Why Marcelo Bielsa is in agreement with Jurgen Klopp

LEEDS UNITED head coach Marcelo Bielsa has handed Ilan Meslier a vote of confidence and is backing him to bounce back and brush off the disappointment from his last outing at Arsenal in Friday night’s Premier League game at Wolves.
Marcelo Bielsa.Marcelo Bielsa.
Marcelo Bielsa.

Meslier made some costly mistakes in United’s 4-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium, a rare off-day for the young Frenchman who has again impressed this season.

From his many years in the game, Bielsa is secure in the knowledge that some errors are all part of the journey for any young keeper.

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For the record, Meslier has kept seven clean sheets this term, with only seven top-flight rivals having better records.

As just as Bielsa's opposite number Jurgen Klopp has very publicly backed his own number one Alison, following some well-documented clangers for Liverpool in recent times and declared that he is sticking by him and is looking at the bigger picture, so the Argentine is doing the same with Meslier.

Bielsa said: “There is no goalkeeper that does not makes any mistakes. And goalkeepers consolidate themselves when they get over mistakes they have make.

"It is normal that they have critics who forget about what you have done in past and fix themselves on the present. A better answer than mine would be the one that the Liverpool manager gave over the same subject."

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Meanwhile, Bielsa confirmed that Diego Llorente and Mateusz Klich are available for the trip to the Midlands, but Kalvin Phillips and Rodrigo miss out.

Llorente has only managed two senior Premier League appearances for Leeds since completing a move from Real Sociedad last summer.

The centre-half was injured immediately after his move while on Spain duty before making his debut from the bench in December after replacing Robin Koch against Chelsea, only to suffer another injury.

To compound matters, Llorente went off with a muscle injury just ten minutes into his first start for the club in the 2-1 win at Newcastle United on January 26. He has played just 91 minutes of football for Leeds.

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Klich came off at half-time in last weekend’s game at Arsenal with a hip issue that has been affecting him recently, but he is in the United squad tomorrow.

Phillps picked up a calf injury in the recent won over Crystal Palace and Rodrigo has been out since suffering a muscle problem in the win at Leicester at the end of January.

Bielsa said: “Klich and Lorente are available. Phillips and Rodrigo are not.

"Every team has problems with injuries, some more than others. Sometimes, there are teams who have many injured players at one same period. But with the things we know about, we have to find solutions too.”

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Asked if Phillips and Rodrigo could return for next week’s successive home games with Southampton and Aston Villa, he added: “I couldn’t give you a certain answer. If I tell you: ‘no they won’t be’, one of them could make it for one of those and if I tell you yes, I cannot tell you with certainty.

“Sometimes, a response that seems like a formality is the only way I can answer, subject how they evolve.”