LEEDS fans raged at Marcelo Bielsa as he left out Eddie Nketiah once again.
The on-loan Arsenal striker has been in fine form since arriving from Arsenal over the summer.
But Bielsa is staying loyal to the club’s permanent striker Patrick Bamford – and started the ex-Chelsea and Middlesbrough man for the Yorkshire derby away at Sheffield Wednesday.
That is despite Nketiah – who moaned earlier this month about a lack of game time during his loan spell at Elland Road – having five goals in 386 minutes this season compared to Bamford’s return of four in 999 minutes of action.
And Twitter was furious that the England Under-21 star was being overlooked by Bielsa.
One person wrote: “When will Bielsa grow a brain? LUFC fans must be hoping that he grows one soon start with Nketiah in the first 11…”
Another said: “How does Bamford start over Nketiah? What dirt does he have on Bielsa?”
A third tweeted: “How Bamford still starts over Nketiah baffles me, poor decision making from Bielsa.”
And a final user added: “Bielsa rates Bamford over Nketiah lmao.”
“He is an option”
Marcelo Bielsa again selects Patrick Bamford over Eddie Nketiah in attack for Leeds this lunchtime
Watch Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds live on Sky Sports Football pic.twitter.com/4DgFxEz1iY
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 26, 2019
But Bielsa defended his decision, insisting that Nketiah would be an “option” from the bench.
He said: “He doesn’t start the match but he is one option because he’s been in the last matches.
“And of course he will be useful and an option in the rest of the competition.”
With Leeds unable to find the net in the first half and Bamford picking up a knock, Bielsa did bring Nketiah on at half-time to try and break the deadlock.
It was a move that certainly went down well on social media, with plenty tweeting: “Nketiah finally.”
But Nketiah could be facing a three-match retrospective ban after appearing to elbow Joey Pelupessy.
No card was shown by the referee but fans on Twitter were outraged by the clash.
One fumed: “Lucky lad there Nketiah ref sees that and hes walking off the pitch.”
Another raged: “If VAR sees that Nketiah gets sent off.”
And a third blasted: “Nketiah should be off thats poor from the officials.”
