Fans of Leeds United have been reacting to a post on Twitter, in which Phil Hay relayed Marcelo Bielsa’s comments regarding the substitution of Rodrigo.
Having come on as a substitute for the injured Patrick Bamford in the 35th minute of Leeds’ 0-0 draw with Chelsea on Saturday, Bielsa then made the controversial decision to withdraw the £58k-per-week forward in the 79th minute, with the Spain international having only played 44 minutes of football in the fixture.
However, according to Hay, Bielsa stated after the game that the reason for the substitution was that the 30-year-old remains short of match fitness having only recently recovered from injury, rather than anything performance-related.
Although, after the journalist shared the 65-year-old’s comments on Twitter, fans of Leeds flocked to have their say on the matter, with many appearing rather sceptical about the Argentine’s remarks, as some seemed to feel that Rodrigo did, in fact, perform poorly against Chelsea.
Do you think Rodrigo was taken off because of his display?
Yes
No
So, what exactly did these Leeds United fans have to say in reaction to Marcelo Bielsa’s comments regarding Rodrigo?
“Not buying the Rodrigo one. Something amiss there. He came on as a sub and can’t play until the end? Nah.”
“So how do you get match fit… surely by playing in matches? Strange subbing Rodrigo.”
“So he’s saying that Rodrigo wasn’t injured?”
“Rodrigo barely touched the ball the entire time he was on the pitch. I’d suspect that’s probably the reason he came off.”
“Rodrigo not match fit, okay. But overall a £30mil attack mid/forward should be more influential and I mean across his whole time with us, not just tonight.”
“He was poor that’s why he came off lol.”
“Could see Rodrigo off the pace. However, think should keep your striker on.”
“Blowing I think he meant.”
All in all, it would seem as if these Leeds fans felt that Bielsa’s decision to withdraw Rodrigo was because the Spaniard was playing poorly rather than anything to do with his fitness, and, considering the 30-year-old managed just 20 touches of the ball, as well as losing possession four times, over his 44 minutes on the pitch, it is not hard to see why.