'Finished': Pascal Struijk on Marcelo Bielsa’s brutal Leeds United mentality test | OneFootball

Pascal Struijk has lifted the lid on Marcelo Bielsa’s brutal training-ground standards at Leeds United, recalling how one word could send him back to the Under-23s. “[Bielsa was] amazing,” he said.

“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. “He wanted to see how you’d react.”

“There were a few that were sent back quite a few times but Pascal wasn’t one of those.”

Struijk was an Under-23 when Bielsa arrived in 2018, then broke through after promotion in 2020. He played five league games late in 2019/20, then made 27 appearances in the ninth-placed Premier League season that followed.

Now 26, he is often the only naturally left-footed centre-back and stayed after relegation in 2023. Of that title-winning core, he is the only regular first-team presence, with Illan Meslier yet to play a senior match this season and Jack Harrison on loan at Fiorentina.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk