Leeds CEO Angus Kinnear has said that there is a more relaxed atmosphere at Leeds this season, with the players fully understanding what manager Marcelo Bielsa wants.
He also said that Leeds are now the fittest team in the Championship.
Kinnear was talking on the latest episode of the Talking Shutt podcast when he was asked if Bielsa had changed since last season.
The podcast host pointed to Bielsa walking with his arm around Jack Harrison after the Man City loanee was subbed off in the game against Barnsley.
“I think there’s more unity in the squad this season, so there’s definitely a great feeling,” Kinnear said.
“Marcelo doesn’t set out to be friends with the players but he’s created an environment where there’s a fantastic team spirit, where all the players are prepared to be at Thorp Arch all hours.
“They’ve got the clubhouse, they play table tennis tournaments and darts tournaments, and they’ve got a DJ playing in the corner, and that’s the environment that he wanted to create.
“He said he wants the players to play with intensity, that’s absolutely key.
“We are fitter than any other team in the division and the players know that. Bielsa has said that’s the intensity he requires – if you don’t make the weight you don’t play, the players are weighed three times a day and won’t play if they don’t hit the weight.
“They all understand that expectation now so Bielsa doesn’t have to hit them with it every day and I imagine that’s created a more relaxed atmosphere. The other thing is the players who couldn’t reach that level aren’t here anymore.”
Late goals for Leeds
Kinnear makes a bold claim about Leeds, calling them the fittest team in the league.
Bielsa plays and trains his players with a fierce intensity. From his arrival last summer he made it clear that Thorp Arch is a place of work, and demanded players arrived at 9am, with them often staying until seven or eight in the evening. [Guardian]
In an interview with Swedish outlet Aftonbladet, former centre-back Pontus Jansson said life under Bielsa was “tough”.
“I have had a fantastic development during Bielsa and I know how much he cares about me,” said Jansson. “So as I developed as a player, as a person and how I train, sleep and eat … there has been a tremendous development and everything is more or less thanks to him.
“Sure, it has been tough and many long exercises. But one must take that for what he has done with our team has been absolutely fantastic.”
Ultimately, Jansson fell foul of an exacting manager and was moved on in the summer.
It’s telling that Kinnear said that players that couldn’t live up to the Bielsa standards were no longer at the club.
But there is evidence that his work is paying off.
Leeds have scored 12 goals in the Championship this season. Three of these have been in the first half of games, with two coming between 30 and 45 minutes. [WhoScored]
Nine have come in the second half of games, with three in the final 15 minutes, when the opposition is tiring.