Marcelo Bielsa has defended Leeds’ recruitment policy as the club’s struggles to strengthen their squad continue.
Bielsa wants to bring in a new striker and a winger following the return of loan players Eddie Nketiah and Jack Clarke to Arsenal and Tottenham respectively.
Leeds, whose Sky Bet Championship promotion push has stalled in recent weeks following one win in six matches, have been linked with Southampton striker Che Adams and Manchester City winger Ian Poveda.
But both potential deals appear no nearer to completion before Leeds’ game at QPR on Saturday and fans have expressed concerns Bielsa’s squad is too thin to maintain a top-two challenge.
“We are aware that we have to replace two players,” Bielsa said. “(Director of football) Victor Orta is working very hard to try to resolve this, the president supports the needs of the team and if we can’t resolve it, it’s not going to be for as lack of effort or because someone is not engaged.”
Bielsa revealed his annoyance at Nketiah’s recall by Arsenal, who felt their player was not getting sufficient game time at Leeds.
The Argentinian also said his team’s style of play meant that it was not a straightforward issue bringing in a new striker such as Adams.
“Do you think Adams is playing regularly?” Bielsa said. “Adams is not playing regularly, so if he comes of course we need to adapt to some situation.
“For this reason I’m a little bit disappointed for the situation of Nketiah and Arsenal because we have 19 matches left, three months of competition and also we have to consider the type of team we are.
“The matches we won is not because one player unbalances the match, we win matches because we build attacks collectively and after, when you win attacks building collectively, you need also adaptation and collective work.”
Leeds spurned several more scoring chances in last week’s home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday and fans are wary of another promotion challenge fading in the same way it did last season.
“Of course we accept that the supporters have some doubts on the team and the media and the press have the same position,” Bielsa added.
“We try to analyse if the messages we receive are right or not. Everybody knows about our high points and our weak points and we analyse and try to correct and try to improve.”
