Ex-manager shoots down Roberts after surprise Leeds reveal
Alex McLeish has insisted Marcelo Bielsa should not be surprised at Tyler Roberts’ work ethic after Leeds United beat Crystal Palace on Tuesday.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Scotland manager claimed “going the extra mile” should be the bare minimum for players.
As quoted by Leeds Live journalist Beren Cross (30 November), Bielsa revealed his surprise at the amount of running the forward did against the Eagles.
Roberts played the full 90 minutes as Raphinha’s injury-time penalty sealed victory for the Whites.
McLeish insisted the 22-year-old’s efforts should be expected by Bielsa week in, week out.
“Going the extra mile, I think, is a given,” McLeish told Football Insider’s Russell Edge.
“Every player can do that. There are some things that players can’t do. They can’t play like Ronaldo or they can’t be as good as Messi, but they bring their own qualities to the game.
“If you don’t run in the modern game, back in the day, we were asking wingers to track. Sometimes they didn’t do it and sometimes you had your more really disciplined ones.
“It was more of the maverick players that didn’t do it. They said: ‘Well, if I run away back there, then I’m going to have to produce my magic way back there instead of up there.’
“To cut long story short, it was a great performance from Leeds in general. They kept going, they’ve got good legs, haven’t they?”
Roberts has played 17 times across all competitions for the Whites this season.
However, despite featuring in all of Leeds’ league games, Tuesday was only the forward’s second start.
In other news, Gabby Agbonlahor claims Leeds United star with fewer touches than Meslier “not Premier League quality”.