Bielsa hails ‘big step forward’ for Rodrigo after naming his key strength

Marcelo Bielsa believes Rodrigo will soon begin to show his quality at Leeds after a taking a “good step forward” with his performance at Sheffield United.

The club-record signing from Valencia was dropped down to the bench for Sunday’s Yorkshire derby at Bramall Lane. It was a move that caused some surprise, with Tyler Roberts handed a start.

But the 29-year-old is still building up his match sharpness, while Patrick Bamford has excelled so far this season.

Rodrigo was introduced at half time and his arrival coincided with Leeds showing much more urgency in during the second half. Indeed, the Spain international linked up play very well and provided a good foil for Bamford.

Bamford stole the headlines with his 88th-minute header sealing a 1-0 win. In the process, he became the first player in Leeds’ history to score in his first three top-flight appearances for the club.

Bielsa was, however, keen to recognise the contribution of Rodrigo and now expects him to further improve.

“Rodrigo showed more of the player he is,” said the Leeds boss. “He allowed attacks to finish in the opposition half and he played 45 minutes in which we played better, that makes it easier to play well.

“He also helped making us play better. It was a good step forward for him.”

Naming his core strength, Bielsa added: “He is a player who has the capacity to unbalance which he has not shown yet.

“[On Sunday] he helped to facilitate our attacks and as time goes on he will help to score goals and to be on the end of attacks.”

Bielsa calm amid strong Leeds start

Leeds have made a solid start to life back in the Premier League, winning two of their opening three matches. Their only defeat came in that hugely entertaining game against champions Liverpool which finished 4-3 at Anfield.

However, Bielsa was not getting carried away, and was keen to keep everyone grounded.

“I think that to refer to the adaptation in the Premier League, more games have to go past. We have only played three games.”

He did feel they did deserve to win at Bramall Lane, adding: “It was a just result.

“The first half was even. Perhaps we could have scored, but we could have conceded and the second half was a lot better for us.

“We created a small, but just difference to deserve the victory. We managed to attack better we had six or seven opportunities and in that sense the offensive animation was better.”

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