Darren Gough believes Leeds United would be in ninth or tenth position in the Championship if they didn’t have Marcelo Bielsa as their manager.
The former England cricketer shared how he thought Leeds would have done this season without their current boss when hitting back at the idea his methods were hurting the club.
Gough claimed that people spoke about Bielsa’s intense tactics as being the reason why the club are slipping up at the end of the season, but shared without him the Whites wouldn’t have a chance of reaching the Premier League.
“What I think here is that Sheffield United have been magnificent this season and so have Leeds United as well, but one thing about Leeds United that I want to put it to you Danny (Kelly) is people talk about Bielsa and his high-intensity, pressing and double training sessions and people say that’s why the’re slipping up at the end of the season but that’s why they’re in that position,” said Gough on talkSPORT (Tuesday April 23rd, 16:41).
“Because of Bielsa and his high-pressing without Bielsa they’d be sat down probably ninth, tenth like they have every single year, but with him, he has given Leeds every chance of getting to the Premier League.”
OPINION
Finally Gough has hit back at the suggestion that Bielsa is to blame for Leeds recently dropping the ball. Leeds have suffered back-to-back losses, losing to Wigan and Brentford, and their automatic promotion hopes have taken a significant hit as a result. This has caused many to ponder why Leeds have stumbled in the final run-in and it’s no surprise that the idea that Bielsa’s hard-working ethic has been suggested as the cause. However it’s forgotten that without Bielsa, Leeds would likely be nowhere near the play-offs and not have any hope of achieving promotion at this stage of the season. Bielsa is working mainly with the group of players that were battling relegation at times last season , and it’s his influence that has transformed a lot of them for the better. While Gough doesn’t dismiss the idea that Leeds have run out of steam, the fact he pointed out that Bielsa shouldn’t be criticised if that is the case, is spot on.