Manchester United face Leeds United in a pre-season friendly in Australia on Wednesday.
Mike Phelan has told Manchester United’s official website that he rates Marcelo Bielsa extremely highly, and suggested that he expects the Leeds boss to put the Whites into the promotion mix once again during the coming season.
Leeds face Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men in a pre-season friendly in Perth, Australia this week. It is however, a game that is unlikely to feel like a friendly given the rivalry between the two clubs.
For much of last season, it appeared that the game would whet the appetite for an upcoming Premier League fixture next term with Leeds well on course to seal promotion back to the top flight. Of course, it was not to be for the Whites.
But Phelan insisted ahead of the game that he has a lot of admiration for Bielsa, and backed the Leeds boss to inspire another promotion push this time around.
“Bielsa is an excellent coach and a very deep thinker on the game. He is very passionate about football and how he wants his teams to play,” he told the club’s official website.
“I think we saw that last season when they went very, very close and probably should have got over the line. They just need that little bit extra but didn’t quite have it. He works the team hard and took his principles that he wants them to adhere to. He’ll be looking to take them all the way this time.”
It could be a fantastic fixture for Leeds after they opened up their pre-season with two games against non-league sides. They have not brought all of their key players with them Down Under, but it would be a real statement for Bielsa’s men to get a good result and put in a solid performance this week.
And while Leeds will have to wait a little longer for this game to be a Premier League fixture again, the fans would absolutely love to see their side put a dent in Manchester United’s pre-season preparations and bag some bragging rights.
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