Pascal Struijk recalls Bielsa's 'finished' verdict and Leeds mentality test | OneFootball

“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. This was a big part about how you get that mental strength and resilience from.”

He was speaking on the Official Leeds United podcast.

“It tests your character,” Dallas said. “He wanted to see how you’d react.”

Struijk was a teenager with the Under-23s when Bielsa arrived in 2018, and he was regularly called into first-team sessions where errors were barely tolerated.

He played five league games late in the 2019/20 promotion season, then made 27 appearances as Leeds finished ninth the following campaign.

Now 26, he is integral, often the only naturally left-footed centre-back, and he stayed after relegation in 2023 under Daniel Farke.

From Bielsa’s Championship title winners, he is the only current first-team player. Illan Meslier remains at the club but has not played a senior match this season, while Jack Harrison is on loan at Fiorentina.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk