OPINION
When it comes to the transfer market and recruitment, Marcelo Bielsa’s unorthodoxies come to the fore.
The Argentine does things his own way and refuses to bow to calls to beef up his squad or rely on too many faces at Thorp Arch to provide him with a lorry-load of options.
Despite a defensive injury crisis robbing Leeds of Liam Cooper, Gaetano Berardi, Barry Douglas and back-up option Stuart Dallas, Bielsa has given the green light for centre-back Liam Kitching to spend the rest of the season on loan at Harrogate Town.
? | Good luck to #LUFC Academy player @Liamkitching48 who has extended his loan with Harrogate Town until the end of the season pic.twitter.com/ex1K3PBV7j
— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 4, 2019
The 19-year-old has been a major hit for the fifth-tier outfit over the past two seasons, playing a major role as they were promoted from the National League north in the last campaign.
Kitching has been a mainstay of the side in the current season, making 25 appearances in all competitions and demonstrating he could have what it takes to make it at his parent club.
Is he inferior to Aapo Halme, the Finnish centre-back who has been fast-tracked by Bielsa and played in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to QPR as Pontus Jansson was rested?
That’s open to debate, although Bielsa has certainly left himself vulnerable by putting his faith in Cooper and co being able to hit the ground running when they’re back in the team.
The setbacks suffered by Izzy Brown and Patrick Bamford demonstrate the perils for players returning to high-intensity competition after lengthy spells on the sidelines.
Surely, Bielsa should have called Kitching back from his loan and given him the chance to impress at Thorp Arch as his options continue to dwindle.