talkSPORT pundit Darren Gough has said that he has been impressed with what Marcelo Bielsa has achieved at Leeds in his first season in charge at Elland Road but added he’d suffered a “nightmare” with their end-of-season form.
Bielsa took Leeds to the brink of a return to the Premier League but they fell in the play-off semi-final to Frank Lampard’s Derby County on Wednesday night.
Talking on Drive (talkSPORT, Thursday, 4pm), Gough said Leeds’ end-of-season form had been a “nightmare” for the manager.
“What I’ve been impressed with about Leeds, they’re in the position they’re in and they haven’t had much investment.
“Marcelo Bielsa – he’s on a massive salary – has turned them from a mid-table team into one that should have gone up automatically.
“It’s been a nightmare for him to get them back on track at the end of the season. I think he’s done a great job but I’m pleased for Frank Lampard. I won’t say the best team went through as Leeds played some fantastic football over the two legs.”
OPINION
Leeds’ consistency really hurt them this season and they missed out on automatic promotion after a string of disappointing results in the season run-in. Defeats to struggling Wigan and then Brentford in the space of a few days over Easter meant they had to try their luck via the play-offs, while Norwich and Sheffield United went up automatically. The play-offs didn’t work out either though and Leeds fell at the first hurdle, despite beating Derby 1-0 in the game at Pride Park last Saturday. Derby won the reverse match 4-2 in a dramatic game that saw both teams finish with 10 men. The end-of-season form from Leeds must have been a nightmare for Bielsa, especially as his side pulled out a vintage performance against Aston Villa when it was too late. Mistakes ended up costing them the shot in the play-off final against Aston Villa but it was always going to be a struggle to hit the heights of their earlier form.