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Marcelo Bielsa has showered heaps of praise on midfielder Kalvin Phillips in his post-match press conference after Leeds United lost 2-0 against West Ham.
Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson scored for the Hammers as they moved to fifth in the Premier League table.
Leeds, as usual, played in a typically relentless style and Bielsa was left disappointed with the fact that they failed to score despite dominating the match for a longer period.
The Whites looked fresh after getting a nine-day break since their 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa and welcomed back Phillips from injury.
Bielsa said after the match that the England midfielder added balance to the side, and was one of the best players on the pitch.
The Argentine has described his performance as ‘very good’, and adds that it’s very difficult to play the way he plays, given he was out for nearly a month.
“Very good. It’s very difficult to play the way Kalvin played today after having been out for a month. He didn’t commit any errors in the general line. I saw him defend well and I didn’t see him make mistakes with the ball,” said Bielsa, as quoted by Leeds Live.
Perhaps at the start of the game he was a decisive factor in that we played so well in those initial minutes. And in the second half he gave balance to the team. I don’t have it clear yet whether in that 30 minutes that we were dominated if he was a factor in this or if his performance declined, but the feeling I have is that he was one of the best players for us in the game.”
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The all-or-nothing approach from Leeds has paid dividends for them so far, but they need to improve their form.
Leeds have picked up only two wins from their last seven games, and are struggling for consistency. However, the return of Phillips is a massive boost for them.
Bielsa’s side will face Chelsea in their next Premier League game. The Blues are in tremendous form at the moment, and Leeds will have to be at their best to get something out of this fixture.
