Leeds United defender Pontus Jansson has clarified comments he made to the Swedish press which appeared to criticise manager Marcelo Bielsa.
In an interview with Fotbolls Experterna, Jansson, the centre-back, highlighted the ‘intense’ approach Bielsa takes to training sessions which often leaves the players tired before matches.
Going on, the 27-year-old admitted he thought Bielsa would change his approach when he started to understand this country’s football better, as the Argentine had never managed in England – let alone the unbelievably frenetic Championship – before taking charge of Leeds.
However, Jansson confirmed Bielsa remains the same as he was when he arrived at Elland Road.
“The worst thing for us is that you can sometimes feel tired before the match because we have it so intense,” the Sweden international said. “He [Bielsa] has a philosophy that if you are tired, then you should train even harder to make it better.
“He has that philosophy and won’t change.
“We thought he would understand after a while that the league is a bit tougher and that you sometimes have to be a little smarter about how to train, but he has not changed anything, instead just driven on almost even harder. He has his philosophy and does not let it go.”
Jansson has been accused of criticising his manager since giving the interview, but he moved to clarify his comments in a post shared on social media website Twitter.
He wrote: “I did a podcast in Sweden about some of the work we are doing with Bielsa and I name him one of the best in the world and everything he done for us is just amazing so dont [sic] think anything else.
“Sometimes a [sic] say things with a bit of irony so don’t take every word to [sic] serious!”
Jansson, a fan favourite at Elland Road, has played 25 times in all competitions this season as Leeds aim to secure a return to the Premier League for the first time in 15 years.
The Whites currently sit second in the Championship having been knocked off top spot last weekend by Norwich, who claimed a 3-1 win at Elland Road to move ahead of Bielsa’s side on goal difference.
Leeds return to action on Saturday when they visit fellow promotion rivals Middlesbrough.