Vi fikk det vel alle med oss, på torsdagens presser innrømmet Bielsa at Cresswell nå var klarert, i hans hode i alle fall.
I søndagens seriekamp mot Newcastle foretrakk Bielsa å sette inn Shackleton som defensiv midtbane og la Phillips overta i midten bak for Ayling - i stedet for bare å erstatte Ayling med Cresswell direkte.
Onsdag hadde han lært at dette hadde vært en unødvendig forvanskning av et enklere bytte...
Leeds-Live laget en artikkel om det.
Marcelo Bielsa ready to make another Leeds United addition to his circle of trustCharlie Cresswell took his Leeds United opportunity with both hands at Fulham and looks poised to follow in the footsteps of Pascal Struijk who went through a similar process in 2020By Beren CrossLeeds United club writer 15:30, 24 SEP 2021SPORT OPINION
Two years to the day Charlie Cresswell posed for pictures with Stuart McKinstry after signing their first professional deals with Leeds United, he is looking at a Premier League debut.
When the centre-back’s latest contract was announced last month it was his third new deal in as many years and the clearest sign yet what the Whites think of this teenager.
Now 19, Cresswell has been tied down to a contract running to the summer of 2025, when he will be approaching his 23rd birthday.
You would not rule out another new deal or two overwriting his current agreement before then too, such is his trajectory.
Incidentally, that first contract he signed on September 24, 2019, still has nine months to run on it.
There has been no resting on laurels or allowing Cresswell’s contracts to drift away in the background. Director of football Victor Orta has repeatedly looked to protect this Thorp Arch gem.
Within a month of his current contract being announced, back when first-team exposure felt a million miles away behind six senior centre-back options, Cresswell is possibly being briefed on how to shackle Michail Antonio in front of a capacity crowd at Elland Road in the most-watched football division on the planet.
It would be fair to say when that contract was announced last month, Marcelo Bielsa had no plans to put Cresswell anywhere near his first team, or even as recently as Tuesday morning.
Cresswell has impressed with the under-23s, played for Bielsa in the cup and made the bench, but the head coach had never felt he could trust such a youngster in the league matches that matter.
Tuesday in Fulham proved to be the acid test and everything Bielsa needed to see. The Argentine even went as far as pointing out how far Cresswell was from his thoughts when he left him on the bench at Newcastle United last week, despite the need for a centre-back from the dugout.
“I wouldn’t have any inconveniences [playing Cresswell in the Premier League],” he said.
“The performance from the other day is not a definitive performance, but it has a lot of arguments to say he took advantage of the opportunity he was given and he deserved it.
“If you observe, in the game against Newcastle, after taking [Luke] Ayling off, I pushed [Jamie] Shackleton in as a defensive midfielder and I put [Kalvin] Phillips in the backline in place of Cresswell coming on directly for Ayling, which would have been more natural.
“That indicates a position of mine with respect to Cresswell. After the game against Fulham, he’s taken a significant step forward. I have to read that message.”
Once you have Bielsa’s confidence and he feels he can trust you will do yourself justice, he will have no hesitations in dropping you into the deepest body of water he can find.
Ask Pascal Struijk.
With two Championship starts to his name, Struijk was adjudged to be ready for Anfield on the first day of the Premier League champions’ title defence.
Of course, injuries forced Bielsa’s hand, but there were ways and means to avoid using Struijk if the boss felt uneasy about playing such an inexperienced youth.
If Fulham was the night things changed for Cresswell, the dogfight with Barnsley of July 2020 was Struijk’s moment of truth.
If Pablo Hernandez’s goal at Swansea City lay the foundations for promotion and made it a reality, beating Barnsley put one hand on the trophy.
The Tykes defied their lowly position in the league table as relegation candidates and forced Bielsa’s Leeds into one of their worst winning performances of his tenure.
On a fraught, tight day under the most immense, 16 years worth of pressure, Bielsa turned to 20-year-old Struijk from the bench in the 61st minute.
After turning heads in training and leaving the likes of Patrick Bamford in awe with his physical attributes and passing ability, Bielsa felt it was time.
Opportunity knocked and Struijk answered in the most emphatic way. He has never looked back and within three months of feeling like a risk in the second tier, Struijk had become a trustworthy cog in a Premier League side, even taking calls from Belgium boss Roberto Martinez.
Cresswell must now take that next step, but just as Struijk did, he has sent Bielsa a message the head coach knows he must answer.
https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/marcelo-bielsa-leeds-united-addition-21668386