'Finished' Pascal Struijk on Marcelo Bielsa’s ruthless Leeds test of mentality | OneFootball

Pascal Struijk says Marcelo Bielsa’s unforgiving standards at Leeds United forged his resilience, recalling being dismissed from first-team drills with a curt ‘Finished’.

“[Bielsa was] amazing,” said Struijk. “Very intense, but skills-wise I feel like he’s the best I’ve worked with for developing players.” He was speaking on the Official Leeds United podcast.

“There was this drill and if you didn’t do it well enough, especially as an Under-23s player coming over to train with the first-team, if it was not good enough he'd just say ‘Pascal, finished’, and I’d have to go back to the Under-23s again.”

“It tests your character,” said Stuart Dallas. “Bielsa was clever because, in a way, he wasn't doing it to kill your confidence. He wanted to see how you’d react.”

“If he’s seen your reaction he’d have thought ‘this kid wants it’.” He added: “There were a few that were sent back quite a few times but Pascal wasn’t one of those.”

Struijk featured on the fringes during the 2019/20 promotion campaign, making five league appearances late in the season, then played 27 times in a ninth-placed Premier League finish the following year.

Now 26, he is often the only naturally left-footed centre-back, stayed after 2023 relegation, and remains important under Daniel Farke. He is the only current first-team player left from Bielsa’s title winners. Illan Meslier has not played a senior match this season and Jack Harrison is on loan at Fiorentina.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk