‘Stay safe’ is Bielsa’s message to Leeds players
LEEDS UNITED head coach Marcelo Bielsa might not strike you as someone who is fond of WhatsApp, but captain Liam Cooper has revealed the Argentinian has been busy on it during the coronavirus suspension.
With their Thorp Arch training complex closed last week and players training from home as Britain wrestles to contain the spread of covid-19, Bielsa has been using the internet messaging service to keep in regular contact with his players.
Even in normal times, WhatsApp groups have become an important tool for professional sports teams, and with the players deprived of the regular dressing-room contact and accompanying banter that most retired professionals cite as the thing they miss the most, Cooper revealed that Leeds have been using their group to try to keep up morale during these difficult times.
But even football obsessive Bielsa has been more concerned with trying to keep his players safe than talking tactics, according to the centre-back.
“There’s been a lot of communication from Marcelo on the WhatsApp groups,” revealed the Scotland international. “His main message to the boys before we did leave was to stay safe and do what you can to stop this from increasing.
“Everyone realises the seriousness of the infection and what we’ve got to do to slow the curve down. We’ve been in contact with (head of medicine and performance) Rob Price and the club doctors, they’ve been unbelievable with the lads, any questions regarding symptoms or what we can do to prevent infection, they’ve been brilliant. We can get in touch with them directly for advice and take it from there.
“The communication at the club has been second to none.”
Successful teams are almost invariably built on good team spirit, and the Leeds squad have been doing their best to keep theirs high.
“As a group we’re trying to stay in touch with the WhatsApp group etc,” he said. “We’ve got to try and keep the spirits high.
“We’re used to seeing each other every day so it’s a lot different. We’ve got a good group.
“I don’t think I have to go out of my way as captain to keep the group together because we are a close-knit group. We understand what’s going on, the current situation. We know staying away from each other is for the best, it’s going to save lives ultimately and we’ve got to respect that.
“As a club we took measures pretty early doors and it was definitely the right thing to go. We need to get everyone to buy into this and get over this virus together.”
Owner Andrea Radrizzani has family in his native Italy, the European country worst affected by the pandemic at this stage, so it should come as no surprise the Whites went further than most clubs in trying to guard against the spread of the virus.
The challenge for professional sportsmen is that they have to do their best to keep their fitness up within the present restrictions, not knowing when they will next need to be peaking. English professional football has been suspended until April 30, but that is no more than a holding date to wait and see what develops.
The authorities and the clubs have expressed a wish to complete
the 2019-20 season if at all possible, and seeing out the job they had started would be worth a transformative amount of money to the Elland Road club.
Leeds are top of the Championship, seven points clear of the play-off places, with nine matches to play. Winning promotion to the Premier League, which they last played in during the 200304 season, would be worth over £100m next season in television and prize money alone.
It is therefore important Cooper and co remain in the best possible condition without losing sight of the bigger picture.
“We’ve had bikes dropped off, we can go and do runs as long as we do it on our own,” he revealed. “We’ve got to stay in shape.
“We’re not going to be in the same sort of shape as if we were training every day but that’s the way it’s got to be.
“We’ve got to listen to the professionals and experts and deal with it together.
“Hopefully if we do that and listen we can come out on the other end of this.
“I think for now the main thing
is to stop the curve, that’s got to be number one. We have to put football to the back of our minds, there’s a much more serious fight on our hands.
“But when we do eventually get rid of this we want to resume and complete the season, complete what we’ve started. We’ve put ourselves in an unbelievable position and we want to resume that and finish the job.
“It’s one we all hold onto daily, every day. But right now getting rid of this virus and the health of the public is what’s most important.”