Jean-Kevin Augustin still hasn’t appeared in a matchday squad at Leeds United.
The striker joined in late January, and despite the fact United have played twice since his arrival we’re yet to see his name on a team sheet.
Marcelo Bielsa’s press conference on Thursday gave us a little bit of insight into why he hasn’t played yet with the Argentine hinting that his fitness isn’t up to scratch.
That’s absolutely fair, the manager himself stated that he’s played just three full games in the past 12 months, but you can’t help but feel Bielsa is making the wrong call in leaving him out completely.
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Having Augustin on the bench would be advantageous even if he wasn’t fit enough to start. After all, being able to throw on a striker who has scored goals in the Champions League is a great option to have with 10 minutes to go. However, that wasn’t the case for the Argentine last weekend as he didn’t have the Frenchman to call on when they were 1-0 down at home against Wigan.
Therein lies the problem. It’s hard to imagine that Augustin is that unfit that he wouldn’t manage a small cameo from the bench in a game that Leeds are chasing – at the end of the day, he’s still a professional footballer, and he has been for years.
While his fitness standards may not be as high as Bielsa had hoped, he’s surely still in a good enough condition to come off the bench after playing 45 minutes for the U23s earlier in the week.
The Argentine went on to say at the press conference that fans are losing confidence in the team. That’s a perfectly fair comment after seeing supporters bash Helder Costa and Patrick Bamford on social media lately. However, certain individuals also weren’t happy with Bielsa for one reason.
They were furious when Augustin was left out last weekend, and the first question asked on The Phil Hay Show this week (7/2/20 6:00) was surrounding when Augustin is going to play.
One way to restore a bit of a buzz amongst the fanbase is to put Augustin on the bench on Saturday, it would immediately alleviate a number of concerns and calm the supporters before kick-off.
In other news, Leeds’ recent woes may be down to two things that have changed.