Leeds United journalist Adam Pope has recently talked about Samuel Saiz and his time at the club.
Pope was asked about numerous things involving the Whites when he appeared on the latest episode of the OTB Football podcast. He was talking about whether any Leeds players don’t feel happy with Marcelo Bielsa’s methods or if anyone is failing to meet the demands.
This led to Pope talking about Saiz and his training under Bielsa. The journalist revealed that the ex-Leeds man was struggling and was a long way behind the others in getting himself up to Bielsa’s demands in training and otherwise.
Do you regret Saiz's Leeds exit?
Yes
No
The 30-year-old Spaniard was at Leeds from 2017 to 2019. He arrived at the club from Huesca but left in 2019 to join Girona. He spent the second half of the 2018/19 campaign on loan at Getafe (as per Transfermarkt).
He has been previously described as a fans’ favourite, though while things started well for him under Bielsa, they tailed off later.
Pope talked about his exit and stated: “I remember particularly, Samu Saiz. If you remember him, he was infamous for the spitting incident prior to Bielsa at Newport.
“Lovely, talented player. So in pre-season, he was nowhere near the others. He was literally football pitches behind the others in the general warm-up. And I thought yeah, you’re going to struggle.”
TIF Thoughts on Saiz…
During his time at Leeds, Saiz played 58 times in all competitions. He scored ten goals and picked up 12 assists for the Whites. He impressed in the 2017/18 campaign (as per Transfermarkt). He also picked up rather impressive ratings for the side during his time at Leeds (via WhoScored).
Bielsa had previously described the Spaniard to be Leeds’ most ‘skilled’ player, which shows that the player was treated right. So if Saiz wasn’t training as hard as Bielsa wanted, perhaps he wasn’t meant to be the player that the Argentine wanted.
In other news: ‘You’ve ruined my day’ – Many Leeds fans left seething as ‘unbelievable’ news emerges