Marcelo Bielsa: Five points ahead of Villa clash

Marcelo Bielsa: Five points ahead of Villa clash

Quotes from the pre-match press conference.

Take a look at Marcelo Bielsa's thoughts, from his press conference on Thursday ahead of the Leeds United vs Aston Villa match at Elland Road.

 

On Aston Villa’s form this season compared to last year…

"As we’ve been speaking about lately, you construct a team to go from one half of the table to the other half of the table. I think Aston Villa observed the changes they needed to make and they found solutions to the positions they thought they needed to improve. They managed to conserve the players that showed they had the level to play in this competition. They have some young players who complement the project and make it efficient."

 

On any similarities between the two teams…

"This is their second year back in the Premier League and they’ve made corrections. That’s an advantage, because corrections come from mistakes that have been made. It’s impossible to come from the Championship to the Premier League and not to make errors because the levels are totally different. I do see a certain similarity in the characteristics in the players that play in each position. If you see something similar in this then I do as well."

 

On Robin Koch…

"He’s within the margins that were expected. Koch is a player who is very optimistic and very happy, very hard working and also very serious in taking up his responsibilities and I have the thoughts that he will be back with the same type of power and performance prior to his injury."

 

On Kalvin Phillips…

"There is a phrase that I try to use frequently, a phrase that is made up that states that the player will return subject to his evolution. When he got injured, like I told you, he had the options of having a quicker return. But his injury is in his calf, that is a place that we have to avoid a reoccurrence because the reoccurrence will make the situation worse. So we are being very cautious so that when he returns he returns for definite."

 

On being in the top 10…

"The goal is always to resolve the next game and to resolve the next game normally makes you maintain your position or improve it. Of course, we hope to play sufficiently well to deserve to win and in the case we get a positive result we will see how it reflects on the table."

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