Exclusive: Mills frets over Leeds star’s ‘psychological’ state after recent development
Leeds United defender Diego Llorente may start playing within himself when he returns to fitness because of the psychological impact of being regularly injured.
That is the view of former Whites and England defender Danny Mills, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after Marcelo Bielsa admitted he was worried about the 27-year-old after he suffered another setback against Newcastle United on Tuesday of last week.
The Spain international was making his full Leeds debut at St. James’ Park after his summer move from Real Sociedad but was forced off just 10 minutes into the game.
It is the latest in a long line of issues for Llorente who picked up a groin injury on international duty shortly after his move to Elland Road.
He then suffered another setback on his debut against Chelsea on his debut last month when he replaced Robin Koch in the first half.
“It’s hard because you start to lose faith and trust in your body,” Mills told Football Insider.
“You can maybe equate that to Gareth Bale at Tottenham. When you’ve had so many big injuries, you start to doubt yourself, not in terms of your ability, but you doubt whether your body can actually take it.
“Rather than doing that full on sprint, or that tackle, or that shot, or whatever it might be, there can be a tendency to play within yourself a little bit. It’s nothing to do with ability, it’s just a psychological issue.
“I remember having big injuries and even silly fingers, I dislocated two fingers and you end up with strapping on them way longer than you need to because you sort of become dependent on them.
“That’s tough and it’s a big psychological marker to overcome.”
In other news, Marcelo Bielsa may let a Leeds United mainstay quit after a big update, according to a top pundit.