Having to post this 18 hours early due to being at the hospital again Friday. So apologies to Elland and everyone. This week something that we should all have an opinion on and is very very relevant to Leeds Utd. When Ancelotti left Everton for Real Madrid all the potential replacements were invited to give a presentation on where Everton needed improving. Benitez stormed it by a mile apparently even though he told the Board a few home truths. One thing he kicked them for was having too many injuries. He said the sports medicine and club doctor should be sacked. A week after Benitez took over the doctor was sacked and then 2 weeks ago the Director of Medical Services, Danny Donachie was suspended and this week he was sacked. This is not an unusual thing as its happened at other clubs. Everton do seem to have had a lot of injuries however, but as a % of the squad not as many as Leeds Utd. So with all the usual stupid pundits shouting the odds again about “Burnout” and players training too hard, and muderball sessions, and Bielsa is breaking the players they cannot keep up that intensity etc etc etc. I believe we should all have a view on this because we know how hard our players train and have to stick to stringent diets and have fat checks every morning before training. Bielsa has always done this and it has never been proved that he is the cause of players breaking down, burnout or being the cause of injuries. Indeed Rob Price gave an interview last season where he showed stats for every player and every injured player. It was clearly shown that the vast majority of injuries were tissue damage from impact, not muscle strains. It also showed that Leeds muscle strain injuries were lower than any other club in the Premier League or EFL, simply because the players were fitter. This is however a pertinent subject and everyone should hold a view, because to the outsider it could seem that the players are overtrained. So to give some background I will introduce our clubs Head of Medicine Performance, Rob Price. Rob was employed by the club in 2018 to work with Marcelo Bielsa. Rob was employed by Hull City for 6 years before he joined Leeds and before that he spent 7 years with Liverpool as Head Physio. Before that he was at the FA for 4 years, and before that 4 years at the NHS. He has a Masters in Sports Directorships, hes a Master of Science, a Batchelor of Science in fact a highly decorated academic. So I think we can see that he knows his trade and everything he does is based upon individual player data. And every day he sits with Bielsa and puts on a powerpoint presentation of progress on fitness, injuries, causation, remedy, fitness routines both group and individual. Who is putting on weight, who is losing too much weight, who is sleeping and resting and who isnt. Im not sure of the hirechy but we also have a club doctor, Rishi Dhand who has been at the club 5 years. Prior to joining Leeds Rishi was Cheif Medical Officer for British Universities Sports Colleges. Other roles prior was Team Doctor for Castelford Tigers, Events Doctor for British Gymnastics, Lead Doctor Yorkshire RFU, 2018 Field of Play Doctor for the European Championships, Glasgow. Crowd Doctor Durham County Cricket, matchday and crowd doctor dor National Hockey and other sports events even the London Marathon. It does seem we have a very highly qualified medical department so for me I dont think Bielsa is breaking our players, but you may have a different view. Well a month to go and already the transfer rumours are buzzing. Here are some of the ones that are coming from multiple scources, but those sources/publications do a lot of cut and paste. Ben Brereton-Diaz Arthur Cabral Nahitan Nandez Mateo Joseph Fernandez Mariana Diaz Orkun Kokcu John Swift Eddie Nkettiah Facundo Madina Use google if you want to read up on the players and their skills and positions etc. finally for this week keep your eyes peeled for some shyt coming down the line in Italy. We all know Barcelona and Real Madrid are skint and only able to bring in free transfers and must stick to an agreed wage level, which is killing them well in Seria A there is the same probems with all the top clubs. There is now a criminal investigation going on looking at 62 transfers that happened in the summer. Spurs should also be worried as their new Sporting Director Paratici was involved in some of the Juventus ones which are causing lots if concern. If found Guilty Juve will be relegated and some directors put in prison. I think I can guarantee not much transfer activity for any of the top Italian clubs, unless its selling as they need cash. Yes some free transfers on strange loan contracts will happen, like 3 year loans with a buy at the end…..going to be fun this one
First of all hope all goes well on Friday Second of all. I don’t think it is “burn out” per se but as per the Bamford interview on the other thread, a combination of players not able to keep up that commitment level endlessly (sometimes they just don’t want to do it) and eventually quality will overcome the collective strength this team has. As others have said it only needs one person to be “off” and then the cracks appear m. It’s bloody hard to put the superhuman effort in again the following year, this is the so-called 2nd season syndrome. At some point you need to replace with better quality
Makes sense that mate because this is season 4 of high intensity training for most of the squad, but only season 2 for the Spaniards and Koch and first one for Firpo
Good luck tomorrow, Doc. <gives Leeds salute> Hope it goes better than your wildest dreams (but forget my wildest dream - i.e. playing for Leeds. Wasn't a geriatric when the dream started, so getting wilder & wilder every day).
Nandez is the one on your list that seems to keep cropping up, probably click bait but looking at the clips of his game, yes they all look good in the highlights, I think he would actually be a good midfielder for us, if it was true.
Eric Nahitan Nandez has been a full international for years and hes still in his early 20s. He has been geam mates with some of the worlds best players like Suarez, Cavanni, Vidal……….. hes also been asked to play as an AM providing the creative assists, DM, RWB, LW, RW.Hes a worldy already and his agent Betancurte is still telling anyone who will listen that he wants to play for Bielsa. He said itn2019 and quoted again last week, so fingers crossed. With him you get a cross between Kante and Phillips so in other words better DM than both. a better full back than Chilwell and a better winger/AM than 3 Connor Galaghers combined. He will cost money though.
Eric we heard about Cabral last winter as Orta had been known to have approached Basel about him but was fobbed off. So went back in the summer but was told of a massive price so we walked. Too many stories about Barcelona etc but I think we all know they have no cash. Maybe Basel need the money but factually Cabral wants to play for Brazil and he has seen Raphinha and his progress under Bielsa, so maybe. Still only 23yo and has scored 46 goals in not many more matches. Would love him but??
All the best doc for tomorrow doc. On the last paragraph re barca and Madrid being skint, barca yes but not too sure about madrid I will do some research and then post.
Hope it goes well Doc and thanks for the updates even though you've got other much more important things to think about.
