Former Leeds United defender Danny Mills believes that Leeds United will be “fitter than most” teams when the Championship campaign gets back underway, despite opting not to play any friendly games.
Like all other 23 sides in the division, the Whites have been vigorously preparing for the season to restart after it was temporarily postponed for several months.
Unusually, Leeds have opted not to take part in any games before their trip to Cardiff City, which would have benefitted the players regaining match fitness and sharpness.
Despite this, Phil Hay of The Athletic revealed that an attempt to organise such a game against Premier League side Everton was in the pipeline but “didn’t work out.”
they did discuss one with Everton but it didn’t work out
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) June 13, 2020
Speaking to Football Insider, Mills gave his views on Bielsa’s reasons not to play any matches behind closed doors, despite Hay’s claim.
Was Marcelo Bielsa right not to play any friendly games?
Yes
No
“You can set up as you want and you can tell the opposition to play in a certain way and be how you want to be. You have a little bit more control over it”, he said.
“I do not think Marcelo Bielsa will be concerned over their fitness. We know how hard he works for his teams and I am pretty sure they will be the fittest team coming back into this.
“We know how much control he likes to put on things and he will want to control every element of what his players are doing right now. He probably believes that his reserves or B team are fitter than most of the other teams.”
Mills added that Bielsa’s players may get a “harder work out” playing against each other in training, rather than a 90-minute game against another side, and said that it was not a surprise that such a decision had been made.
It is an interesting approach for the Argentinian tactician to make, not wanting for his players to pick up any injuries before the restart and ensuring that all of his key players are available for selection.
This is the closest that Leeds have been to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2004. With this in mind, Mills is right. Match fitness and sharpness can be retained during competitive games.