Danny Mills

Sat 16 April 2022 9:29, UK

Jesse Marsch was right about Marcelo Bielsa’s “ridiculous” Leeds United training methods but he did not have to go public with his criticism.

That is the view of ex-Whites and England defender Danny Mills, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Marsch’s comments about the club’s injury record this season.

The 48-year-old told talkSPORT on Tuesday (12 April) that Leeds’ injury woes this season were due to “over-training”.

The Yorkshire giants have been without key players Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper and Patrick Bamford for extended periods this season.

“I think he was being very honest but probably didn’t need to be,” Mills told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.

“What he actually said wasn’t wrong in any way shape or form.

“To be fair, since he’s come in everything he’s said has been right and gone down well with the fans. He’s clearly very aware of the situation.

“The results have been good and maybe he hadn’t got the credit he deserves. There was still this shadow with Bielsa.

“When you look at Bielsa’s record in the past with how players have burnt out and he’s barely stayed more than two years and knowing the training regime, knowing what players go through, what he actually said was completely fair.

“Whether he needed to say it is a different matter and maybe one or two Leeds fans have taken a little bit of umbrage with it.

“In general, we all know that’s the case. We’ve seen with Bielsa’s teams before that you burn out. The effort levels, the standards and fitness levels expected are ridiculously high.

“Everyone knows about the murderball. If you’ve been injured and don’t perform to 110 per cent of your stats in the murderball then you’ll not be considered for the game.

“That forces players to try a little bit too hard too soon. Rather than players being at 80 per cent or 90 per cent then being eased back into it.”

In other news, Leeds United have set their sights on signing a defender loved by Victor Orta and £27million could seal the deal.