Kalvin Phillips was surprisingly left on the bench for Leeds United’s trip to Brentford, with Adam Forshaw getting the nod from Marcelo Bielsa.
In comments reported by Leeds Live, Marcelo Bielsa suggested that he decided to start Adam Forshaw instead of Kalvin Phillips for Leeds’ trip to Brentford after the former’s performance against Wigan, adding that he felt that Phillips is less dynamic and was not as well suited to the game.
The Whites have seen their automatic-promotion hopes suffer a major blow after the Bees won 2-0 at Griffin Park. Bielsa surprised many Leeds supporters by deciding to leave Phillips on the bench and pick Forshaw in the holding role.
Plenty of fans would argue that Phillips plays in the most important position in Bielsa’s system, and he has been outstanding for much of the campaign. So it appeared to be a roll of the dice from the head coach to pick Forshaw instead.
But Bielsa insisted that he felt that Forshaw was the player that was more likely to make an impact as Leeds looked to keep Brentford’s exciting attack quiet.
“Kalvin Phillips gives defensive presence to the midfield. When the opponent has creative playmakers that go with the nine, or when they play with two nines, Kalvin increases his influence,” he said, as reported by Leeds Live. “In today’s game, where the nine plays alone, and he was helped by wingers, I took the decision to play Forshaw because he moves the ball and he’s more dynamic.
“He suited this game. That doesn’t mean Phillips could not have played with efficiency. It doesn’t mean Forshaw can’t play if he has to play two nines or one nine and a playmaker. In the second half against Wigan the performance of Forshaw convinced me and I decided to play him. We all know Kalvin played many games with good performances.”
In fairness to Forshaw, he was arguably one of Leeds’ better players on a hugely disappointing evening for the Whites. He arguably did not do enough to vindicate Bielsa’s decision, but he was not the worst performer by any means.
Nevertheless, the fans would be forgiven for wondering whether the result would have been different had Phillips played. When Leeds attempted ambitious passes out of defence, they seemed to give away possession on too many occasions. Phillips’ distribution and vision may have perhaps seen the Whites have more success in those situations.
But with Leeds playing poorly for much of the game, it is perhaps fair to say that the baffling first-half penalty decision going against the Whites probably had a bigger impact on the result than leaving Phillips on the bench.
Here is what some of the Leeds supporters made of Bielsa’s comments on picking Forshaw…
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