It’s hard to believe, with Patrick Bamford in the thick of an intriguing Golden Boot race, that many Leeds United supporters wanted to see their number nine dropped to the bench not so long ago.
The Yorkshire giants had made an inconsistent start to the 2019/20 campaign. And, with promotion to the Premier League on the line, a vocal member of the Elland Road fanbase felt it was time to drop Bamford in favour of a youngster signed on loan from Arsenal on deadline day.
But Marcelo Bielsa is a man who would make the proverbial mule look like a pushover.
And while he was a firm admirer of Eddie Nketiah’s goal-poaching talents, Bielsa was never going to throw the striker into the starting XI before he’d been given ample time to adapt to a distinctly unique style of play – especially when Bamford knew Bielsa’s tactics like the back of his hand.
“Nketiah has developed at one club – Arsenal – and has to play at Leeds,” Bielsa told the Metro in October 2019.
“Bamford or Nketiah – which player do you think ran more? Nketiah. You know why? Bamford ran for the needs of the team. Nketiah ran just to try to score.
“What I’m looking to achieve is Eddie understands the needs of the team and he understands that, if he doesn’t put the metres into both things, he is going to have less chances to score.”
A few months later, with his tally of league starts standing at a measly two, Arsenal decided to bring a premature end to Nketiah’s time in Yorkshire.
Rodrigo Moreno, Raphinha, Jean-Kevin Augustin and even Bamford himself took plenty of time to adapt to Bielsa’s free-wheeling, lung-straining blueprint too, restricted to cameo appearances off the bench before being trusted to start on a regular basis.
And, with The Athletic reporting Leeds will make a summer move for Romain Perraud to solve their left-back problem, it would be fair to assume he too would be stuck on the Elland Road bench until November.
But then again, perhaps not.
While Brest aren’t quite as buccaneering as Bielsa’s Leeds, they do play a high octane, attacking brand of football that allows Perraud to do far more attacking than he does defending.
A tally of eight goals and assists in 26 games this season bears that out.
“I work with a lot of energy,” Perraud tells MadeInFoot, describing a style that would fit this Leeds side perfectly.
“It can sometimes be a fault because I want to be hyperactive so much sometimes I get a little confused. When I was at Paris FC, I gave so much during the first 70 minutes I had no gas left to finish the game. But I like it!
“This system (at Brest), it doesn’t slow me down. The coach lets me play, attack, participate in the offensive side of the game. Of course I have rules on the defensive aspect, but there isn’t too much of a handbrake.”
Such comments could have been made by Gjanni Alioski himself.
And if Perraud is to replace Leeds’ madcap Macedonian on the left-hand flank, could he break Bielsa’s tradition when it comes to signings?
What’s certain is Perraud has the tools to adapt quicker than Nketiah did.
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