Hiding The Horizon
It turns out that where the rest of us see problems at Leeds United, Marcelo Bielsa sees solutions. And the solutions he sees are among the reasons why people call him El Loco; to anyone else they'd be mad.
It's an interesting move, on the eve of the season, when you've sold your best defender, and your first eleven haven't played together (unless they have, we just didn't realise), and your striker won't score goals, to sell a goalkeeper, but sure, why not? And why stop there? How about that other striker, the injured one. No passengers on this bus. Sell him too!
Neither Bailey Peacock-Farrell or Kemar Roofe would have started against Bristol City, so to say Leeds have been weakened for the start of the new season is not strictly true. Also, Roofe hasn't gone yet; he's not expected to follow Duncan McKenzie's Mini Cooper leap across the North Sea to Benelux until Monday. And, importantly, the transfer window hasn't closed.
The Yorkshire Evening Post headline announcing Peacock-Farrell's sale began, 'Leeds United hunt new keeper...', and that must be a line from the club; we're selling him, but we're replacing him. Roofe will have to be replaced too; whatever you feel about them, you can rationalise most decisions made at Elland Road these days, and not replacing Roofe would be untypically reckless.
The test of this situation is not Roofe's sale, although that is angering a lot of fans, even though twelve months ago, a lot of fans would probably have driven him to Brussels themselves at the first hint of replacing him with, as it turned out, Benny Igiehon from LUTV. The timing of the transfer is aggravating, prompted by sales and injuries at Anderlecht rather than by our own squad's needs, but that Roofe could be tempted away by Vincent Kompany, the Europa League and a top division title race, not to mention more money, should not have surprised anyone at Leeds after he wasn't tempted by their offer of a new contract.