared to the top of the Championship but, speaking on the Sky Sports debate programme, former striker Bellamy warned Bielsa’s playing style will wear many in the team down.
“The players will go hard, Bielsa demands that with the way he presses, the energy he needs,” Bellamy told the Debate programme (45:50). “I believe in January he’s going to need one or two players to get them through the rest of the season because the players are going to be burned out, they won’t be used to that kind of intensity.
“Credit to Leeds for getting Bielsa. The fans have a manager and a team the fans deserve and hopefully it will get them up.”
OPINION
As a player who retired in 2014 and knows a thing or two about playing for demanding managers – and the effect it can have on the body – Bellamy’s view is worth listening to. Leeds elected to go into the campaign with a relatively thin squad and it’s being stretched by injuries to four key players – Pablo Hernandez, Patrick Bamford, Kemar Roofe and Gaetano Berardi. So far, Bielsa has rotated only for the League Cup and has selected his best available XI for each of the eight Championship matches. Soon, the manager will have to start mixing things up, or his players will be on their knees. It’s unrealistic to expect them to play at full tilt for every match of a marathon campaign, especially the forward and attacking players who implement the first press. The likes of Samuel Saiz, Mateusz Klich and Ezgjan Alioski, not to mention the full-backs Luke Ayling and Barry Douglas, will need to have their game time closely monitored or more serious injuries are inevitable.