Injury News

Phil Hay: Bielsa unable to rely on senior Leeds United player

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Image for Phil Hay: Bielsa unable to rely on senior Leeds United player

Marcelo Bielsa’s central midfield depth is still being hampered by Adam Forshaw’s prolonged absence, and there’s no telling when he’ll be back in the side.

Depth has never been at the top of Marcelo Bielsa’s priorities at Leeds United as he leans more on the versatility of his key players to help plug gaps across the squad, should injuries pile up.

Central midfield has been more or less locked down by Polish international Mateusz Klich after his amazing consistency over the past two (and a bit) seasons, despite being cast out of the side under Thomas Christiansen.

Due to his top performances at the start of the Premier League season, the pressure to sign a new number eight wasn’t too high to force Leeds’ hand.

Another reason for why Leeds’ push to sign a centre-midfielder didn’t quite come to fruition was the presence of Adam Forshaw in the squad.

While a deal to sign Michael Cuisance was all-but-done, Leeds pulled the plug as they didn’t want to gamble £20million on a potential injury concern, which coincidentally only came about because he was seen as a signing needed because Forshaw is currently out.

Over a year ago was the last time Forshaw played a game for Leeds in the 1-0 defeat to Charllton Athletic as he battles to recover from a baffling hip injury, but he’s still very much a part of the first-team squad in the Premier League.

His injury forced him into surgery at the start of 2020, where the club expected him to be back for pre-season (before the lengthy delay to the season), and he still isn’t back.

Answering in his Q&A for The Athletic, Phil Hay delivered this update on how Marcelo Bielsa views Forshaw’s current availability. He stated: “The frustration with Forshaw is that at various stages of his year-long absence, he felt as if he was virtually there.

“This juncture is very similar but he cannot seem to get himself over the final hurdle. It’s not that he’s miles away but given that Bielsa wants him to make several under-23 appearances before he returns to the first team, it will be later in the year before he’s in a position to make a comeback.

“If he was fully fit, I’m not so sure Leeds would have been looking at committing £20million to Cuisance.

“But Bielsa is still not able to rely on Forshaw too heavily.”

It’s such a shame that Forshaw hasn’t been able to shake off this injury because it’s clear how highly Bielsa rates him, and he’s deserved another shot at the Premier League.

However, Bielsa is right to not be holding out for Forshaw any time soon, because if he does make a surprising return, it’s a boost more than a relief to the squad.

His ball retention is something that we could do with to help close out results this season, just as it was crucial in the Championship, which was evident at the start of his injury absence as Leeds struggled to maintain complete control in the middle.

We can’t expect Forshaw to be back in the coming weeks, but knowing that he’s still pushing towards a return before Christmas is positive for the club.

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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.