‘Reminding me a lot’: Sky pundit claims Leeds man going down same path as PL legend

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Paul Merson has stated that Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa is ‘reminding me a lot’ of ex-Arsenal man, Arsene Wenger, as he told Sky Sports.

It would normally be a compliment to be compared to a Premier League legend, but Merson has made the comparisons for the wrong reasons.

Towards the back end of Wenger’s reign at Arsenal, things started to go very wrong for the Frenchman and, in the end, he left with a dark cloud over the club.

From being Premier League title heavyweights to struggling to get into Europe, including suffering heavy defeat after heavy defeat against their rivals.

One game, in particular, will haunt Arsenal fans forever and that’s an 8-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United in 2011.

Merson touched upon that match and how he is now seeing similarities to Bielsa in the Elland Road dugout.

“Marcelo Bielsa’s insistence at playing the same way is reminding me a lot of Arsene Wenger’s latter years at Arsenal,” said Merson.

“I remember covering Manchester United versus Arsenal in 2011. Arsenal turned up at Old Trafford with a weakened team, we all said in the studio that Wenger needed to change things and that he couldn’t go out and play as if all his big players were on the pitch.

“What did Wenger do? He went out, played the same, and Arsenal got beaten 8-2, I’ll never forget it. This is exactly what I am seeing of Bielsa at Leeds United now.

“They went to Manchester City with no players, they played exactly the same way as they usually do, and it was embarrassing, I felt for the players. The manager has got to have another game plan to fall back on when needs must.”

After conceding 11 goals from their last two matches, it’s only the small matter of Leeds having to travel to Merseyside next.

It’s a Boxing Day showdown against the highest goalscorers in the league for Bielsa’s men and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Leeds fans are fearing the worst.

What hasn’t helped Leeds’ cause is Bielsa having to deal with injury after injury to several first-team players.

Perhaps that’s why fans have urged him to change things up for the time being, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they go in their man-to-man marking ways again at Anfield.