‘Players were staggered’: What Leeds fans did before Bielsa exit left squad baffled – journalist

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Journalist Rory Smith has suggested that some players in the Leeds United squad were left staggered by the fans’ support for Marcelo Bielsa during the latter stages of the Argentinian’s tenure.

Smith was speaking on The Monday Night Club as the inquest into Leeds’ relegation from the Premier League gets officially up and running. Of course, it is something that supporters have been preparing for for weeks.

A chaotic final day where Leeds never looked like winning was a fitting way for the Whites to bow out of the top-flight. And of course, the fans voiced their displeasure at the current state of the club by chanting for some of their old heroes.

What Leeds players said about the support for Marcelo Bielsa

There was support for the likes of Pablo Hernandez, Pontus Jansson and Mateusz Klich. But obviously, there was also a lot of love shown for Marcelo Bielsa – starting in the second minute when Harry Kane put Tottenham ahead.

Leeds’ inability to replace Bielsa has cost them. Their inability to plan properly for life beyond Bielsa has been baffling. And ultimately, it has left Leeds on the road to the Championship.

Of course, Bielsa’s tenure was not perfect – particularly in those final few months. But he was loved like few other Leeds bosses have been for several decades.

Interestingly however, Smith suggested that some of the players were taken aback by the support for the head coach by the end of his tenure.

“I’m pro Bielsa. Huge fan of his entire body of work. I think they would have got relegated that season. I think they were shipping too many goals that season, I think the players had lost faith,” he told The Monday Night Club.

“The players, I know from the players themselves, were staggered that the fans continued to chant Bielsa’s name even while they were getting battered four, five, six-nil. That was unsustainable.”

Relegation under Argentinian cannot have been worse than this – with benefit of hindsight

Towards the end of Bielsa’s tenure, there were some fans who insisted that they would rather be relegated with him at the helm than lose him.

Understandably, many supporters were unhappy with that suggestion. Ultimately, Bielsa was never going to carry on forever. And those thrashings were getting tiring. It was frustrating to watch Bielsa seemingly change nothing as injuries decimated the squad.

But Leeds have now been relegated anyway. They have no manager, no director of football. And goodness knows who will be the owner on the opening day of next season.

Bielsa gave Leeds an identity on the pitch. The Whites were the envy of so many across football.

Leeds no longer have any direction. So you do have to wonder if going down last year under Bielsa would have been worse.

Of course, that is with the benefit of so much hindsight. And it would have meant little had Bielsa not stayed anyway.

But it is fair to say that Leeds are now unrecognisable from the side Bielsa built.