Michael O’Neill has moved to praise the work done by Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United, describing the Argentine’s job at Elland Road as ‘amazing’.
Leeds sit top of the Championship table and are looking to end Bielsa’s second year in-charge of the club with a promotion back to the Premier League; four games separate them from that and seven points are needed.
Yesterday, Leeds made short work of O’Neill’s Stoke City side, winning 5-0 at Elland Road thanks to goals from Mateusz Klich, Helder Costa, Liam Cooper, Pablo Hernandez and Patrick Bamford.
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On the back of that result, O’Neill has had plenty of praise for the work Bielsa has done.
As quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post: "He's done an amazing job here.
"There's two years of work here and you can see that in the team.
"Obviously there's a group of players that have been brought to the club or who were at the club that are hungry to do well and that's the key, you need that.
"We are a long, long way from where Leeds United are at this minute in time and that's going to take time to change that."
O’Neill has struggled to get Stoke fully moving in the right direction since arriving at the bet365 Stadium, with the result yesterday leaving the Potters looking over their shoulders still and sweating at the thought of relegation.
They, and Leeds, return to action on Sunday.
Leeds head to Swansea City, whilst Stoke take on Birmingham City,
The Verdict
Bielsa has done such a good job at Leeds. Everyone in the Championship recognises that and the side do look ready for the Premier League, even if they quite aren’t over the line yet.
Last night was a lesson for Stoke and a show of how far they have to come to reach Leeds’ level.
They need to survive this season first and then O’Neill really needs to take a look at his squad and get some of his own players in. He’s a good boss and has more than enough about him to get Stoke moving back in the right direction.
Thoughts? Let us know!