Phil Hay has revealed that newly-appointed Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch is hoping to see more leadership from Rodrigo, after Marcelo Bielsa’s departure from the club.
Bielsa was dismissed by the Elland Road outfit toward the end of February following a disastrous period of results which landed the Whites in a major relegation battle.
Marsch has steadied the ship somewhat regarding the concession of goals and last weekend picked up his first victory as Leeds boss with a 2-1 win at home to Norwich City in West Yorkshire.
Being one of the senior players, Rodrigo organised a 31st birthday party for himself shortly after Bielsa left the club.
And according to Hay, who wrote in The Athletic, the American manager noticed that that was an example of the Spain international adopting more of a leadership role in the wake of the 66-year-old’s absence going forward.
He said: “He had noticed that, in the week after Bielsa’s dismissal, Rodrigo made the effort to invite the entire squad out for his 31st birthday to the Flying Pizza restaurant in the city’s Roundhay district.
“Everyone was expected to attend and no exceptions were made. Marsch wants Rodrigo to lead like that more often.”
Despite beating Norwich, Leeds are only four points above the relegation zone with nine Premier League outings left.
In other words, dropping down into the Championship remains very much a possibility for the Yorkshire outfit and leadership is going to be massive.
With Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper coming back, that’ll help Leeds no end regarding leadership.
But Rodrigo, a 31-year-old attacker, still has a job to do himself off the field and it looks like he is embracing it, going by Hay’s comments.
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