‘So risky’, ‘I’m worried’ – Leeds fans concerned by Marcelo Bielsa’s decision to let Kalvin Phillips play U23 football

Add as preferred source on Google

Leeds United fans were shocked when Kalvin Phillips was not named in the starting line-up against Brentford at the weekend.

And after that game ended in a 2-0 defeat to seriously dent their automatic promotion hopes, Phillips was last night playing for the U23 team.

Leeds’ U23 side faced Newcastle United in the Premier League Cup semi-final and lost 3-0.

Phillips started the game and played the first 45 minutes before being replaced by Jamie Shackleton for the second period.

There were two schools of thought behind Phillips’ U23 inclusion; either he’s now out-of-favour or he’s keeping up his match fitness.

Either way, with some important games ahead, many Leeds fans were left confused and worried about this.

With automatic promotion still an outside possibility and a play-off campaign ahead, why would Marcelo Bielsa risk losing Phillips to injury?

The 23-year-old central midfielder has played an important role in Leeds’ promotion bid this season. And he will be needed in their final few games.

Here are several tweets from Leeds fans after hearing that Phillips was playing for the U23 team.