Leeds United defenders Liam Cooper and Pontus Jansson both have had strong seasons.
Marcelo Bielsa has launched a fierce defence of Leeds United’s back-line in Leeds Live.
Leeds looked shaky in defence against Ipswich Town on the final day of the season, as they were beaten 3-2 by the Championship’s bottom side.
But Bielsa has suggested that Pontus Jansson and Liam Cooper are the two best central defenders in the division.
He said: “What we are not used to seeing in our team is that out of four actions, they score three goals and we are also not used to the fact that the opponent in order to score goals gets the help from our team.
“We have a strong defensive side in our team. We had two centre-backs that have been the best of the Championship, a very good number four in front of Kalvin Phillips, we have a number four who can be a number eight and an eight that can be a number ten.
“The reason why we havent’ been directly promoted is we missed many chances and one of the reasons that we finished finished third and not lower is the quality of our defence.”
Bielsa’s comments are sure to be controversial with other sides in the Championship, who will argue that their central defenders have enjoyed better seasons than either Cooper or Jansson.
Leeds will be relying on their defence to be much more secure next week.
The Whites are set to take on Derby County in the play off semi-final, as they look to cast aside the disappointment currently around Elland Road, after missing out on automatic promotion.
When Leeds and Derby met in the regular season, Bielsa’s side won both games comfortably.
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