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Kepa Arrizabalaga reveals what Marcelo Bielsa did for his career
There is no doubt that Marcelo Bielsa’s management at Leeds United has been in full effect this season.
The Argentine, who was considered to be a coup of an addition in the summer, has a great reputation as a manager, but he had yet to taste English football.
However, it appears that he has passed that test so far, helping to guide the Whites towards the summit of the Championship table and having lost just once along the way.
Bielsa, who has had injury concerns throughout the campaign, has not been afraid to use youth in some of his matches and those decisions have paid off.
One man, who was trained by the Argentine a few years back, has revealed that the coach had a big impact on his career, that could be replicated with the talent available at Leeds.
Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga, who became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper this summer, was coached by Bielsa at Athletic Bilbao and has stated he played a big role in his development.
“When I was playing in the lower age groups I had different managers and I took something different from all of them,” he told Chelsea’s club website.
“But I was only 16 when I was involved with the first team and I learnt a lot from trainers such as Joaquin Caparros and Marcelo Bielsa. The fact I joined the first team at such a young age meant it was a major turning point.”
The Verdict:
Kepa has no doubt turned into one of the game’s most promising goalkeepers and Leeds will have been encouraged to hear that Bielsa played a key role in the Spaniard’s development.
The Whites will be hoping he will be able to have a hand in bringing through a few of their youngsters from the academy and taking them to the next level, with many of them having already being touted as great prospects.
The likes of Tyler Roberts, Jamie Shackleton, Tom Pearce and Jack Clarke could look to take confidence from how Kepa has turned out and use it as a further source of motivation to learn as much as they can from Bielsa during his time at Elland Road.
Leeds fans – thoughts?
