Ben Parker doesn’t think Leeds United winger Helder Costa suits Marcelo Bielsa’s system

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Helder Costa is on a season-long loan at Leeds United from Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Ex-Whites defender Ben Parker doesn’t think that Wolves loanee Helder Costa suits Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa’s system.

Since Costa’s season-long loan switch from Wolves in the summer, he has struggled to prove his true worth to the Elland Road faithful.

At the start of the season, he was making appearances from the bench before Pablo Hernandez’s injury handed him a number of starts, but he hasn’t been able to light up the flanks.

Speaking to LS11, ex-Leeds man, Parker thinks that just like Nicolas Pepe at Arsenal, Costa needs time to ‘adapt’ his game because Bielsa’s current tactics don’t suit him.

“I think it was interesting the manager came out, a couple of weeks ago, and he said ‘Costa doesn’t really suit our system’,” Parker told LS11. “It was really interesting actually, I came away from it and I think he hit the nail on the head.

“I think Costa is the type of player who enjoys a lot of space behind the back four to utilise his biggest asset, which is his speed. We can help him out sometimes. We can give him service to his feet, just get your head up, instead of passing it backwards or straight into midfield.

“He’s one of those players that wants lots of touches and lots of opportunities to be involved in the game – adapt your game. You look at the top teams in the Premier League, I look at that Pepe at Arsenal, they paid £70 odd million for him, he’s not pulling up any trees up there, is he? They are talking about how he’s got to adapt to the game. You are going to get periods like that.”

Whilst all the talk is about whether someone like Eddie Nketiah fits into what Bielsa wants, it seems as though another player in Costa is falling into the same bracket as the Arsenal loanee.

The attack-minded duo were brought to Yorkshire in the summer to add bite and quality into the final third, and most importantly, push Leeds over the promotion line.

Whilst Nketiah hasn’t tasted promotion to the Premier League before, Costa has with Wolves and he will be hoping to use his previous experiences to help his current club.