Marcelo Bielsa hints Leeds player was immense against Manchester United

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Marcelo Bielsa has lauded Pascal Struijk’s display in Leeds United’s draw with Manchester United on Sunday, insisting that he agreed with the journalist who labelled his performance ‘immense’ – in comments reported by Leeds Live.

Struijk kept his place for the clash with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men as Liam Cooper served the second game of his three-match suspension.

It proved to be a challenging afternoon at Elland Road for Leeds’s defensive players. They came under plenty of pressure in the stalemate.

However, the Whites did a fantastic job of limiting the number of big chances the visitors had in the draw. And Struijk was integral to their success.

The 21-year-old made four tackles, four clearances and three interceptions (Whoscored). In the latter two categories, no Leeds player could match his tallies.

It was put to Bielsa that Struijk was ‘immense’ against Manchester United. And he was asked about just how well he is developing.

“He played a game exactly how you described it. Exactly what you said, is exactly what I think,” he said, as reported by Leeds Live.

It is almost frightening to see how well Struijk has adapted to life in the Premier League. He was a player who was barely seen during the Championship campaign.

And even as he impressed in the final games of last season, few could have anticipated that he would be so impressive in the top flight.

It is surely getting to the stage where Bielsa is going to struggle justify bringing Cooper back into the side once his suspension ends.