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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Ed Malyon

Leeds United pair Marcelo Bielsa and Kemar Roofe named Championship Manager and Player of the Month

Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United reacts during Leeds' victory over Rotherham ( PA )

Marcelo Bielsa's unbeaten start to life at Leeds United has seen him named Manager of the Month in his first month in English football.

The legendary Argentine coach, 62, has something of a cult following and generated a huge buzz around Elland Road when he was hired this summer. 

And performances and results have matched the hype, with Bielsa presiding over four wins and two draws from Leeds' first six games as the Whites surged to the top of the table. 

Leeds forward Kemar Roofe made it a double for the club as he was named Championship Player of the Month. 

Roofe said: “It has all stemmed from our pre-season. It has been the best pre-season I have had so far – the hardest – and the style of play that Marcelo is giving us and educating us with is obviously showing. The style of play with the ball, without the ball, our fitness and off the pitch as well, every day he’s educating us on how to be better people as well. 

“I feel like I can express myself a bit more. I am playing in a position where I can show what I can actually do and also the team plays to my strengths as well and also to everyone else’s strengths. We are not doing something we’re not capable of doing.”

True to form, the media-shy Bielsa was the only one of six EFL monthly award winners not to be pictured with his trophy. 

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