'Pressure from every side' but Mateusz Klich seeks no escape from Leeds United expectations

On the pitch, they showcased highlight-reel football in demolitions of Derby County and Charlton Athletic, the former falling to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of a side boasting seven changes, the latter thrashed 4-0 by something resembling Marcelo Bielsa’s strongest side.

Pressure is a funny old thing, they say, and, for Leeds, it has been ever-present in varying degrees since their fall from the Premier League.

But with hope and expectation rising again ahead of the 2020/21 season thanks to the retention of Bielsa and the chief executive Angus Kinnear’s pledge that they wouldn’t be ‘******* around with the play-offs’ this time, the stakes had rarely been higher for a Leeds team.

When they went through a mid-season wobble, particularly after a devastating defeat at Nottingham Forest – their fourth in five games – Bielsa sensed a loss of faith in the team, but the expectancy was still there and the pressure only ever increased.

When they travelled to Brentford, having listened to Thomas Frank’s suggestions that fear would be creeping into the Leeds camp, they turned the game against their promotion rivals into a turning point.

A dominant performance in a 1-1 draw was the catalyst for a sensational run of form –five wins on the bounce without a single goal conceded.

Then came a global pandemic, three months of worry that the season might be voided or promotion taken off the table.

When Leeds did return to action, amid much talk of hitting the ground running, having barely taken a day off during lockdown, the Whites were a pale imitation of themselves in a 2-0 restart loss at Cardiff City.

Beating Fulham 3-0 was as impressive a retort as Leeds could muster, yet doubts lingered and pressure cranked up again when Luton held them to a shock 1-1 draw at Elland Road.

It was to be Leeds’ last dropped Championship points, however.

Six straight wins, only four of which were actually needed to seal promotion and a title, blew the lid off and all the pressure went, in an instant.

Mateusz Klich is one of the more laid-back characters in Leeds’ dressing room, off the field at least. That did not make him immune to the pressure. He felt it. Always. From everywhere.

“Oh, and it’s to death,” he said in an interview with Polish website onet.“Leeds breathes the ball. This is a great brand and the same club, taking into account the organisation, commitment of people associated with it, the conditions they provide us.

“Plus the interest, and specifically people’s love for Leeds United. So that you would know what was the pressure for promotion, literally from every side.”

Promotion, the release that was felt around the city on Friday when Huddersfield beat West Brom, brought tears, fireworks, singing, dancing and public displays of affection from even the most reserved of Leeds United characters – Bielsa was jumping for joy and embracing players from whom he has maintained a distance.

Relief and joy have saturated the days since.

Klich broke out the breakdancing moves, on the pitch at Pride Park of all places, and the cigars. He was merry, to say the least, in clips that quickly went viral among Whites.

“It was clearly visible how the pressure dropped from us after the [West Brom] match, hence the crazy dancing and other antics,” he said.

“Somewhere these emotions had to find an outlet.”

Despite the beer-soaked celebrations, there was still some champagne football to be played. Klich was a big part of Leeds’ movement and passing against Charlton, in a first half that bore all the hallmarks of a top-flight team toying with lower-league prey, as he has been a big part of Bielsaball since the beginning.

The Derby game was the first league fixture he failed to start under the Argentine.

He is a fixture of the side and under intense pressure has formed into a diamond.

A two-week holiday with family in Poland aside, there is little escape from pressure. It will come again, even if it’s of a different kind as Leeds fight to remain in the Premier League.

Klich seeks no escape.

“It is difficult to describe it in words, so when asked about the willingness and length of stay in this club or city, I answer: here I want to spend my life imprisonment,” he said.

“Everything is on track for today. My contract is valid until 2024. Leeds is a big club, you can feel it everywhere, and in England I live perfectly.”