Kalvin Phillips has admitted he was unsure Marcelo Bielsa's plan to turn him into a holding midfielder would succeed.
The 25-year-old has become one of Leeds United's key players since Bielsa's 2018 appointment and this season has seen him shine on the Whites' return to the Premier League.
Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, Phillips revealed how it was as soon as their first meeting that Bielsa asked the midfielder to play a deeper role than he was used to.
With seven goals to his name the previous season, the Whites academy product admitted to initially being a little disappointed by the conversation - but trusted Bielsa over his judgement.
Phillips said: "I was a little bit confused at first because the season before the manager came in and told me he wanted me to play in a more defensive position I'd scored a few goals and got a few assists.
"So I was a bit gutted to be honest.
"Obviously the manager coming in, the calibre of the guy he is, and how many people respect and rate him, he said to me in the first meeting that he wanted me to play in this position and I never really wanted to say no.
"Even though, if I did want to say no, I couldn't really anyway. So I just kind of accepted it and thought, if it's going to work, I'll try my best.
"I think the main thing was every manager that I had, I was playing under them.
"That was one positive for me, every different manager I had, as we had quite a few before Marcelo came in, I was playing in different positions but I was always playing.
"So I kind of knew I had the ability to play in different positions but never really knew which was my best position."
