Noel Whelan admits surprise over Bielsa’s comment after Leeds loss

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Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that he was surprised to hear Marcelo Bielsa’s explanation as to why he took Pablo Hernandez off during Leeds United’s defeat over Leicester City on Monday.

The Whites were handed their joint-heaviest defeat under Bielsa by the Foxes. Ultimately, the game finished 4-1. But there was a certainly a spell in the contest in which Leeds looked to be on top.

Stuart Dallas’s goal had the home side back in the game at Elland Road. And at 2-1, Hernandez produced a stunning piece of skill that resulted in the Spaniard hitting the bar.

Unfortunately for the 35-year-old, that proved to be his last meaningful contribution of the night. He was replaced by Tyler Roberts with just over 20 minutes remaining.

Hernandez seemed to be incredibly frustrated with the decision. And Leicester went on to score the two goals that ensured that they wrapped up the three points.

Interestingly however, when asked about the substitution, Bielsa seemed to disagree with the notion that Hernandez’s influence had been growing before he was taken off.

“I thought otherwise,” he said, as reported by Leeds Live. “Perhaps I am the one in the wrong and you are correct. I thought that putting on Roberts would be more influential in the final part of the field.

“I thought that he was going to give us a different option to the one that Pablo was undertaking. But I never discard the fact that my decisions are wrong.”

It did appear that Hernandez was a lot better in the second-half. And Whelan seemed to suggest that he was not the player that he would have taken off at that point.

“Yeah, a little bit,” he told BBC Radio Leeds, when asked if he was surprised by Bielsa’s comments. “I thought Pablo was getting on the ball, dictating the play. And I do believe that we lost a little bit of momentum when we took him off. I can imagine him being upset because he felt he was getting on the ball a lot and trying to make things happen and being effective out there in a positive way.

“Marcelo Bielsa obviously sees something differently to what we do and he’s the manager. Who’s going to argue with Marcelo? I just feel that with Pablo out there, we had a better chance.”

As Whelan notes, it is difficult to be too critical of Bielsa given his track record for knowing exactly how to change a game.

On the upside, it was almost two years to the day since Leeds suffered their only other 4-1 loss under Bielsa.

In response, the Whites won their next seven games.