OPINION
Leeds must feel like they’re cursed at the moment.
Injuries are racking up left and right, with Patrick Bamford out with a torn cruciate ligament – he won’t be back until the new year and he hadn’t even nailed down a starting spot.
Kemar Roofe, Gaetano Berardi and Pablo Hernandez have been out for weeks but should be back for the international break.
And Barry Douglas has been ruled out of the Brentford game on Saturday, although his injury isn’t supposed to be serious and he could be back after the international break too.
But the list of Leeds players suffering isn’t confined to those under Bielsa’s punishing regime.
Yosuke Ideguchi is the latest to suffer a serious injury – the midfielder, on loan at Greuther Furth, has also suffered a torn posterior cruciate ligament, the same injury as Bamford.
That’s brought a premature end to his loan and he will be out for a minimum of four months too. What his future holds now is anyone’s guess.
He’s never played for Leeds, was loaned straight to Cultural Leonesa after Leeds bought him for £500k in January from Gamba Osaka, and then flopped there.
Bielsa said he was a good player pre-season but said there was no room for him in his squad so he was shipped out on loan to the German side.
He scored a goal on his debut but broke down in his fourth appearance for his new side over the weekend.
He must feel like he’s cursed and he’ll be in good company when he gets back to Leeds.