Klich determined to make most of his second chance at Leeds United

Leeds United's sale of Ronaldo Vieira was a deal dictated purely by money, all £7.7m of it, but the debate caused by his move to Sampdoria would have been less intense had anyone anticipated the underlying form of Mateusz Klich.
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Marcelo Bielsa favoured the option of keeping Vieira at Elland Road and in Bielsa’s head, the 20-year-old might have been his first port of call when Adam Forshaw injured a foot a week before the start of the season. But Klich’s impact has been such that even Forshaw cannot count on a game when his rehabilitation ends at some stage beyond the first international break.

The assumption before this season began was that Tyler Roberts – injured for five months after his £2.5m transfer from West Bromwich Albion in January – would be the proverbial new signing at Leeds but Klich has been the best example of an untapped resource coming to the fore.

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Two games, two goals and all the dynamism and control which Marcelo Bielsa needs in his midfield line.

Mateusz Klich.Mateusz Klich.
Mateusz Klich.

Regardless of how long his performances last, it is remarkable that Leeds and a former head coach saw so little value in him last year.

Klich was set on returning to Leeds this summer, despite his first 12 months with the club ending with a loan at Dutch club Utrecht.

He was given no promises about playing under Bielsa and, for a short time in pre-season, was in the grey area between valued first-team players and those who United wanted rid of but his physique complements Bielsa’s tactics and his technical ability has been up to scratch.

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On any other evening, his 20-yard finish at the very start of Saturday’s 4-1 hammering of Derby County would have been the pick of the finishes.

Ronaldo Vieira.Ronaldo Vieira.
Ronaldo Vieira.

“I’m very happy because I came here last season to play football and I didn’t play much,” Klich said. “I had no chance to play when I was here the first time.

“This year I’ve got a chance and I’ll do everything to play good. I really like football, I really like England and I’ve never started a season this good.”

He was, in truth, the last player who Leeds expected to be opening the scoring in both of their first two Championship fixtures.

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Klich has the occasional goal in his game – six for FC Twente in the campaign before he moved to Elland Road – but nothing like a prolific record over the course of his career.

Tyler Roberts.Tyler Roberts.
Tyler Roberts.

Moreover, there was no suggestion until Forshaw tweaked a ligament in training that Bielsa might pick out Klich to partner Samuel Saiz in the middle of a fluid, rampant, midfield four.

Klich admitted that he had been determined to seek a second chance in England, in spite of his effective spell at Utrecht and suggestion that the Eredivisie club would have been happy to keep him.

“I didn’t succeed in the first year so I had unfinished business,” he said. “I wanted to show myself because I knew I was better than what I showed last season. That was the first thing.

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“But secondly, obviously Leeds United is a huge club and you cannot so easily give up on the club. Everyone wants to play here. It just feels good.

“My manager wants me to play in offensive midfield and attack with the team but also to come back to defend. It’s a lot of work to do but I like it.

“Everything is fine but I don’t want to get too carried away and say too much because it’s only two games.

“It’s a very long way until the end of the season.”

Klich’s football has been a mixture of the creative and combative, underpinned by the accuracy of his passing.

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His robust nature has been a neat foil for the playmaking of Samuel Saiz, the rejuvenated Spaniard whose energy dictated the first half at Pride Park.

Derby were eventually forced to ask Bradley Johnson to man-mark Saiz.

County, with manager Frank Lampard in the home dug-out for the first time, suffered badly either side of half-time and trailed 4-1 when Bielsa replaced Klich with 18-year-old debutant Jamie Shackleton 17 minutes from the end.

“I try to give 100 per cent and I was just tired,” Klich said. “It was nothing serious.”

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Bielsa’s tactics, historically, place a heavy strain on his squads and, after two pulsating league wins, United’s head coach will make numerous changes for tonight’s Carabao Cup first-round tie against Bolton Wanderers.

Shackleton is among the players who are set to feature at Elland Road and others on the bench so far – Patrick Bamford, Lewis Baker, Pontus Jansson, Jamal Blackman and Jack Harrison – should also make their first starts of the term.

Forshaw and Stuart Dallas remain in the treatment room but Leeds have most of their slim squad available.

Bielsa, like every United manager before him, has the Championship and promotion at the top of his agenda but Klich doubted that the Argentinian would be tempted to disregarded England’s knockout competitions.

“We want to win every game,” Klich said.

“It’s a cup game and it’s a game we’d like to win as well.

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“We have to keep winning to build confidence and our identity, and to keep consistency.

“There is no relaxing here with Marcelo Bielsa.

“There’s no chill out. We have to keep pushing and keep fighting.”