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‘In other words’ – Many Leeds United fans react as Marcelo Bielsa and Kalvin Phillips ‘rift’ goes in fresh direction

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Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips endured a tough outing at Brighton this weekend with Marcelo Bielsa taking the player off after 45 minutes.

Leeds have never had an easy trip of it down at the AMEX against Brighton, and this weekend saw another poor performance.

A 0-0 draw was a positive result in the grand scheme of things when Leeds didn’t warrant coming away from the game with a clean sheet.

Bielsa did try to alter the course of the game with half-time substitutions but one split opinion as he swapped Kalvin Phillips for Pascal Struijk after the England international struggled to get a grip on the game.

It helped somewhat as the Whites weathered less of a storm in the second half, but it didn’t help in the post-match debate as to why he made the decision.

Unwarranted speculation has since emerged regarding the relationship between the player and manager, with Jamie Redknapp questioning why one of England’s best midfielders is playing so deep and then dragged off at half-time.

He has since offered good justification for his actions at half-time on Saturday (via Phil Hay):

Fans were keen to weigh in on such a bold decision…

Bielsa is well within his rights to make this decision and stick by it, considering it worked in the way that he wanted it to.

We looked a lot more balance through the middle of midfield when Struijk came on and while Phillips going off obviously weakens our overall quality, it wasn’t working for him.

If Potter’s tactic is to target Phillips and overwhelm him with bodies through the middle, then the solution would be to take him off and force a change in approach from Brighton.

I don’t think for one minute Bielsa doesn’t trust Phillips after his showing against Spurs, where he was comfortably the best player on the pitch.

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Leeds United season ticket holder since 2013/14, currently situated in the middle of the FA5 noise. From Pablo Hernandez to 5-1 drubbings, I've seen it all at Elland Road.