Kalvin Phillips has said that manager Marcelo Bielsa speaks mainly Spanish in the Leeds dressing room and that communication can be difficult.
Phillips, who signed a new long-term contract with Leeds this month, was talking on the Jim White Show (talkSPORT, Tuesday, 11.45am) after Leeds had been awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award on Monday night.
Jim White said that Marcelo Bielsa is “intense” and asked Phillips if he was the same in the dressing room.
“Exactly the same, he doesn’t really change,” replied Phillips.
“He wants 100% from everyone on the pitch and that’s done us well this season and last season.”
White asked him if Bielsa speaks Spanish in the dressing room and Phillips said, “He speaks Spanish, sometimes he speaks English, we’ve got an interpreter there. It’s quite difficult sometimes but he gets his point across.”
Bielsa gets his point across
If you’ve watched a Marcelo Bielsa press conference, you’ll know how the manager operates.
He can speak some English but he prefers to talk through an interpreter, possibly so that his words aren’t misconstrued.
He listens carefully, though, and if the interpreter gets it slightly wrong he jumps in quickly to correct him. He’s very meticulous about getting his point across.
When he arrived he said that he wanted to learn English, but he seems to be constantly at Thorp Arch or with the club.
In a press conference explaining his pre-match preparations, he revealed that 360 hours of work is put into analysing each opponent. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for learning a new language.
Phillips says it can be difficult and it would obviously be better if Bielsa could communicate directly with his players.
However, it hasn’t stopped him coaching the players successfully in his style of football.
When Bielsa arrived, Leeds had just finished 13th in the Championship. In the first game he was in charge – the 3-1 win against Stoke – Leeds were a completely different side, playing intense, pressing football.
They almost got promoted last season and are currently top of the league, with only a few new players.
It seems the language of football is universal.