Jermaine Beckford has taken to Twitter to brand Marcelo Bielsa as ‘ruthless’ after the Leeds boss withdrew Pascal Struijk in the 21st minute last night against Aston Villa.
The Argentine spotted that his Dutch youngster was being targeted by Ross Barkley and Jack Grealish.
The Villans duo managed to get Struijk booked in just the tenth minute, and Bielsa reacted by withdrawing the former Ajax man for a midfielder in Jamie Shackleton.
After witnessing that ‘ruthless’ decision, Beckford wrote: ‘Bielsa is ruthless but he sees the bigger picture. Struijk did nothing wrong to be subbed but as Barkley and Grealish were trying to draw fouls out of him, he was never going to last the half…’
The ex-Leeds striker clearly thinks the former Marseille boss was right to withdraw the 21-year-old so early on, and clearly felt that Struijk was heading towards a red card.
In the end, Bielsa was justified.
His side romped to a 3-0 win at Villa Park, with Patrick Bamford netting a phenomenal hat-trick including two utterly world-class finishes.
Bielsa’s decision to throw Shackleton into the mix also paid dividends.
According to WhoScored, the 21-year-old delivered a fine display in which he recorded one key pass, two interceptions and one tackle, while also completing 84% of his passes.
Leeds now sit third in the Premier League, level on points with Liverpool and just three points off the top – despite having played a game more than their fellow top four clubs.
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