Johnny Giles has hammered Leeds manager Jesse Marsch on Off The Ball – after Marsch suggested the amount of injuries was down to Marcelo Bielsa’s training methods. The American has come in for criticism, after the claim.
Injuries were a problem during Bielsa’s reign. It is known the intensity he placed the Leeds players under during his time as Leeds boss. But he did take Leeds from 13th in the Championship, to ninth in the Premier League.
The end of Bielsa’s era saw Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Liam Cooper sidelined with long-term muscle issues. Junior Firpo, Adam Forshaw, Robin Koch and Diego Llorente have all been out with injury.
Marsch told TalkSPORT that the previous training methods were to blame for the amount of injuries – and Leeds legend Giles has reacted angrily. He thinks the comments from the new gaffer were “outrageous and unfair.”
“I think they’re outrageous and unfair,” Giles said, on Marsch’s comments. “He [Bielsa] has been doing, for the last three or four years, what he did this season. During those three or four years, he took Leeds from nowhere.
“He got promotion and finished well in his first year in the Premier League; doing what he did. Marsch is saying injuries are because of what he was doing, what about the previous two years? I think it’s unfair and wrong.”
Giles on Marsch: Was Leeds boss wrong to criticise Bielsa methods?
Marsch will know more than most the impact of training on his Leeds players – given his closeness to the current squad. A closeness that is already much more intimate, than it ever was under the Argentine.
But Marsch, who is earning £80,000 a week (Sportal) at Leeds, might have known better to earn criticism from Leeds fans – given their allegiance and love of Bielsa. Yes, it caused injuries, but look where it got the Whites.
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