Marcelo Bielsa has claimed that Samuel Saiz is the most talented footballer in his Leeds United squad and has a big role to play even when he is not in the starting XI.
The Spaniard has not started for United since their 2-0 win over Ipswich in late October and has been on the bench for the club’s last four matches.
But Bielsa is in no doubt about the value of the playmaker, 27, and explained at his media conference on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s encounter with Reading why Saiz is a vital member of the squad.
“I think Saiz is the most skilled player in our team and he has skills that few players have,” the Argentine said, as quoted by Leeds Live. “We always think that being a substitute is not a good thing for the players. It’s a mistake to think like that. Not because I’m telling you this, because what reality tells us and Samu is very useful to our team.
“Either he plays 20 minutes, half an hour or the whole game. I have the obligation to take into account the whole team.”
OPINION
Saiz has suffered the cold shoulder of Bielsa since a series of lukewarm mid-autumn displays, but the manager demonstrated his warm side at Monday’s media conference as he hailed the special qualities of the Spanish maestro and suggested he has a big role to play as winter starts to bite. Bielsa has adapted his formation of late, deploying Kalvin Phillips in a three-man defence and pairing Adam Forshaw in central midfield with ever-present Mateusz Klich. This has brought greater balance to the midfield, albeit at the expense of the vision and touch of Saiz, the player most capable of making Leeds fans sit back in wonder and say, ‘did you just see that?’. Bielsa’s media conferences are providing compelling viewing, far more useful than the anodyne bore-fest of Garry Monk, for example, whose love of saying nothing and hiding everything irritated supporters as much as journalists. The Argentine’s confidence in his abilities means he is open and honest, sometimes surprisingly so, but his bigging-up of Saiz will pay dividends if he continues to make the impression he has made from the bench in recent matches.