Tuesday 11 February 2020

Should Marcelo Bielsa play Jean-Kevin Augustin against Brentford ?

Marcelo Bielsa must start properly utilising Jean-Kevin Augustin and Ian Poveda. That’s according to former Elland Road favourite Danny Mills, who has questioned the Argentine chief’s team selections.Augustin was drafted in from RB Leipzig in the January transfer window. The young forward is regarded as one of the hottest prospects in European football but he only got 20 minutes of action against Nottingham Forest. It’s a similar story with Poveda, who is on loan from Manchester City. The 19-year-old is yet to play a single minute for the club.“My frustrations at Leeds are they’ve brought in two forward players before the last game, one wasn’t on the bench and Poveda was, but Biesla didn’t put him on,” said Mills before Leeds’ 2-0 defeat to Forest. “Leeds had 20 shots against Wigan, they dominated the game, but sometimes they lack a clinical edge and that is the big worry. “Patrick Bamford has scored something like 12 goals and he works incredibly hard for the team, but he misses so many chances. “The frustrations at Leeds are you bring in two players and Bielsa says they’re not quite up to speed, they’re not quite ready, but do you really need to be 100 % fit to play to play 15 or 20 minutes at the end of a game? “You don’t really, you get through on adrenaline. “The concern and worry for Leeds fans is there is no plan b at times and he’s not going to use these players that he’s brought in.However former Whites striker Noel Whelan  urged Bielsa to not start Augustin in their crucial Championship match against Brentford tonight.while Whelan would like to see the Frenchman play alongside Patrick Bamford up front, he thinks the 22-year-old is not currently “fit enough” to be starting matches.“Quite frankly, I don’t think he’s fit enough,” Whelan told Football Insider. “He’s been given games in the U23s to get his fitness up. He’s had three games in six months. “I don’t think he’s quite ready to start.”Whelan thinks Bielsa made a mistake by not changing formation to accommodate both strikers playing alongside each other as the Whites looked to chase the game. “What I would like to have seen, when he did come on for 20 minutes, is that you keep Patrick Bamford on and you got with a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 when you need to get a goal back,” Whelan continued. “Go with two centre-forwards instead of like for like. That to me just didn’t make sense. “You’re chasing the game [against Forest] – it doesn’t make sense to take off a striker when you need both on.”

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