“Indispensable” Leeds star would stroll into Bielsa’s finest XI

One determine who has gone down in historical past at Leeds United is former supervisor Marcelo Bielsa. The Argentine supervisor is adored by the Elland Highway devoted, after spending three and a half profitable years on the membership between 2018/19 and 2021/22.

In fact, he was the person in cost when the Whites have been promoted again to the Premier League for the primary time in over a decade, and he helped them survive comfortably.

That preliminary marketing campaign again within the prime flight in 2020/21 noticed the Yorkshire facet come ninth within the desk.

Statistically, they have been probably the most thrilling groups to observe in 2020/21. They definitely stack up effectively in opposition to their begin to this season.

How Leeds’ key stats from 2020/21 evaluate to 2025/26

We’re seven video games into the brand new season, and Leeds, now managed by Daniel Farke, have impressed followers and pundits with how effectively they’ve performed.

Many individuals, together with Invoice Connelly of ESPN, had them all the way down to be relegated, predicting they’d end 18th.

But, on the October worldwide break, the Whites have finished effectively to maintain themselves above the relegation zone. They’ve eight factors to their identify and sit fifteenth within the desk.

The anticipated factors tally, as per Understat, has them on 9.96xPTS, suggesting they’ve performed higher than their present tally suggests.

Seven video games into the 2020/21 marketing campaign beneath Bielsa noticed Leeds doing barely higher than their present factors whole. On the similar stage that season, that they had ten factors to their identify and have been twelfth within the prime flight, once more impressing given they’d solely simply been promoted.

While the squad 5 seasons in the past had outscored Farke’s staff seven video games into the season, the present Leeds facet are extra defensively sound. They’ve conceded 11 targets this time period, with an anticipated targets in opposition to whole of 8.87xGA.

Compared, Bielsa’s males had let in 13 targets in seven matches, at 12.85xGA based on Understat.

With that in thoughts, there may be one man from the present Leeds facet who would have certainly made Bielsa’s staff stronger.

The present Leeds participant who’d strengthen Bielsa’s staff

There have been a number of standout gamers in a Leeds shirt this season. New signing Sean Longstaff has transitioned to life at Elland Highway seamlessly.

He’s already created 13 possibilities within the prime flight, averaging 2.5 per 90 minutes.

Nevertheless, it’s defensively that the well-known 2020/21 facet may have finished with reinforcements. That’s the reason present Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu would have slotted seamlessly into Bielsa’s squad.

The Welshman is an “indispensable” member of Farke’s facet, based on soccer expertise scout Jacek Kulig.

His total Elland Highway profession has come beneath the German’s tutelage, racking up 91 appearances and even chipping in with a few targets again in his first season on the membership.

One of many nice issues in regards to the Whites quantity 4 is his versatility. He’s equally adept at enjoying as a centre-back and the bottom of the midfield, working as a quantity six who can display screen the again 4.

In a Leeds shirt, he’s performed 48 occasions within the latter position, and 40 on the again.

The above graphic exhibits Leeds’ commonest beginning lineup from the 2020/21 marketing campaign. It’s straightforward to think about Ampadu slotting into the again 4 subsequent to then-club captain Liam Cooper, displacing Diego Llorente.

Alternatively, he may have performed alongside Kalvin Phillips in midfield to make them much more defensively astute. That could be a duo which might have gained loads of duels in the course of the park.

Some stats present Ampadu’s high quality, too. Final season within the Championship, and this time period within the Premier League, he’s been extraordinarily constant.

For instance, in 2024/25, he made 5.1 ball recoveries per 90 minutes on common, which has barely dropped to five every recreation in 2025/26.

It’s definitely not too far-fetched to think about Ampadu working on this profitable Bielsa facet. Understanding the flexibility he provides, in addition to the standard he can carry to a facet on and off the ball, he would have made a tremendous addition to a heavy-metal, transitional staff.

In fact, we’ll by no means know the way effectively this might have labored out, however Ampadu’s contributions may have made Bielsa’s well-known Leeds facet even higher.