We’ve all loved watching Leeds United this season, and while Marcelo Bielsa has brought a lot to the Premier League, one thing he hasn’t been doing is helping his young players develop.
Aside from Illan Meslier and Pascal Struijk, Bielsa has rarely given chances to Leeds’ plethora of young talents, with the likes of Sam Greenwood, Joe Gelhardt and Crysencio Summerville still waiting for their Premier League debuts, despite the fact they’ve been fantastic for the U23s this season.
Bielsa has often been praised for his ability to develop young talents, but he’s seemingly abandoned that philosophy at Leeds this term, and one man who has suffered because of that is Jamie Shackleton.
At one point, Shackleton looked as though he was going to be the next big thing at Elland Road. In 2019 the midfielder was starting, and shining, in Leeds’ playoff semi-final against Derby County.
The performance against Derby was breathtaking, and after that game it looked as though the youngster was ready to kick on and become a real star at Leeds.
However, since then he’s seemingly gone backwards. He’s played just 922 league minutes in the last two seasons, and at the age of 21, he simply hasn’t been given enough chances at Leeds.
This isn’t the first time that Marcelo Bielsa has mishandled a young player at Leeds either.
The Argentine once personally apologised to Robbie Gotts in his office for his lack of first-team opportunities, and we can’t help but feel that Shackleton also deserves an apology from the Leeds manager.
Now, we’re not saying that Shackleton should be the first name on the teamsheet, but a player with his potential should have played more than just 456 minutes this season.
Bielsa has let Shackleton down, he’s not given him enough chances in the first-team and he’s not allowed him to go out on loan to hone his craft either.
The Argentine certainly rates Shackleton, waxing-lyrical about him earlier this season, describing him as ‘energetic’ and ‘quick’, but similarly to Gotts, he’s not given him enough chances.
Bielsa made a point of saying sorry to Gotts for his lack of chances, and Shackleton deserves that same apology after this season.
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