Leeds United: Ex-Marcelo Bielsa employee makes "too confident" Derby County play-off claim and reveals 2019/20 promotion motivator | OneFootball

Leeds United's former fitness coach Benoit Delaval has said that they "were not ready" to play the second leg of their play-off semi-final against Derby County in 2019.

That game at Elland Road will not only be fresh in the memory of Leeds fans, because of the upcoming second-leg of their latest Championship play-off semi-final, against Norwich City, but it's a match that will live in second tier infamy for the drama and the result that it produced.

Six goals, two red cards, a 4-3 win on aggregate for the Rams to send them to Wembley and a partridge in a pear tree. None of the festive-like celebrations were happening in the home end at Elland Road though, rather in the away dressing room where 'Stop crying, Frank Lampard' rang out to the tune of 'Don't Look Back in Anger'.

That night fueled the Whites' title-winning team in the next campaign, according to Delaval, and he feels that the result was, in a very odd way, a good one.

Ex-Leeds man speaks out on Derby County play-off disappointment

The French fitness coach believes that his team were not best prepared for what was to come on that night in Yorkshire, but that, overall, it did benefit them.

He told Leeds Live: "We were not ready to play a game so important like that. When we won the first-leg, away from home, the impression was, 'That's over. We are already in the final.' It was not like that. We were maybe a bit too confident. We were not ready like we were for the first-leg inconsciently.

"I don't want to say it was great to lose the play-off semi-final - it's impossible to say that - but the second season was the result of the first one...the hours and days after the Derby defeat were terrible but, maybe five weeks later when we came back, we were stronger and more than ready to get promoted without the play-offs. We didn't want to replay a play-off like that."

What followed was a title win in the 2019/20 campaign and what Delaval called an "unbelievable," 10 days involving many parties; the only downside being that the fans weren't there to celebrate with them.

The man who led them on said title charge was also lauded by the Frenchman for his style of play and the buzz of working with him. Even though his 'murderball' preparation tactics were later criticised by Jesse Marsch, because of the apparent state that he found the Leeds squad in after Marcelo Bielsa had left, Delaval did his fair bit to keep the players intact during the Argentine's reign.

"Working with him is very exciting because we work a lot but, on the field, it's something special," said the now RC Lens fitness guru. "We are very proactive and dynamic.

"Marcelo has a proper playing style and to enable the players to play 46 games in the Championship or 38 games in the Premier League is not easy for the fitness coaches, medical team or performance department, but it's an exciting challenge.

"When you do your job to your best and try to develop and try to get the players to fit into the system, afterwards, you have unbelievable emotions. These were memories for life."

It did all come crashing down in the end for Bielsa and his staff at Leeds. The enormity of losses and wounded players that the club had during their second season back in the top flight put huge pressure on the manager, and the likes of Delaval.

The Frenchman said that the feeling of inevitably losing his job was a "difficult" one, as per Leeds Live, but he still loves the club, wants them to succeed, and will be watching their second post-season game against the Canaries.

Leeds must use the motivation of the Derby loss to fuel them against Norwich

The Whites' record in the play-offs is not a good one. They have failed to win the post-season mini-tournament every time they have been in one, and the most recent of those losses, to Frank Lampard's side in 2019, is, arguably, the worst of the lot.

As is often the case in sports, it's hard to learn from victories. You came out as winners, so it's hard to look back at what went wrong and address it because, in the end, things went right.

Daniel Farke must get his side to reflect on errors of the past, and use that as motivation, a deterrent, whatever they want to use it as; but it has to fuel them in some way.

There aren't many surviving members still left in the current team that actually experienced the depths of 2019, but those that did, like Liam Cooper, must help to convey this message too.