Here are the Leeds evening headlines for Saturday July 18.
Leeds street to be named after Bielsa
A street in the city centre of Leeds will be named after manager Marcelo Bielsa after promotion to the Premier League was confirmed.
The road, which links Trinity Leeds shopping centre to Commercial Street, will be named Marcelo Bielsa Way.
David Maddison, centre director of Trinity Leeds United, said: “This is a fantastic moment for the city and we are delighted to be able to share in the celebrations as Leeds United return to the Premier League.
“The speed at which the manager has turned around the fortunes of this team and the manner in which he’s done it – the Bielsa way – he deserves all the plaudits and we are absolutely delighted to rename this street ‘Marcelo Bielsa Way’.
“The street renaming is a permanent reminder for fans, and any visitors from his native Argentina, of the team’s incredible achievement.”
Former Leeds striker questions Ben White after “sloppy” Leeds display
Noel Whelan has singled out the performance of Ben White as particularly concerning following Thursday’s 1-0 win over Barnsley.
The victory was enough to seal promotion to the Premier League, following defeats for both West Brom and Brentford.
But Whelan was not impressed by what he saw at Elland Road.
“To be quite honest Barnsley did to us what we normally do to teams at Elland Road. We didn’t seem to have a cohesion about us: we were disjointed, sloppy, lethargic at times as well,” he told Football Insider .
“We were kind of void of ideas on the ball – it was basically hoof it up the pitch and it was just coming back at us. I’m not sure having Ben White in that position (worked), I think no one really knew where they were playing for five minutes of the game.
“You could see Ben White looking, arms up in the air, at Marcelo Bielsa and then Berardi went into that position, he went to right-back, Berardi then went across to left-back – so it was very unlike Leeds United.”
Ferdinand welcomes former club back to the top flight
Former Leeds defender Rio Ferdinand took to social media on Friday to congratulate the club on a long-awaited return to the Premier League.
The ex-England international, who played for the Whites from 2000 to 2002, was clearly delighted when the news was confirmed.
And he wasted no time in sending a message to the club’s players and fans.
“Welcome back to the PL @LUFC,” he wrote on Twitter . “Back in the big time & deservedly so!!”
