‘It’s a bit disrespectful’: Ian Wright reacts to what he’s heard being said about Leeds man

Follow us on Google Discover

Ian Wright has told Match of the Day 2 that he feels it was ‘disrespectful’ that Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa was being called one-dimensional earlier in the season.

Bielsa came under fire in the first half of the campaign after Leeds suffered some big defeats to the Premier League’s leading sides.

However, in recent weeks Leeds have really tightened up their approach against teams that they don’t currently have the ability to dominate.

Leeds have come through games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United unbeaten in recent weeks.

Even more impressively the Whites have only conceded two goals in that time.

Leeds shut up shop against the Red Devils, on their way to claiming a 0-0 draw at Elland Road.

And while the game wasn’t the most entertaining for the neutral, Wright feels that Bielsa deserves a lot of credit for adapting.

“People saying, I think it’s a bit disrespectful, that he’s a bit one dimensional and won’t adapt because what we saw was them adapting,” Wright said.

“The way they defended today when you consider what happened at Old Trafford.

“When they played at United I think it was only Martial instead of Greenwood and they ran them ragged.

“I think they thought they would come up against them same thing, but they didn’t.

“The pressure on the ball made it hard for United all day. You have Kalvin Phillips looking after Bruno Fernandes.

“They needed something to open Leeds up as they were so good.”

Leeds’ performance in their first season back in the top flight has been nothing short of remarkable.

Bielsa’s side’s draw with Manchester United has put them up into the top half of the Premier League table, and above Arsenal.

For all the criticism Bielsa received for being too open in the early part of the season, Leeds’ performance when measured against the other promoted sides from last season, shows what an amazing job the Argentine has done.

Fulham and West Bromwich Albion look destined for the drop already, but Leeds have rarely been threatened by relegation.

And the fact that they are now taking points off the Premier League’s most dangerous teams shows that they can compete with the very best, which bodes well for next season.