Former Leeds United star Pablo Hernandez has revealed he used to find training under Marcelo Bielsa ‘boring’, until they dominated opponents on the pitch.
The former winger has been speaking to the El camino del entrenador podcast, relayed by Infobae, about his football career and in particular his time at Leeds under Bielsa.
The Spaniard spent four years at Leeds United after arriving on a free transfer from Al-Arabi SC in January 2017 and established himself as something of a cult hero in that time, with 36 goals and 41 assists in 175 games.
He was a regular under Bielsa when he arrived at Elland Road, making 94 appearances under the Argentine coach as he took the club up from the Championship and back into the Premier League.
It’s fair to say he was one of the many who completely bought into what Bielsa wanted to do at the club, as he set about transforming them to completely suit his style and turned them into arguably the best side he’s managed at club level.
He managed to get everyone on side at Leeds and it seems Hernandez was one of them, even if he did find training boring from time to time.
“For the player, it is mentally very tiring on a day-to-day basis and even boring,” he said.
“We like to do some small-sided football, which is fun. It (Bielsa’s training sessions) can be boring, but when you saw how we competed, how we went out on the pitch and were superior to our opponents, you were convinced that this was the way to success, to play well.
“In the end, you internalise it and you get used to that way of working.
“Bielsa taught me a lot of tactical things when it came to reading the game or planning a match. Until his arrival, I wasn’t able to go any further as a player. He taught me that and he’s the one I’ve learnt the most from.”
