This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Marcelo Bielsa is usually quite good at working with younger players, but he may have missed the mark with one of his young stars at Leeds United.
Of course, we’re talking about Robbie Gotts.
Logic tells you that the midfielder should have already made his debut for the Yorkshire club as he’s 20 years old and both Adam Forshaw and Marcelo Bielsa have previously spoken highly about him, but despite appearing on the bench multiple times he’s yet to make an appearance for the first-team.
Bielsa says that he understands if Gotts wants to leave as he gets why he’d be frustrated by a lack of gametime, but he went on to reiterate that he’s unable to give him any minutes.
You could portray this as a positive as it shows Bielsa understands his player’s feelings and frustrations, but something that happened earlier this week may mean that the youngster will be questioning his manager’s mindset.
Bielsa brought Pascal Struijk on against Hull late in the day on Tuesday, and that has to be frustrating for Gotts to see another youth player make his debut before he gets his first chance.
The Argentine is making out as if it’s impossible for him to give Gotts a look in, but the fact that he happily threw Struijk on for his debut at the end of their midweek game shows that he’s not one to force youngsters to wait for a meaningful moment for their debut.
Gotts will be itching to get on the pitch at Elland Road, but Bielsa is sending mixed messages by handing out debuts to other young players while also making out as if it’s impossible to give the midfielder a single first-team minute.
In other news, Leeds have been chasing a striker from Belgium who is outscoring Kemar Roofe.