Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa only put seven players on the bench as he pre-planned his substitutions against Crawley Town, the Athletic report.
Leeds were able to name nine players in reserve in the FA Cup, but Bielsa opted to name just an 18-man squad, rather than use up his allocation.
The decision raised a few eye brows prior to kick off, but Bielsa’s plan was a simple one.
The Leeds boss had decided prior to the match that he wanted to take off both Pascal Struijk and Rodrigo, as he didn’t want the pair playing 90 minutes.
While Leeds could have filled up their bench with youngsters, Bielsa seemingly felt that there was no point bringing players along who were not going to feature, with his mind already made up.
Unfortunately for Bielsa his strategy didn’t go exactly according to plan.
Leeds were given a major upset in the FA Cup, as Crawley ran out 3-0 winners in the contest.
Bielsa’s changes during the contest drew great criticism, with the Argentine boss bringing on a number of youngsters at half-time, despite the game being in the balance.
But with the full plan drawn up before the game, the substitutions begin to make a little more sense, after the latest explanation.
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