Adam Pope
The newly formed Ossett United have just told @BBCleeds they will play an #lufc side at Ingfields on Saturday July 14. @ossettunited
mmmm. Ossett Brewery. God kombo
Simon O’Rouke
#lufc pre-season tour, where do you reckon? I'd be shocked if it didn't include a few days in Qatar.
dean
I’d expect they’d join a tournament toward the end of summer at aspire. Belgium the other country id have no surprises about if we visit.
Ossett for a select XI, and York as local games. Confirmed.
Quote from: Promotion 2010 on April 26, 2018, 08:08:53
Adam Pope
The newly formed Ossett United have just told @BBCleeds they will play an #lufc side at Ingfields on Saturday July 14. @ossettunited
Osset United
We are delighted to announce a pre season friendly against @LUFC
Note change to original date due to inflexible commitments over at Leeds. Email the address at the bottom to register your interest. #OssettUnited #PreSeason #LetsGo #lufc
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DdK2_VpX0AAISiA?format=jpg&name=small)
Benfica 10 og 13.juli
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DdS1y4JXkAEdxnG?format=jpg&name=medium)
Quote from: Promotion 2010 on May 16, 2018, 21:41:48
Benfica 10 og 13.juli
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DdS1y4JXkAEdxnG?format=jpg&name=medium)
Phil Hay
Benfica's website has listed a friendly against Leeds United in July. Leeds say the game isn't confirmed and they're still considering a number of destinations for pre-season. Will be a European tour. #lufc
Daryl
There were rumours on WACCOE that Heckingbottom had told some fans in Myanmar that pre season consisted of:
3 games in Italy
1 game in Portugal
Midweek at Oxford
German club at Leeds
Portugal seems to be correct so is that our pre-season sorted?
#lufc
Jattatura
Beeb news just mentioned that the 49’ers investment may also mean the Club could play a match at the Levi’s stadium. ‘Frisco pre-season, possibly?
Lee Sobot
NEWS: Leeds United to play pre-season friendly away at Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday, July 17 (7pm). Leeds will release their list of friendlies/pre-season plans this afternoon. All the latest here then. #lufc
Forest Green boss Mark Cooper on July 17 friendly at home to #lufc "They’ll be bringing their first team, so it will be a strong test for my players and one we should relish. Leeds always bring a big following wherever they play so we’ll be hoping for a big crowd at The New Lawn"
Forest Green's The New Lawn ground has a capacity of just over 5,000 (5,147 by looks of it). 377-mile round trip to get there from Elland Road. Forest Green say details on tickets will be announced at a later date. #lufc
Forest Green manager Mark Cooper is son of former #lufc defender Terry Cooper of 60s/70s fame. Mark: “Leeds United are a massive club and historically for myself and my family, it’s a game that will mean a lot to us and it’s one I will look forward to."
Lee Sobot
July 17 friendly away at Forest Green agreed back in January in the deal that saw Jordan Stevens sign for #lufc
Det var vel han som fikk hacket twitterkontoen sin!!! ;)
Leeds United will spend pre-season in the UK with Spanish team among the opposition - Leeds Live
A foreign training camp has been ruled out as part of Leeds United’s pre-season plans to kick-start a 2018/19 promotion push.
Discussions had been held about a pre-season trip to mainland Europe, namely Portugal and Italy, which was the first choice until the 11th hour.
However, the Whites have now decided they will remain in the UK and lay the foundations for their promotion tilt on home soil.
Time is of the essence for United in pre-season and there is a reluctance to dedicate two whole days for travelling, plus the added expense of the trip, which was expected to be between a week and 10 days in length.
Leeds United have already spent a lot of time travelling since the end of last season, including Myanmar(Image: YE AUNG THU/AFP/Getty Images)
Therefore, the bulk of the first-team squad is expected to return for training on June 25, when they will be greeted by three gruelling weeks of double sessions.
The first friendly was announced this morning. Forest Green Rovers will host the Whites at The New Lawn on July 17 in a 7pm kick-off.
There will then follow a relentless period of regular matches and little rest in an effort to get the players in shape for a Championship campaign which many careers are resting on.
Matches are expected on July 17, 19, 21, 24, 26 and 29 before the season starts on the first weekend of August.
The match on July 21 is only pencilled in for now, but if confirmed, will be the showpiece of the summer for Paul Heckingbottom’s side.
Elland Road will not be ready to host football until July 29(Image: Daniel Smith/Getty Images)
The rest of the opposition will be largely domestic, but one Spanish side has been confirmed to face United. Benfica will not host United, as they announced several weeks ago.
Due to Josh Warrington’s boxing match and England’s friendly with Costa Rica on June 7, Elland Road will not be ready to host any football until July 29, the final friendly of the summer.
A full announcement is expected from the club later this afternoon.
PRE-SEASON FIXTURES ANNOUNCED
31 May 2018
Leeds United kick-off with friendly against Forest Green Rovers
We are pleased to announce our full pre-season programme of friendlies ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.
The squad will return to training on Monday 25th June and will be based at Thorp Arch throughout the summer with no training camps or fixtures abroad this year. The EFL Championship season begins on the weekend of the 4th August.
After three weeks of intense training, The Whites will face the following opposition:
17th July (19:00) â€" Forest Green Rovers (A)
19th July (19:00) â€" York City (A)
24th July (19:45) â€" Oxford United (A)
26th July (19:45) â€" Guiseley (A)
29th July (15:00) â€" Las Palmas (H)
We would advise supporters that the only other potential fixture could be held on the 21st July, although the opposition and venue for this game are still to be confirmed.
Information on tickets for the above fixtures will be released shortly.
Ikke veldig High profile!!! :o
Lee Sobot
Players will be back in pre-season training on Monday, June 25. Championship season starts weekend of August 4. #lufc
Who are Leeds United's Spanish pre-season opposition Las Palmas?
Joe Urquhart
Published: 15:00 Thursday 31 May 2018
Leeds United have announced their full pre-season schedule - but who are Spanish side Las Palmas?
The Whites have confirmed plans to stay in the UK ahead of the forthcoming Championship campaign but will be hosting Spanish side Las Palmas at Elland Road on July 29 (3pm) in their only home fixture at Elland Road.
Las Palmas.
Las Palmas.
So... who are Las Palmas and where are they from? Let's take a closer look...
Who are Las Palmas?
Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D, are a Spanish football team based in the city of Las Palmas which is the capital of Gran Canaria island, in the Canary Islands.
Everything you need to know about Leeds United's pre-season plans
Lionel Messi in action against Las Palmas last season.
What division do they play in?
Las Palmas now ply their trade in the Segunda division in Spain following relegation last season after a three year stay in La Liga. Before their promotion to the top flight in 2014/15 Las Palmas had been exiled in the lower divisions for 14 successive seasons.
Where do they play?
Las Palmas currently play their home games at the Estadio Gran Canaria which was opened in the capital city on the island in 2003 and holds up to 32,400 spectators. It has also previously hosted a Spanish national team home fixture which was played in 2007 against Northern Ireland in which the hosts won 1-0.
Leeds United confirm pre-season plans with UK based tour
Who the current Las Palmas manager?
Manuel Jiménez Jiménez is the new man at the helm having been tasked with getting the club back into the top flight of Spanish football at the first time of asking. Jimenez left Greek side AEK Athens to replace outgoing boss Paco Jémez.
Is there anything else you should know?
Since Las Palmas' foundation in 1949 they have spent a total number of 34 seasons in La Liga, 28 seasons in Segunda División, 6 seasons in Segunda División B and 1 season in Tercera División.
Phil Hay
surprised by this. Club had people in Italy for the past few weeks putting a tour in place. Not sure what changed.
???
Beren Cross
Another pre-season friendly announced for #lufc. Southend United away on July 22. Kick-off is 2pm. Club had been looking at a showpiece fixture for July 21. #mot
Leeds United: Whites arrange Southend friendly as Bielsa arrival nears
Published: 17:12 Friday 22 June 2018
SOUTHEND DATE: For new Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa. Picture by Getty.
SOUTHEND DATE: For new Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa. Picture by Getty.
LEEDS UNITED have added another friendly to their pre-season schedule with the Whites set to visit League One outfit Southend United on Sunday, July 22 (kick-off 2pm).
The fixture will become United's third friendly of the summer, following clashes at Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday, July 17 and York City on Thursday, July 19.
After the game against Southend at Roots Hall, Leeds will then visit Oxford United on Tuesday, July 24 before a trip to Guiseley on Thursday, July 26.
United's final friendly of the season will then be against Spanish outfit Las Palmas at Elland Road on Sunday, July 29.
United had been looking into the possibility of playing a friendly on Saturday, July 21 against unnamed opposition, a game which would have been the showpiece fixture of their pre-season but the clash needed to take place away from Elland Road where the pitch is being resurfaced over the summer.
Leeds will return to pre-season training at Thorp Arch on Monday which will present the squad's first training session with new head coach Marcelo Bielsa who will fly into the UK from his native Argentina this weekend.
SG lufc
@FodenSG
Training until 7.30 pm #LUFC what a day for it love it !
...flere melder dette.
Lang første-dag-på-jobb-etter-ferien :o
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Phil Hay
Klich and Ideguchi back at Thorp Arch
Quote from: Promotion 2010 on June 25, 2018, 19:26:53
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DgjYV7LXUAAhz-s?format=jpg&name=large)
Phil Hay
Klich and Ideguchi back at Thorp Arch
Hvem andre er på bildet: Can you name them?
Fra venstre.....
Quote from: Promotion 2010 on June 25, 2018, 19:30:21
Quote from: Promotion 2010 on June 25, 2018, 19:26:53
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DgjYV7LXUAAhz-s?format=jpg&name=large)
Phil Hay
Klich and Ideguchi back at Thorp Arch
Batesey
Who are the young lads on the right? I recognise Edmondson that’s about it.
White Knight LUFC
Dalby, Diaz, Edmondson, Strujk, Rey & Hosannah
Ha. Clarke & Shackleton behind Klich as well
Hvem andre er på bildet: Can you name them?
Fra venstre.....
Off topic...vel - viktig ift HVILKE klubber som er rammet av dette pt.
Noen som har MERE info? :
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/05/25/aston-villa-facing-financial-disaster-fail-make-premier-league/
Villa er garantert ute og kjøre....men ser nå at Forest KJØPER spillere igjen- mens Derby, Wednesday, Boro, Norwich, Hull og Bolton (sluppet "fri" nå) er på knivseggen og over...
Vi møter Las Palmas 29.juli, mens de har hatt et tøft program med kamp mor B’ham et par dager før:
27. juli: Las Palmas â€" Birmingham City
28. juli: Birmingham City â€" Brighton & Hove Albion
Våre kamper er:
17. juli: Forest Green Rovers â€" Leeds United
19. juli: York City â€" Leeds United
22. juli: Southend United â€" Leeds United
24. juli: Oxford United â€" Leeds United
26. juli: Guiseley â€" Leeds United
29. juli: Leeds United â€" Las Palmas
Klich og Ideguchi er nå i øverste treningsgruppe?
Dan
@POTUS048
Replying to @milkybar39 @PhilHayYEP
I saw Hay say he thought ideguchi was moving up but not seen it confirmed.
Phil Hay
@PhilHayYEP
he did last week. Think Klich has too, although not certain about that.
Oversikt kamper preseason:
VS FOREST GREEN ROVERS
Tuesday, Jul 17 2018, 19.00 Friendly, away
VS YORK CITY
Jul 19 2018, 19.00 Friendly, away
VS SOUTHEND UNITED
Jul 22 2018, 14.00 Friendly, away
VS OXFORD UNITED
Jul 24 2018, 19.45 Friendly, away
VS GUISELEY A.F.C.
Jul 26 2018, 19.45 Friendly, away
VS LAS PALMAS
Jul 29 2018, 15.00 Friendly, home
HVA ER GALT MED DENNE? ::)
Trenger vi egentlig 2 tråder om Preseason?
Quote from: Promotion 2010 on May 31, 2018, 23:21:04
PRE-SEASON FIXTURES ANNOUNCED
31 May 2018
Leeds United kick-off with friendly against Forest Green Rovers
We are pleased to announce our full pre-season programme of friendlies ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.
The squad will return to training on Monday 25th June and will be based at Thorp Arch throughout the summer with no training camps or fixtures abroad this year. The EFL Championship season begins on the weekend of the 4th August.
After three weeks of intense training, The Whites will face the following opposition:
17th July (19:00) â€" Forest Green Rovers (A)
19th July (19:00) â€" York City (A)
22nd July (19:45) - Southend United (A)
24th July (19:45) â€" Oxford United (A)
26th July (19:45) â€" Guiseley (A)
29th July (15:00) â€" Las Palmas (H)
We would advise supporters that the only other potential fixture could be held on the 21st July, although the opposition and venue for this game are still to be confirmed.
Information on tickets for the above fixtures will be released shortly.
Sorry, fant den ikke.
Blir vel ikke med flere nye i morgen mot Las Palmas, men med Douglas, eventuelt Bamford og en stopper til så har vel denne Preseason vært ganske Ok!
Vi har jo både Saiz og Pablo i 10’er rollen hittil....
Quote from: Promotion 2010 on July 28, 2018, 21:37:57
Blir vel ikke med flere nye i morgen mot Las Palmas, men med Douglas, eventuelt Bamford og en stopper til så har vel denne Preseason vært ganske Ok!
Vi har jo både Saiz og Pablo i 10’er rollen hittil....
Det lysner nå, ja, og håpet stiger. :)
Merkelig preseason. Vi starter altså sesongen mot Stoke uten å ha kjørt førstelaget i en eneste kamp. De viktigste signeringene er kommet etter denne kampen mot Las Canarias. Samt at Pontus har knapt toucha en ball i preseason treningene
Quote from: h.b on July 29, 2018, 15:33:42
Merkelig preseason. Vi starter altså sesongen mot Stoke uten å ha kjørt førstelaget i en eneste kamp. De viktigste signeringene er kommet etter denne kampen mot Las Canarias. Samt at Pontus har knapt toucha en ball i preseason treningene
Da har vi prøvd det og.. Kanskje det er oppskriften på suksess? Kanskje ikke. Who knows? :D
Quote from: h.b on July 29, 2018, 15:33:42
Merkelig preseason. Vi starter altså sesongen mot Stoke uten å ha kjørt førstelaget i en eneste kamp. De viktigste signeringene er kommet etter denne kampen mot Las Canarias. Samt at Pontus har knapt toucha en ball i preseason treningene
Sjekk 11ern til Stoke i siste seriekamp og mot oss.
Pontus kommer motivert, uthvilt og med masse bra erfaring i bagasjen. Det betyr lite at han slutter seg til laget først nå på mandag. Skulle bare mangle at VM spillere også får pause :)
Dette blir så bra så!
REGNESTYKKE:
Ut lønn til rundt 10 stykker inklusive utlån.
Avsluttede kontrakter:
Wiedwald
Salg:
Kanskje Vieira £ 6,5 mill
Kjøp:
Douglas £ 3 mill + add ons £ 2 mill
Kanskje...
Bamford £ 7 mill + add ons £ 3 mill
Lån:
Baker
Blackman
Harrisson
Kjøpt for £ 10 mill, som antagelig blir £ 15 ved opprykk
Salg for £ 6,5 mill
Reelle utlegg er på £ 3,5 mill!
Jeg tror vi har totalt £ 12-15 i transferpotten! Da hvar vi noe smårusk igjen.
Quote from: Promotion 2010 on July 30, 2018, 19:07:51
REGNESTYKKE:
Ut lønn til rundt 10 stykker inklusive utlån.
Avsluttede kontrakter:
Wiedwald
Salg:
Kanskje Vieira £ 6,5 mill
Kjøp:
Douglas £ 3 mill + add ons £ 2 mill
Kanskje...
Bamford £ 7 mill + add ons £ 3 mill
Lån:
Baker
Blackman
Harrisson
Kjøpt for £ 10 mill, som antagelig blir £ 15 ved opprykk
Salg for £ 6,5 mill
Reelle utlegg er på £ 3,5 mill!
Jeg tror vi har totalt £ 12-15 i transferpotten! Da hvar vi noe smårusk igjen.
Bare å kline til med et par signeringer til. ;D
Er jo waiting game dette her blitt..... 3 tøffe kamper etter hverandre i serien - ett vindu som stenger for kjøp 9. August, men som åpner for lån fra 31. August igjen..
Har Bielsa ett par overraskelser til i ermet?
Quote from: Cherry on July 30, 2018, 22:23:21
Er jo waiting game dette her blitt..... 3 tøffe kamper etter hverandre i serien - ett vindu som stenger for kjøp 9. August, men som åpner for lån fra 31. August igjen..
Har Bielsa ett par overraskelser til i ermet?
Synes det er rart at det ikke har kommet en spiller ut i fra Bielsas kontaktnettverk. Vi har jo nesten bare hentet fra UK....tar gjerne imot et supertalent fra Argentina...en ny Messi feks :D
Quote from: DenHviteYeboah on July 30, 2018, 22:38:49
Quote from: Cherry on July 30, 2018, 22:23:21
Er jo waiting game dette her blitt..... 3 tøffe kamper etter hverandre i serien - ett vindu som stenger for kjøp 9. August, men som åpner for lån fra 31. August igjen..
Har Bielsa ett par overraskelser til i ermet?
Synes det er rart at det ikke har kommet en spiller ut i fra Bielsas kontaktnettverk. Vi har jo nesten bare hentet fra UK....tar gjerne imot et supertalent fra Argentina...en ny Messi feks :D
problemet er arbeidstillatele. Har de arbeidstillatelse, ja da er de for dyre
Og sånn var det i fjor sommer, sommeren 2018:
The inside story of Marcelo Bielsa's pre-season season training regime at Leeds United last summer - Leeds Live
Prior to his arrival at Leeds United, Marcelo Bielsa’s pre-season training regimes were the stuff of legend.
“The first two days were tests and after that it was hardcore,†Aston Villa's former Lille winger Anwar El Ghazi said during Bielsa’s previous managerial stint in France. “We trained at 10am and second training was 6.30pmâ€.
Bielsa had ordered the construction of 20-stripped down bungalows at Lille’s Domaine de Luchin training complex, with El Ghazi giving further insight into what the Leeds squad could expect.
"We eat here, we sleep here and we do everything here,†he continued.
"They're small bungalows, just a bedroom, air conditioning and electricity, that's all. If you want to take a shower you go to the changing room and we have a room with PlayStation and table tennis.
The Leeds squad are due back at Thorp Arch on Monday morning(Image: Joe Mewis)
"The coach said we had to be a family together and when you're eating together, sleeping next door to each other, you become a family. We are like brothers now."
YouTube videos of a typical Bielsa training session in France did the rounds last summer following Bielsa's arrvial at Leeds, showing players undergoing a series of intense drills before dropping to floor in a state of near-exhaustion.
And that was just the physical side.
Bielsa training Marseille
Manchester City's Benjamin Mendy played under Bielsa at Marseille and he had previously discuss the classroom demand Bielsa would set his squad.
"He made me devour videos like never before," the left-back told Onze Mondial.
"To begin with he put me in front of the videos and I'd fall asleep. But he was happy! I was shocked.
"After a while I stopped sleeping and told myself 'go on, I'll watch two minutes of this thing after all.'
Bielsa arrived with a reputation for tough pre-season sessions
"After that he talked to me, I talked to him and we'd go over moves together. He told me, 'see, that's why I let you sleep. You slept, you slept, you slept but the day you decided to watch you got interested on your own. If I'd pushed you to watch you wouldn't have been interested'... Marcelo is just too good.â€
A clue about Bielsa’s forthcoming arrival last summer was included when the club announced their pre-season plans at the end of May, confirming that they forgoing a pre-season tour in favour of ’three weeks of intense training’.
While Thorp Arch was not yet ready to house the first-team squad overnight for the pre-season schedule, it was clear Bielsa was steadfastly standing by his methods.
Double and triple sessions - some lasting up to two-and-a-half hours - followed in the days and weeks after Bielsa’s arrival in the country, with players spending ten hours-plus at the training ground, staying at nearby hotels to minimise travel time.
Every players was weighed when they arrived in the morning, with a DEXA scanner outlining lean mass, fat mass and bone mass, with those not meeting Bielsa’s exacting standards not joining the core first-team squad for training until they were considered to be fit.
Sessions involved high-intensity sprints to prepare the team for the pressing game which has been a key feature of Bielsa’s teams over the years, with repetition being key.
"I think there’s no secret. He’ll tell you his methods himself, he’s quite happy, he’ll go lecture on them,†Leeds' head of medicene and performance Rob Price said last season.
"Reptition is the key to everything he does. He feels if you’v put the hurt of practice in and you’ve done the movements in training it becomes second nature in the game. Rafa [Bentiez] was exactly the same. Rafa did repetition of shape, movements, organisation."
Patrick Bamford was the club's big summer transfer and the much-travelled forward admitted that Bielsa's methods were new to him.
Patrick Bamford was Leeds' biggest summer signing(Image: Leeds United)
"I’ve never had this style of training before," he told the BBC. "There’s passing drills that I’ve never done before. I remember when i first came in I thought I was doing the passing drill right and he pulled me to the side and said no, you’ve got to slow down, pause, explosive, slow down, pause, explosive. So it took me a few weeks before I got inured to learn this.
"As I thought about it, sometimes I thought, ’these drills must have a point’ and then something in the game today, I realised it was a carbon copy of one of the drills we do. With a one-two receive pass and then run in behind. And I thought, he’s obviously a very clever man, because they came naturally to me today and by drilling it in to us every week, it will hopefully start to come naturally and we’ll start playing the way he wants."
Speaking two weeks into the pre-season last summer, Angus Kinnear offered some insight into what was going on at the training ground.
"I think all of the physical training appears to be in context, so everything, rather than just running for the sake of running, everything's with the ball, everything's in-game scenarios,†he said.
"There's huge attention to detail of the finer points. I think the players have received a lot more individual coaching than they have previously, which we're excited about because anybody who followed Leeds last season will see the players didn't play to 100 per cent of their potential.â€
This individual coaching extended to 15-minute sessions where Bielsa and his staff would be show players clips from training sessions to drill home the work done out on the grass. As they season went on, opposition clips would also be sent via WhatsApp ahead of matches.
Kalvin Phillips also offered some insight into Bielsa's man mangement during those long summer days at Thorp Arch.
"To be fair you don't really see him much," the midfielder said following the first pre-season friendly at Forest Green.
Kalvin Phillips during the opening day win over Stoke City(Image: Nigel French/PA Wire)
"The only time you really see him is obviously on the training ground. Obviously the reputation that he has and what we've heard he has, that's the type of guy he is. He's very supportive and hard working and that's what he expects from you all the time. He expects one hundred per cent from us all.
"He's never negative. Obviously he tells you when you're doing something wrong but he's never negative, he always supports you, pushes you to do what's best for you and what he thinks you should be doing and I think that's great in a manager. Hopefully throughout the season he keeps on doing that.
"We've got a lot of Spanish lads so they translate pretty well but the stuff that we've been working on throughout the game I felt like it had paid off quite a bit and you could see glimpses of what we've been working on. With more work and more concentration we'll be able to showcase it throughout the games."
Given his World Cup exploits with Sweden, Pontus Jansson was a late-comer and he was quickly impressed with how much had changed over the summer.
Jansson arrived late after Sweden's run to the World Cup quarter-finals
"Everything was new, a lot of staff, new people around here and everyone was so more professional in a good way, of course" said the centre-back.
"Now everything has been good since day one, since I came back. I worked hard, exactly as the guys have done in the weeks before I came back and, yeah, you can see on the pitch the results, how we run, how we play and that the training we have done has made results for us."
"[It was] long days," he continued. "A lot of meetings. Long training, hard training. A lot of high-intensity in training, a lot of sprints.
"He wants us to train exactly how we want to play. I'm actually quite used to that from my time in Italy from the coach I had there. Him and Marcelo are quite similar so I'm used to it.
"But it's long days and you have to concentrate on every moment of the day."
And it was shortly before the start of the new season when Bielsa’s side were put through their paces in an entirely different manner.
Marcelo Bielsa puts in the hours in the classroom(Image: Beren Cross)
After a few weeks of exhausting physical exercises out on the grass, gruelling gym sessions and marathon tape-watching programmes, Bielsa’s next move was aimed solely at shaping his players’ mentality purely his own humble image.
Bielsa made it clear in his introductory press conference just how he sees his relationship with the fans.
"I'm really hopeful that the fans identify with and have that desire to support the home town in the same way which they support Bilbao," he said, drawing back on his La Liga experience.
"Working in football gives you a chance to see just how a city and group of fans can identify with each other. The fans - and I'm sure it's the case here - become part of the club. That’s what I’ve been told here and I'm excited to see if it does."
And that is why he instructed his players to spend a July afternoon picking up litter from the Thorp Arch training ground. After some rough calcualtions pointed out to the fact that the average fan would need to work three hours in their job to afford a match ticket, that’s how long Bielsa’s entire squad were put out to work for.
Jamie Shackleton, was began last summer as a recent academy graduate with aspirations of being part of the club’s pre-season friendlies, explained:
Jamie Shackleton first full senior pre-season was an eye-opener
“In the second week of pre-season, we spoke about the fans and how they’re the most important people to this club, how passionate they are and what it means to them to go and watch us play football,†said the teenager.
“Their lives involve a lot of hard work throughout the week to be able to afford a ticket for the weekend, so we had our own insight into a bit of hard graft away from football by going round the whole training ground clearing all the litter from the pitches, bushes, everything really.
“At that stage I hadn’t played in the first-team yet, so it was still my dream to play for the club and I’m a Leeds fan, so I knew exactly what it meant to come and watch anyway. The lads are all really grounded anyway, but a task like that definitely just reinforced what the club means to everybody.
"I think that was to get an understanding and the meaning behind it. I don’t think it was just picking up litter - he maybe wanted to bring us down back to earth. It was good and the whole place got a little tidy up as well.â€
Kemar Roofe, a far more established professional admitted he had to get his head around the idea at first.
The Leeds squad will be well aware of what faces the this summer
"It’s a natural reaction to think ‘what’s going on here we’re here to play football, not to pick litter up,’ but everything he does, there’s a hidden message behind it and I think that’s what you have to look at more then what we’re actually doing,†he said later in the season.
The move had all the hallmarks of Bielsa. Showing empathy with the common man, building team spirit and showing the kind of discipline that he has utilised throughout his career. It is this kind of behaviour that saw him earn the nickname ‘El Loco’ and when the first reports of this session hit the media on the eve of the new season, it quickly slotted in at the top of the 24-hour news cycle.
With a freshly-enriched soul, the Leeds squad would continue with their gruelling training schedule ahead around their domestic slate of pre-season friendlies.
While these would bring about a mixed set of results, it was this summer of hard yards and complete focus that would culminate in their statement-making opening weekend victory over pre-season title favourites Stoke City when the campaign got under way on August 5.
As Leeds United's squad prepare to return to training on Monday morning, it's been no surprise to see plenty of players posting clips of them in the gym on social media over the last few days, as they know exactly what is coming.
Quote from: h.b on July 29, 2018, 15:33:42
Merkelig preseason. Vi starter altså sesongen mot Stoke uten å ha kjørt førstelaget i en eneste kamp. De viktigste signeringene er kommet etter denne kampen mot Las Canarias. Samt at Pontus har knapt toucha en ball i preseason treningene
Du var skeptisk i fjor også, du, h.b.?