Leeds United somehow surrendered a three-goal lead this afternoon.
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa made a series of surprising substitutions this afternoon.
The first came on 77 minutes when he brought Bamford off in the Whites’ 3-3 draw with Cardiff City at Elland Road, with Bielsa’s side winning 3-1 at the time.
With Leeds 3-2 ahead, Bielsa then removed centre-back Gaetano Berardi for Pascal Struijk in what was the 20-year-old’s second-ever Championship appearance.
Minutes later, Cardiff completed a three-goal comeback and made it 3-3 after substitute Robert Glatzel slotted past Kiko Casilla in a one-on-one.
Glatzel is a striker who stands at 6’4, and the Argentine coach told Leeds Live after the game that he felt Struijk – who is 6’3 – could have dealt better with the big man than Berardi would.
He said: “About Pascal and Berardi, one centre forward with a physical presence was important for Pascal.
“Maybe it was better to have one centre-back with the same size or bigger than the striker. I thought aerial play of the team is going to be better with one player at 1.9m.”
Bamford was on a hat-trick at the time of his removal and was making himself a nuisance for the Bluebirds, but Bielsa added that the 25-year-old striker’s energy was waning.
He added: “Nketiah was about refreshing the attack. Bamford did a big effort. Even if he didn’t show he was weaker, he was having less impact on the match.”
Despite two dropped points, Leeds still boast a 10-point cushion in the automatic promotion spots.
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