IMPROVE OR ELSE
Bielsa warns fortunes are in the balance
MARCELO BIELSA is under no illusions that his Leeds team are too good to go down. Injuries have hit the Yorkshire club hard and the momentum of last season’s ninth-placed Premier League finish has been lost.
Leeds face bottom club Norwich at Carrow Road this afternoon – and Bielsa has warned that his side could be in serious trouble if they don’t improve soon on a run that has seen them win just one of their opening nine games.
Bielsa said: “You analyse the position in the table and the team’s performances – which is obviously what I do after every game – and try to take things from that into the rest of the competition.
“But it’s something that does not give you any security or reassurances.
“What is concrete is that we are where we are, we play how we play – and that we need to improve the reality of that.”
Norwich were beaten 7-0 at Chelsea last weekend and have collected just two points so far on their return to the top flight.
Bielsa (above), however, is taking nothing for granted. He added: “There’s no game in the Premier League that you think is easy.
“Obviously there are opponents who are better than others but there is never an opponent, no matter what their position is, where you think it’s an accessible game.”
Kalvin Phillips is in line for his first Premier League start in four weeks but Leeds are still without
Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling and Robin Koch.
Bamford’s absence means striker Joe Gelhardt, 19, will get another chance to impress after coming off the bench in Leeds’ last three games.
Bielsa said: “The obligation when a young player comes on is that they are not obliged to change the result or to resolve the problems of the team.
“That is the responsibility of the coach and the older players. “But they do have to show they have the resources to participate in the demands of the competition.”