Bielsa decision against Man Utd ‘beggars belief’, as pundit slams Leeds in Bruno Fernandes comparison

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa made the wrong call by not starting Raphinha against Manchester United, according to one pundit.

The Whites endured a mixed afternoon at Elland Road on Sunday in their Premier League clash. They were 2-0 down before half time and a result therefore looked a stretch for the hosts.

However, Brazil international Raphinha came on at half time and changed the game. Indeed, he netted the equaliser after 54 minutes, just a few moments after Rodrigo had made it 2-1.

Nevertheless, Man Utd interim boss Ralf Rangnick hit back with his own influential substitutions.

Midfielder Fred came into the action after 67 minutes and scored after three minutes. What’s more, Anthony Elanga secured the away win late on for the Red Devils.

The rain and wind did not help at Elland Road, but Garth Crooks insisted that Bielsa could have helped himself by playing Raphinha from the start.

“I have very little time for any manager, especially with limited resources, who leaves their most talented player on the bench against a top-class side and still expects to get something out of the game,” the pundit wrote in a BBC Sport column.

“In the first half, Leeds were like lambs to the slaughter playing Manchester United. How you leave Raphinha on the sidelines against a team like United beggars belief.”

Raphinha waiting for Real Madrid and Barcelona

Leeds United will struggle to keep hold of Raphinha as Chelsea, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona all want him and he wants La Liga

Portugal international Fernandes featured in Crooks’ Premier League team of the week.

The midfielder netted Man Utd’s second goal late on in the first half before assisting Elanga’s strike in the second half.

Crooks added: “Bruno Fernandes on the other hand played throughout in very difficult conditions and was outstanding.

“He covered every blade of grass, scored a brilliant goal and demonstrated just what top-class players have to offer.”

Bielsa admits Leeds weakness

Leeds, as usual, stayed true to their intense man-marking style of play throughout.

While it helped get them back in the game in the second half, Bielsa admitted that his side struggled defensively.

The manager said: “After we got back level we had the chance to go 3-2 up and straight way they went up and scored again.

“We played better trying to get back into the game than when we were trying to keep a result but something has repeated that is difficult to resolve.

“We have to defend better, we are missing Kalvin Phillips and Robin Koch was substituted and we could not count on Pascal [Struijk] in midfield because he went back into defence.

“Not being able to come with the three defensive midfielders we have, there is a weakness in the recovery of the ball.”

Leeds return to action on Wednesday when facing Liverpool at Anfield.