Leeds United midfielder Jamie Shackleton enjoying best of both worlds under key influences Marcelo Bielsa and Mateusz Klich

ONE daily delivery proved key for Whites midfielder Jamie Shackleton coping well with lockdown.
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The arrival of Leeds United’s daily fitness programme that is, something with which Shackleton centred his day around.

But thereafter, even with the beautiful game suspended, there was still plenty of footballing matter to concentrate on.

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Shackleton might only be 20 years old but that hasn’t stopped the Whites Academy graduate from already undertaking his coaching badges.

'LOTS OF LEGS': Leeds United's Jamie Shackleton surges forward in typical fashion during last September's clash against Derby County at Elland Road. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.'LOTS OF LEGS': Leeds United's Jamie Shackleton surges forward in typical fashion during last September's clash against Derby County at Elland Road. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.
'LOTS OF LEGS': Leeds United's Jamie Shackleton surges forward in typical fashion during last September's clash against Derby County at Elland Road. Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe.

A 15-week pause to the season due to the coronavirus pandemic might have been frustrating but for Shackleton it provided ample time for the reading side of studying towards his coaching ambitions.

Under Whites head coach Marcelo Bielsa, Shackleton is also learning from one of the game’s best.

Yet with football now finally back in something like full swing, Shackleton is now eyeing further progress on the playing front and learning from another perfect mentor in Mateusz Klich.

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As is often the Bielsa way, Shackleton has been used in varying positions by the Whites head coach since making his Leeds debut in the 4-1 victory at Derby County in August 2018.

YOUNG PUP: Jamie Shackleton with some of his Leeds United team mates and chairman Andrea Radrizzani, left, as the club celebrate their centenary last October. Picture by Tony Johnson.YOUNG PUP: Jamie Shackleton with some of his Leeds United team mates and chairman Andrea Radrizzani, left, as the club celebrate their centenary last October. Picture by Tony Johnson.
YOUNG PUP: Jamie Shackleton with some of his Leeds United team mates and chairman Andrea Radrizzani, left, as the club celebrate their centenary last October. Picture by Tony Johnson.

But despite often being deployed as a full-back, Shackleton views his best position as a box to box ‘no 8 midfielder’ as he nears the end of his second season since breaking into the Whites first team fold.

And now that the season has resumed, the Academy graduate is benefiting educationally on numerous fronts in developing both his own game and coaching nous under Bielsa whilst also continually studying the attributes of box to box midfielder Klich.

Assessing his own recent progress and his best position moving forwards as a pro’ - Shackleton told the YEP: “My favourite position to play is like number eight in midfield so box to box.

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“The way our team plays, I can go anywhere on the pitch and just plenty of legs.

“I do enjoy playing full back, though, bombing on from there because that’s similar but fairly more straight lines for that part of the pitch.

"I also enjoy that but my favourite position to play would be 8.

“Mateusz is exactly that. He’s box to box, he does his bit in defence, he wins the ball back, gets forward and contributes going forward as well and that’s key in this team for a no 8 to do and he does that really well.

“I speak to Mateusz quite a lot.

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"There’s a lot to be learned off him, the way he moves on the ball, I think that’s one of his best assets, how he creates space when there isn’t space to come in to there to get on the ball.

"He manages to create it and I think that’s one of his best skills.”

Now back fully fit after a challenging season with injuries, Shackleton was again given a late cameo to showcase his skills in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Blackburn Rovers after being brought on for Klich in the 89th minute.

But during lockdown Shackleton had plenty of time to perfect another skill set of which he is passionate about - coaching.

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Shackleton revealed: “Obviously in the last couple of months I have had a bit more free time so I have been getting a bit of the coaching stuff done just with me being at home a lot.

"I have been able to get a bit more of that done than I would if the season would have been ongoing. That’s been good.

“There’s a side which is like sitting down and books and writing stuff and then there’s obviously the actual coaching side of it.

“You have got to do so many sessions with groups of ten plus and obviously I haven’t been able to do that. But the other side I have got as far as I can with that.”

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Reflecting on how he coped during lockdown, Shackleton said: “It was all right! The programme we got given from the club was probably the part of the day I looked forward to the most.

“I used to put it right in the middle of the day so I wasn’t doing it in the morning and with nothing to do all day I just put it bang in the middle so I still had something to look forward to, to spread my day out.

"It worked well.”

No problems on that front, and now only further progress envisaged under Bielsa with Shackleton relishing the opportunity to develop under United’s head coach.

“He’s the only first team manager that I have worked under and he’s been brilliant,” said Shackleton.

“I have really enjoyed it.”

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