It is safe to say Marcelo Bielsa left a lasting impression on Kalvin Phillips. Few would argue that Phillips developed into one of the best holding midfielders in the country under the Argentine.
The demands Bielsa placed on the squad in training were the key to his success. His famous murderball sessions to build up the players fitness levels are the stuff of legend.
And Patrick Bamford and Phillips have given insight into working with Bielsa during his time at Elland Road. “I think he [Bielsa] was the harshest on Kalv,” former teammate 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.”
Speaking as a guest of Bamford’s on the podcast, Phillips said: “I think what Pat is talking about is we would always have to lose loads of weight. When we first came in, Bielsa being South American and being obsessed with body composition, weight and fat, I was on the higher end of the team, if not the highest.
“We had a pre-season where, I’m not even joking, for three weeks I’d go home and literally just have a protein shake for my dinner and then come in the next day and keep having to lose weight. He was still like that until the last week he was there, he’d always push me to be on a certain weight target.
“I obviously respected it but then I knew that I can’t starve or dehydrate myself because eventually I am going to get injured, or I am going to stop performing.”
Leeds-born Phillips is currently on a season-long loan spell with Ipswich Town.
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