Owen Hargreaves has admitted that he’s puzzled as to why Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa substituted Raphinha in last night’s draw away to Newcastle United.
Both sides played out a pulsating 1-1 draw at St James’s Park last night in a game where Leeds and the Magpies could’ve won the game by a clear margin had chances been taken.
Raphinha was far and away the White’s most dangerous player on the night and opened the scoring with a cross-come-shot in the first half.
The Brazilian was a bit of a handful for Newcastle but Bielsa took him off for rookie Crysencio Summerville on 67 minutes
Hargreaves told Optus Sport at full time: “They both relied heavily on some players – Saint Maximin for Newcastle and Raphinha for Leeds. I’m not sure why Raphinha went off. I thought he was their best player.”
Why did Bielsa take off Raphinha?
The Argentine is one of the best coaches in the Premier League as far as tactics go and he wouldn’t have taken off Raphinha without a good reason – and there was one.
After the game, Bielsa told a press conference that the Leeds livewire had a hip injury which forced his hand.
It remains to be seen how long Raphinha – who has two goals this season – is out for but, with the Whites having not won any of their five Premier League games this season, they need him back as soon as possible.
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