Mills leaps to Bielsa defence after ‘sensational’ Phillips reveal at Leeds
Danny Mills has heaped praise on Marcelo Bielsa for being “strong” and deploying Kalvin Phillips in the heart of the Leeds United defence when needed.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Whites and England defender insisted Phillips will understand playing in defence is not a long-term strategy.
The England star was substituted at half-time during Leeds’ 0-0 loss to Brighton last weekend (27 November) before playing the full 90 minutes of the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace earlier this week (30 November).
After the win against Palace, he dismissed any talk of a rift between himself and the manager to Amazon Prime Video Sport.
As quoted by the Athletic on Friday (3 December), Bielsa claimed any speculation of a fallout was “sensationalism”.
“Bielsa is trying to get his teams winning games,” Mills told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“He’s not had his first-choice centre-back and midfielders pretty much all season.
“Kalvin Phillips played there against Fulham in the cup and he’s played there before. It’s not the first time he’s done it.
“It becomes a choice of do you sacrifice in midfield to strengthen at the back? You give with one and you take away with another.
“Marcelo Bielsa felt that was the strongest thing to do. It’s not going to be long term and Kalvin understands that.
“You want a strong manager. If a manager asks you to do something and then decides it’s not quite working out and takes you off for whatever reason, so be it.
“You can’t just be leaving players on just because they are the star player.
“If everybody’s fit he should be in midfield, without a shadow of a doubt but sometimes needs must. That’s the situation with Leeds at the moment.
“There isn’t huge strength in depth so Kalvin at the back could make them stronger. He’s chosen that in some recent games.”
In other news, Kieran Maguire has ripped into a “desperate” Leeds United chief for his “crass and ill-informed” claims.