Mens

Marcelo Bielsa: Arsenal are one of the best teams in the league

Head coach on Arsenal.

Marcelo Bielsa Web 162.jpg

Marcelo Bielsa has spoken with the media, ahead of the Premier League fixture against Arsenal on Sunday (4.30pm).

Mikel Arteta’s side visit Elland Road for the first time in league action since the 2003/04 season.

Beginning with team news, Bielsa gave the following updates on who would be available for selection.

He said: “Kalvin Phillips is back and Rodrigo is back.  Diego Llorente and Jamie Shackleton, not yet.

“What happened with Llorente was that he was injured, he recovered and in the training session he had a relapse.

“He’s now cured but because of the relapse he is being given extra time to fully get back to fitness to be sure.

“Phillips is a player who usually plays, the players who play regularly, it’s always important to count on them.”

Arsenal come to Leeds having won two out of their matches away from home.

Bielsa was asked to give his thoughts on what he has seen of them so far as well as what he may have learned from January’s Emirates FA Cup fixture against them.

“Arsenal is one of the best teams in the league,” explained the Whites’ head coach.

“They have players of hierarchy in all their lines and they have a manager who proposes the style which distinguishes the team.

“Arteta is a coach who wants his team to play as he projects and from a tactical point of view, if you watch Arsenal closely they show things that I have never seen in any other team.

“In that game in January we played well in the first half and not in the second half.

“The improvement of Arsenal in the second half neutralised all the good things we did in the first half.

“But, the game that’s being played on Sunday is not comparable to the one we played in January.”

Related Content

  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03