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According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa has asserted that the club will not be making any defensive additions in January, despite their current predicament being potentially costly.
What did he say?
“When there’s one specific moment of the season, in one specific sector of the team, it’s not common to have these five players missing; Berardi, Blackman, Peacock-Farrell, Ayling and Jansson.
“These are injuries based on kicks they received, not on muscular ones. These are injuries caused by traumatic situations, they are not muscular injuries so it’s not because of what you’re doing in the training session, it’s just a lack of luck.
“We will be working with many youngsters and for me adversity is never an excuse. That’s why, I’m telling you frankly, we have no reason not to win every game.”
What did he really mean?
The Argentine boss made it clear that he would not be making any defensive signings in January, despite the recent mini-injury crisis at the back.
Gaetano Berardi and Luke Ayling are set to be out until early 2019 though and Swedish international Pontus Jansson will miss the upcoming clash with Bristol City, leaving the Whites with just one recognised fully fit centre-back.
Throughout his long career, Bielsa has been known for preferring to work with small squads where all of the players buy into his methods, and it seems he won’t be compromising on his morals with Leeds in January.
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Promotion push
However, the demands of the Championship are greater than any league Bielsa has worked in before, something that should be obvious to the 63-year-old given the length of the current injury list at Elland Road.
If Leeds truly want a promotion push this year, in what could be their best chance in years, then Bielsa must sign at least one defender in January.
The Yorkshire Evening Post speculate that midfielder Kalvin Phillips will be asked to cover at the centre of the defence, but Leeds cannot rely on players playing out of position if they want to finally return to the Premier League.
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