Noel Whelan believes that he has spotted evidence of a rift between Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa and playmaker Pablo Hernandez.
Leeds slumped to a second-straight 4-1 defeat in the Premier League after losing away at Crystal Palace this afternoon.
Bielsa’s side lost to the same scoreline at home to Leicester City on Monday night and Hernandez made headlines for his angry response to being substituted.
When the Spaniard wasn’t named in the squad today, eyebrows were raised – especially after Bielsa claimed that he was fit and available for selection in a post-match press conference.
And former Leeds hitman Whelan believes that his omission is linked to his reaction against the Foxes earlier this week.
He told BBC West Yorkshire Sport: “That to me suggests there’s been a little disagreement between player and manager. The only reason you’d ever leave out somebody who’s been a key figure for Leeds from the moment he’s walked in suggests to me there’s been a rift. And it’s after the incident the other night against Leicester. Maybe something carried on after that.”
It was a big call from Bielsa and one he might’ve got wrong.
On the one hand, you can’t blame him for trying to send a message to Hernandez after his antics the other night.
But by the same token, Leeds were crying out for a player like the Spaniard today and how things could’ve been different if Bielsa had him to bring off the bench instead of the ineffective Tyler Roberts.
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