This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
It’s been almost impossible to criticise anything Marcelo Bielsa has done during his time as Leeds United manager.
The Whites have gone from rotting in mid-table to being genuine promotion contenders under the Argentine, but there is one decision he keeps making over and over that he needs to rethink.
Of course, we’re talking about the Argentine’s tendency to allow a number of his senior players to appear for the U23 side.
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Pablo Hernandez was the latest player to step down to U23 level as he worked on recovering from an injury problem, but he didn’t last too long in that game as he picked up another knock that has forced him to miss at least two games of first-team football.
The Spaniard is undoubtedly one of the Whites’ most important players as he’s won the club’s Player of the Year award twice in a row, therefore being without him for two games is a huge loss.
Fortunately, Leeds managed to overcome Birmingham on Saturday, but they may not be as lucky against playoff contenders Preston on Tuesday evening.
For all of Bielsa’s good qualities, he’s never been great at managing a squad. The famed ‘burnout’ effect that his teams often go through is well documented, and injuries played a huge part in the Whites’ failure to seal promotion in 2018/19 – they had amassed 31 by the time April came around.
Playing senior players in the U23s after they’ve been out with an injury can be a good thing on some occasions. If an inexperienced player such as Jamie Shackleton or Ben White had suffered an injury, a spell with the U23s to help them recover their match sharpness may be just what the doctor ordered.
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However, sticking a 34-year-old midfielder with over a decade of senior experience with Carlos Corberan’s side seems like a bit of a pointless endeavour, especially after he got injured just 24 hours before a league outing.
If Bielsa is to continue this policy of sending his senior players to the U23s he needs to be a bit more savvy about when to do it as there can be no doubts about the fact that he’s misjudged this one.
