Phil Hay shares what he’s been told about Leeds players’ running stats just before Bielsa was sacked

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Well, it’s a new dawn for Leeds United after the club parted ways with Marcelo Bielsa this past week and moved swiftly to replace him with Jesse Marsch.

The American comes into the club under no illusions about the size of the shoes he has to fill. Bielsa is a legend at the club, was loved by the players, and brought Elland Road back into one big family again. Certainly, Marsch knows there won’t be much room for error.

Bielsa’s departure did come as a surprise. And since he has gone, there has been questions raised about the players and whether they weren’t quite at the level they once were in terms of fitness. However, according to Leeds United expert Phil Hay, that simply wasn’t the case. In fact, he claims that in terms of Leeds running stats, nothing had changed.

“The players were still with it physically, there’s no doubt about that. People have said to me that the running stats were still as they have ever been,” Hay said on his podcast for The Athletic.

“There was no mutiny for Bielsa at all but the players were feeling the pressure that the tactical approach wasn’t working and the doubts which came in about whether it will turn around or whether they will fix it.”

TBR’s View: Leeds Simply Ran Out Of Steam

Sometimes, a coach simply takes a team as far as he can and this seemed to have been the case with Bielsa and Leeds.

The key injuries this term didn’t help. The likes of Cooper, Phillips, and Bamford all massive losses. Further, some of the big signings like Rodrigo, Koch, and Llorente, haven’t quite worked out as planned either.

It’s clear the players were still playing for Bielsa. But a change of idea and mindset might be what was needed and Marsch will be hoping he can deliver.