Which Leeds United star Marcelo Bielsa was 'harshest' on as Kalvin Phillips makes honest Pep Guardiola comparison
Fitness levels were they key to Leeds United’s success under Marcelo Bielsa.
Kalvin Phillips consigned himself to liquid dinners in a bid to keep in line with Marcelo Bielsa’s exacting physical standards during his time at Leeds United.
Bielsa arrived at Elland Road in 2018 with a reputation for building some of football’s fittest teams and instantly set the standard at Leeds, with players weighed daily and given difficult targets to work towards. The Argentinian had his side flying around the pitch for 90 minutes-plus and put huge focus into maximising their stamina, with his famous murderball sessions thought to be tougher than matches.
Luke Ayling and Robbie Gotts are among the players to describe the lengths they went to in a bid to make weight the following morning, with the latter admitting he used to brush his teeth early in the evening to avoid late-night snacks. But it was Phillips who the manager was ‘harshest’ on, and the midfielder had his own methods to hit those targets.
“I think he was the harshest on Kalv,” former teammate Patrick Bamford told his My Mate’s A Footballer podcast. “I think because he knew what he could get Kalv to be. If you looked at all the players, he had his moments where it would change week to week, but generally Kalv was always the one that he'd push and push.”
Phillips then admitted: “I was kind of on the higher end of the team, if not the highest [body fat percentage], and we had a pre-season where I'm not even joking for like three weeks, I'd go home and I'd just have a protein shake for my dinner and then come in the next day and I just have to keep losing weight. He always pushed me to be on a certain weight tag and I obviously respected it, but then I knew that I can't starve myself or I can't dehydrate myself because eventually I'm going to get injured or I'm going to stop performing.”
Guardiola comparison
Bielsa evidently got something right, with Phillips enjoying his best ever spell at Leeds during the Argentinian’s reign before joining Manchester City in 2022. The serial Premier League champions paid £40million for the midfielder, with Pep Guardiola taking the player on from one of his managerial mentors.
Guardiola has often cited Bielsa as a major role model, having spent hours talking football with the experienced coach during his years contemplating whether to go into management. But the Catalan has forged his own path since and Phillips knows both well enough to spot the difference.
“I'd probably say there's more differences to be honest, but I'd say the similarities are how demanding he is,” he added of the pair. “Both see football in different ways, so the way Bielsa plays is a lot different to the way Pep plays. They love football, everything they do is about football and they just want you as a player and as a team to get better and better and better, I think that's what the similarities are.
“Pep's more possession based, not forcing passes and making sure when you make the pass it's 100 per cent got to be perfect or else you lose the ball which you can't afford to do when you’re City. Bielsa was more like get forward as quick as possible, wingers bomb on, strikers make sure you get in the box, midfielders make sure you get in the box and then if you lose a ball, try and win it back as fast as possible. If you don't, then you've got like a 50 metre sprint to your own goal.”