BIELSA’S SINKING FEELING

‘Teams get stuck after bad starts’

MARCELO BIELSA is under no illusions that his Leeds team are ‘too good to go down’.

The Argentine coach has been able to win friends and influence people with the way his side attack every game.

But 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 today – and Bielsa has warned that his side’s fortunes could go either way if they don’t improve on a run which has seen them win just one of their opening nine league 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 any security or reassurances.

“With the teams in the bottom half of the table after a third of the season, there is analysis which shows that a lot stay there – but some can leave that position.

“So you can’t make any real evaluation yet. But 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 latest return to the top flight.

Bielsa, 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.

“But the differences between teams are not in an analysis, they are those that get verified during the game.” Kalvin Phillips is in line for his first Premier League start since the win over Watford at the beginning of the month, after returning for the EFL Cup defeat at Arsenal in midweek.

But Leeds are still without Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling and Robin Koch. Bamford’s absence means Joe Gelhardt, 19, will get another chance to shine after coming off the bench in Leeds’ last three games.

The teenage striker impressed against Wolves last week, when he won the penalty (above left) which enabled Rodrigo to earn a point with a last-minute equaliser.

Bielsa said: “The obligation when a young player comes on is that they are NOT obliged to change the result or to resolve the team’s problems.

“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.”