Good morning, Leeds United fans. Here are the headlines for Tuesday, November 17.
Mikel Arteta expecting another tough test from Leeds
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is one of the few Premier League coaches that knows exactly what to expect when it comes to facing Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.
United’s trip to the Emirates for the FA Cup third-round clash back in January was one of Arteta’s first matches in the dugout.
Under his management, the Gunners went on to win the tournament, but they might have been out at the first hurdle, having been made to weather severe pressure from the visiting Whites - especially in a breathless opening 45 minutes.
Arsenal won 1-0 in the end, but Leeds totally dominated the first half, as Leeds came to north London and registered 63%, 15 shots and five on target before the break, but paid the price for their inability to find the finishing touch.
Arteta famously described the experience as “like going to the dentist” post-match. Here’s what he said in full, with plenty of respect for his opponents.
Ian Poveda shows murderball recovery session
Leeds winger Ian Poveda took to Instagram yesterday to give his followers an insight into how the players recover from Bielsa’s notoriously gruelling murderball training exercise.
The exercise, in which the tempo is at the top intensity throughout with the ball kept constantly in play, evidently takes a lot out of the players.
“Things in the gym, stuff like that, he’ll know what’s going on, but you won’t see him [Bielsa]” Poveda recently revealed, as to how training differs over the international break.
“When you’re going on the training pitch doing drills, he’ll come out and make sure everything is good there.
“I think it’s almost, I don’t want to say it’s relaxed, but it is slightly more relaxed than it is when we’re building up for matches.”
The new video, posted on social media by Poveda, shows Patrick Bamford, Pablo Hernandez and summer signing Raphinha all winding down in a pool at United’s Thorp Arch training facility.
Leeds suffer blow in pursuit of defender
According to local reports in the Hamburger Morgenpost (via Inside Futbol), Leeds have been dealt a blow in their bid to sign Hamburg defender Stephan Ambrosius.
The highly-rated 21-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and was expected to leave fallen giants Hamburg, who compete in the second-tier Bundesliga II, next summer.
However, the latest developments suggest that the German Under-21 international is set to sign a new contract with his boyhood club.
That could well see the youngster stay with Hamburg beyond this season, but if not, they could expect to be well remunerated in the transfer market.
