The Leeds United boss made a few brave positional changes last summer.
Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips has admitted to The Yorkshire Evening Post that he was ‘shocked’ over Marcelo Bielsa’s decisions to change his position this season.
Phillips has been one of Leeds’ best players this season under the Argentine coach who aims to bring about the club’s return to the Premier League through the playoffs.
But the 23-year-old has definitely had to adapt to new roles, given to him by Bielsa.
Phillips, who played an attacking role under Thomas Christiansen and later Paul Heckingbottom last term, has flourished in a defensive midfield position this time around.
He has also impressed at centre-back on quite a few occasions, after spending a lot of training sessions there since the 63-year-old was appointed.
And although both decisions have paid off, Phillips, who came through United’s academy, admits he wasn’t sure what to make of it at the very beginning.
He told The YEP: “Last season I played more attacking and scored a few goals so I was a bit shocked that he wanted me to play defensive midfield, to be honest.
“Then it was centre-half and I was thinking ‘what’s going on here? He’s going to turn me into a centre-half?’ But when he came in he said he wanted players who can play in more than one position. That’s how he coaches.”
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