‘The greatness of Bielsa’ – Exclusive: Manager reacts to huge Leeds player news | OneFootball

Alex McLeish has tipped Marcelo Bielsa to shake up his tactics over the coming weeks after Leeds United lost Kalvin Phillips to injury.

The former Aston Villa and Scotland manager, speaking exclusively to Football Insider assistant editor Russell Edge, believes the Argentine boss will “have something up his sleeve” to deal with the bitter blow.

As confirmed by Leeds on Tuesday, Phillips is set to be ruled out for as long as six weeks after he picked up a shoulder injury in Monday night’s 1-0 defeat to Wolves.

He has played every minute of the Whites’ Premier League campaign so far but could miss the club’s next five games as well as the international break with England.

McLeish acknowledges how big a blow losing Phillips could be but insists the “greatness of Bielsa” will help Leeds cope.

McLeish told Football Insider: “Most coaches will have something and say: ‘What happens if we lose him during the season, do we have the squad capable of sorting it out or do we have the squad where we can change the system?’

“That’s the greatness of Bielsa, he’ll probably have different systems in his mind as well and he’s now got to cope with it. The key is does he have someone to fill the position or will he have to change it around a little bit?

“Bielsa knows not only one system but many others.”

Phillips, who has made 186 appearances for Leeds to date, has chipped in with one assist and picked up two yellow cards in the league this term.

He has joined Diego Llorente and Adam Forshaw on the sidelines, while Liam Cooper remains a doubt.

In other Leeds United news, rivals told to pay “astronomical figure” for senior star.