Tyler Roberts returned from injury during Leeds United’s narrow win against West Bromwich Albion last night.
Marcelo Bielsa has apologised to Tyler Roberts after he substituted him during Leeds United’s 1-0 win against West Brom on Tuesday night.
At the half-time break, Bielsa brought Roberts into the game from the bench, but 30 minutes later, the substitute was being substituted.
When Bielsa initially brought Roberts on, it was an attacking change as he replaced Jamie Shackleton, but when Roberts went off again, his manager made a defensive-minded change by bringing on Luke Ayling.
Speaking to Sky Sports Football after the game, (01/10/2019), Bielsa was very honest that his decision would have been ‘very hard to take’ for Roberts, as he explained why he did what he did.
“I am sorry that I had to substitute Tyler Roberts in the second half,” Bielsa told Sky Sports. “He only played 25 minutes. We brought him on [at the half-time break] because we thought about having more of a presence in attack.
“But the match changed a lot. And the match wasn’t for him. I had to take this decision, which is very hard to take for the player it’s an uncomfortable decision. I say sorry to Tyler because it’s very difficult for him to accept this decision.”
Bielsa is there to make very tough, and perhaps at times unpopular decisions, as his move, in the end, paid off because his side walked away with the maximum points.
In the second half, West Brom were the better team, but Leeds defended very well to ensure that they walked away with a clean sheet and most importantly three points on the board.
That win also means that Leeds have leapfrogged Slaven Bilic’s side in the Championship table as the Yorkshire outfit are sitting top after 10 games.
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