Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa singled young goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell out for criticism in his press conference yesterday.
In a dramatic 30 minutes, Bielsa began by saying that Chelsea loanee Jamal Blackman would have started the game against Bristol City tomorrow had he not broken his leg.
Blackman hadn’t featured in a Championship game since his arrival and had been limited to just two games in the EFL Cup.
This isn’t the first time that Peacock-Farrell has been criticised by his manager though.
Phil Hay, senior reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post, revealed that former manager Paul Heckingbottom had told Peacock-Farrell to up his game or risk release, effectively a ‘shape up or ship out’ threat.
Heckingbottom basically told him he either upped his game or Leeds might as well release him
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) November 22, 2018
OPINION
Player criticism can work one of two ways. It can spur some on and make them a better player, or it could completely shatter a player’s confidence. Jose Mourinho does it and he’s had very mixed results. Heckingbottom introduced Peacock-Farrell to the first-team in March after he’d made his debut right back in 2016. It seems harsh to have told him this just as he was breaking into the first-team. Bielsa is a very calculating man and will have decided that the gain to Blackman would have been worth the hit to Peacock-Farrell, but with all the talk of emergency loans and possibly a new permanent goalie in January it’s a very unsettling time for the youngster. He won’t be playing on Saturday anyway and Leeds fans will be wondering which of the two understudies will get the nod – Will Huffer or Kamil Miaezk. Leeds have until midday on Friday to bring someone in on emergency loan for the Bristol City game but we don’t think that will happen.