OPINION
Leeds United have made a brilliant start to their Championship campaign under new manager Marcelo Bielsa, topping the table heading into the international break, but for everyone at Elland Road, this early success is simply a repeat of what happened 12 months ago.
The Whites, under then boss Thomas Christiansen, were top of the table after nine games, losing only one of those and winning six, but went on to suffer not one but two disastrous runs of form which saw them pick up just five wins across 30 games, ending with a disappointing 13th placed finish come May.
As a result, the Elland Road faithful will not be getting their hopes up too soon despite how things have gone under the Argentine, their only defeat coming in the League Cup, but a behind-the-scenes reveal on how the new boss is working his squad should have the fans able to dream about success.
Speaking to Swedish news outlet Fotboll Skanalen, star defender Pontus Jansson has revealed the demands placed on himself and the rest of the team by the former Lille man, and the impact it is having on his own performance in the high pressing game employed by the head coach, which is one of the key reasons to their early success.
If anyone was worried about the players being unable to keep up their performances due to the amount of effort required, they should not be, with Jansson stating: “ It’s incredibly demanding, too, as a centre back. As a backbone in the Championship, you are running for about nine kilometers per game, now the last matches I had sprung for eleven and a half kilometers.
“So that’s an incredible difference in how he wants to play, how he wants his defenders. For my part, physically, that’s an incredible difference.
“I have gone down four kilos and lost a lot in body fat which for him is basically the beginning to start playing. If you are not in the right sense, you can hardly train.
“I’ve seen these Manchester City documents about how Pep Guardiola works and this is unbelievably similar to how Bielsa does. Then I do not know who is copying who, but it’s incredibly similar influences.”
These behind-the-scenes secrets highlight exactly why Bielsa is such a revered coach, and the fact he is being mentioned in the same breath as Pep Guardiola should have the Leeds fans and board rubbing their hands together in glee.
The fact Jansson, a big, bulky unit at the back, has upped his game to run an extra 1.5 kilometres a game show just what impact the Argentine is having, and getting those sort of displays out of his star men can only result in one thing – success.