Leeds United

Leeds United: Phil Hay discusses Bielsa’s future

|
Image for Leeds United: Phil Hay discusses Bielsa’s future

Phil Hay has recently talked about Marcelo Bielsa’s situation and his future at Leeds United.

Hay talked about many things involving Leeds on the latest episode of the Phil Hay show and he was asked about Bielsa and the job that he’s doing at Elland Road. One main topic of discussion was Bielsa’s future and if he will extend his current deal at the club or not. Hay revealed that the Argentine is happy at the club and he’s ‘extremely content’ with how things are going right now.

Bielsa had joined Leeds in the summer of 2018 and since then, he has had a healthy points per match tally of 1.75. In the current campaign, Leeds are as high as tenth in the Premier League and they are only eight points behind fourth-placed Liverpool.

Will Bielsa stay beyond this season?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Hay made it clear that when it comes to Bielsa’s contract extension, the manager doesn’t want to address that issue unless Leeds are guaranteed to be in the Premier League next season. So this issue has been kept for later.

He said (26:13): “They won’t get anywhere with this until the end of the season, because he won’t unless he breaks the tradition, he won’t address it until they get to the point where they’re 100% safe. But more likely when the games are out of the way. It’s always been like that previously, it’s how he wants to operate. And it’s why the negotiations before this season almost ran beyond the first game against Liverpool. It was literally the Thursday night, Friday night before the game on the Friday morning, when it was actually signed then so much.

“So much so that Leeds had asked the Premier League to basically check the rules to make sure that on the existing rolling deal that he was on. He’d still be eligible to be on the touchline at Anfield because it wasn’t his intention to leave, they just couldn’t get him to actually confirm and be happy with the contract until 24 hours before.

“There’s no indication to say that he’s thinking of going, he seems extremely content. People who know him say that he’s very happy, as happy as he’s been previously.”

1 of 7

Nice easy one to start off with, what number does Phillips wear for Leeds United?

TIF Thoughts on Bielsa’s future…

The fact that Bielsa is content with the situation at Elland Road comes as a positive piece of information for Leeds fans and for the club, as a whole.

The Whites have generated the fourth-highest xG per 90 minutes in the division so far – only behind the Manchester clubs and Liverpool. They are also third in the league, when it comes to non-penalty xG per 90 minutes (as per FBRef).

That might be a reflection of the fact that they’re on the right track under Bielsa, especially since this is Leeds’ first season back in the top flight. So having Bielsa at the club next season may well be a huge boost for the club.

Share this article

European Football Writer. Contributed for FootballItalia, Manchester United, Manchester Evening News, Calciomercato, GFFN and more.