Noel Whelan praises Marcelo Bielsa’s substitutions in Leeds win

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Noel Whelan has lauded Marcelo Bielsa for the substitutions that he made during Leeds United’s 1-0 win against Reading on Tuesday, in comments made to BBC Radio Leeds (broadcast on 27/11; 22:08).

Leeds have gone to the top of the Championship. But the game at the Madejski Stadium looked destined to finish goalless as neither side managed to produce much quality in the final third.

However, the Whites would snatch a late winner. Jack Harrison headed home from close range after Helder Costa’s cross found its way into the six-yard box. Costa was outstanding after coming on for Tyler Roberts during the first-half.

It was also a good night for the other substitute given a substantial amount of time. Gjanni Alioski was also involved in the build-up to the goal having previously produced a brilliant ball into the box that led to Stuart Dallas volleying the ball against the side netting.

And Whelan insisted that Bielsa needs to take a lot of credit for his decisions to introduce both Costa and Alioski.

“I was so impressed with his substitutions,” he told BBC Radio Leeds. “I know sometimes we can go back and say that Bielsa was a bit negative, made his substitutions at the wrong time. Everything that he did tonight was right. It was positive. He knew how stubborn they were. You needed someone with that creativity, with a little bit of a different eye where he could find that pass.”

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While Roberts’s injury forced Bielsa’s hand, the Leeds boss still deserves praise as there were a number of players who could have come on at that stage.

Jamie Shackleton could have given the side more energy in the middle and would have allowed Mateusz Klich to push further forward. And Jack Clarke may have hoped to get on having made his first league appearance of the season at the weekend.

And throwing Alioski on for Klich was not necessarily an obvious change that needed to be made midway through the second-half. Again, Bielsa must have been tempted to turn to Clarke.

But Bielsa’s decisions could not have produced a better pay-off with both substitutes involved before Harrison bravely went in to nod Leeds back to the top of the table.