Leeds United v Newcastle United: Every word Marcelo Bielsa said in his pre-match press conference
and live on Freeview channel 276
Leeds will hunt their third consecutive league win when they host fellow strugglers Newcastle this weekend.
The Whites have made a storming start to 2022, claiming a 3-1 victory over relegation rivals Burnley before beating West Ham 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at the London Stadium last weekend.
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Hide AdNow, United face another important clash against 19th-placed Toon.
Already nine points clear of the drop zone, things are looking much brighter than they have been for Bielsa's men and a win on Saturday would put further daylight between the Whites and the dreaded dotted line.
A victory for the visitors, meanwhile, would lift Newcastle out of the drop zone.
Bielsa will be speaking to the media at 1pm on Thursday and you can follow everything the Whites boss said with our live blog below.
Leeds United v Newcastle United - Marcelo Bielsa press conference LIVE
Key Events
- Marcelo Bielsa will face the media at 1pm
- The Whites will take on the Magpies at Elland Road on Saturday in 3pm kick-off
Your side has recorded back-to-back wins in the league at a time when the squad is heavily depleted - how much satisfaction does it give you, as a coach, that you have created a mentality in the club that is able to overcome such adversity?
The difficulty, sometimes they are interpreted as obstacles, but sometimes it’s a situation to fortify the strength of the group. Up until now in the season, we’ve been constantly challenged, and we try to improve the quality of our responses in the face of adversity.
Do you feel postponement has been abused this season and are you surprised that more clubs haven’t used youth?
I don’t think so, but it’s not important what I think. The important thing is to trust those who administer the rules in that sense. Because there’s rules that define whether a game or cannot be suspended, and the condition you have to demonstrate for the game to be suspended, and because I trust in those who administer these decisions, and so I trust that when games were suspended, they met the criteria for them to be suspended. The question is not do the clubs take advantage of the rules, but it’s the question of if those who evalute them do well or badly. For a club to take advantage, there has to be an evaluation that was wrong or mistaken, because the rules have to be sufficiently clear.
Will you have any players back for the Newcastle and in particular, how are Forshaw and Bamford?
Forshaw and Firpo have muscular injuries. Bamford has a new injury at the bottom of his foot. He’s overcome his muscular problems but now he has an issue at the bottom of his foot.
Are you pushing to have the Aston Villa game rearranged for what would be the FA Cup fourth round weekend?
I don’t have a capacity to pick when the games are rearranged. They’re not decisions that I make.
In your opinion as a coach, would it be better for them to be played sooner rather than later?
Whatever the authorities say. Coaches don’t have the opportunity to decide when the games are played because that does allow for speculation.
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