While most of the professional football players seem to be Instagramming their vacations from exotic locations, Leeds captain Liam Cooper and Lewie Coyle seem to be in full-fledged pre-season training already!
This comes as no surprise as their manager Marcelo Bielsa is well known for inculcating an attitude of tireless work rate in his players.
Often referred to as ‘El Loco’ (the crazy one), complacency isn’t something that is seen or tolerated under his management and the players seem to have realised it as well.
Leeds United under Bielsa are looking to recover from their heartbreaking downfall at the end of the last season where they missed a chance of a direct promotion to the glory of the Premier League by losing three out of their last four fixtures and dropping down to 3rd position to Sheffield United on goal difference.
What followed was a flurry of injuries which eventually resulted in them losing to Derby County in the playoffs.
Cooper played an integral part of the defensive setup for Leeds last season, starting in 38 games but had his fair share of criticism especially after the 2nd leg of the playoffs against Derby County where he gave away a crucial penalty.
On the other hand, Coyle was on loan at Fleetwood Town and will be hoping to be a part of the Leeds squad this season.
With both the domestic and international transfer windows already opened and the fixtures for the EFL Championship and the Carabao Cup to be released by the 20th of this month, there seems to be no rest for the management as they’ll hope to bring in reinforcements and begin their campaign on 3rd August, the first game week of the Championship.
Leeds are set to travel to Australia for their pre-season matches next month against Manchester United and Western Sydney Wanderers on the 17th and 19th respectively.
Under the guidance of a manager who Pep Guardiola once hailed as “the best coach in the world” and a group of determined young players, exciting times lie ahead for Leeds United.
Check out the clip of Cooper and Coyle working hard at a gym in Hull below –
