Mateusz Klich has spoken about the value of getting under the skin of the opposition, and revealed that one of his Leeds United colleagues also has a knack for it - as he found out when playing against them.
The Poland international has something of a reputation for winding up players from other teams, be it having a word in their ear or getting stuck in with battles off the ball.
But it’s a line that he treads carefully, and he’s never received a suspension for Leeds, starting every single Championship game under Marcelo Bielsa.
“You know players, and you know teams, and every team has a player that it’s easy to provoke, or to make angry,” he said.
“So his mind is somewhere else, sometimes you try to do it, sometimes unconsciously that’s just me and I’m being annoying sometimes.”
Klich also revealed that he’s not actually the worst wind-up merchant in the Leeds United squad, with first-hand experience of what it’s like to play against Gjanni Alioski.
Poland came up against Alioski’s North Macedonia in qualifying for Euro 2020. The Poland national team have emphatically topped their group, beating North Macedonia 1-0 away and 2-0 at home.
The 29-year-old midfielder revealed that his Polish team-mates asked him about his Leeds colleague, suggesting that he’s a nightmare to come up against.
“My other team-mate [Alioski] is more annoying on the pitch,” he added.
“It was funny when we played against Macedonia, after the game everyone asked me about him, I said sorry, he’s crazy”
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