Former Aston Villa striker has ANOTHER dig at 'naive' Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa

TELFORD, ENGLAND - JULY 12: Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa during the Pre-Season Friendly between AFC Telford United and Aston Villa at New Bucks Head Stadium on July 12, 2017 in Telford, England. (Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)

The ex-Aston Villa forward has labelled Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics as ‘naive’ in the wake of Leeds’ second consecutive 4-1 defeat in the Premier League.

Bielsa’s famed tactical style has brought some success against top-flight big-boys Manchester City and Liverpool since promotion from the Championship last campaign, whilst also securing wins over Fulham, Aston Villa and Sheffield United.

However, the Whites have lost their last two matches against Leicester City and Crystal Palace, conceding eight goals in the process, leaving Leeds 15th in the Premier League table with 10 points from eight games.

And, not for the first time this season, three-time England international Agoblahor spoke out against Bielsa’s tactical approach.

“It’s a bit naïve. Everyone knows what Crystal Palace are going to do,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT. “They are going to play on the counter-attack.

"They’ve got great speed going forward.

“Bielsa has to change his tactics for different games. You can’t press every team and be so open. That’s what Leeds were; they were so open.

“He played three centre-halves who, for me, are not good enough in the Premier League and they need protection.

“If you leave them on their own against [Wilfried] Zaha, [Eberechi] Eze, and [Andros] Townsend, they are going to destroy you.

“You can’t concede four goals every game in the Premier League and try and beat teams 5-4.

“I think he needs to sit down and think to himself; some games he can play the way he wants to play with the attacking high press, but some games you have to change your tactics.

“It was just a bit of naivety from Bielsa.”

Earlier in the season, Agbonlahor stated that everyone needed to ‘calm down’ about Leeds and Marcelo Bielsa and focus on his former club Aston Villa.

The 34-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday and Watford loanee explained that he simply could not understand why so many people were talking about Leeds and Bielsa.

And he then insisted praise should instead be directed towards Dean Smith, who, at the time of his comments, had overseen a 100 per cent start to the season with the Villans.