The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 6th April) - The fitness levels you have to get to are ridiculous - Huggins
The fitness levels you have to get to are ridiculous - Huggins
Bright academy prospect Niall Huggins has detailed how Bielsa's intense fitness regime has seen the left back promoted into the first team. Born in York, Huggins has risen up the ranks at Thorp Arch since the age of nine. Eleven years on, his hard work and dedication has paid dividends as he breaks through to the senior squad, as well as the Welsh U21's.
For me that first season [with the 23s] was a tough one. The fitness levels you have to get to are ridiculous. The summer after, it was hard because of COVID but programmes got sent through, we had to stick to them to make sure we get as fit as we can and for me it's just been about improving my fitness.
I think the reason I went up to the 23s was my technical ability but to push that step forward at Leeds now you have to be able to run, you have to be able to do everything intensely, everything as fast as you can. "Obviously they're really strict on your body fats and weight targets, we have to hit them all the time and if you're not then unfortunately you might end up not playing - it's that strict.
They want you to be at the top of your game and for them that means they want you to be on target to keep the intensity up for the full 90 minutes. It all comes down from him through his staff. It's all the same sort of principles - everything has to be high intensity. A lot of it is down to how intense it all is. The training, the games, the amount you're running and your high speed - things like that.
How you pass the ball. The way we work in training all improves that with the drills we do. "The manager has helped me improve loads at Leeds and the style of football we're playing obviously helps the first team a lot and down to 23s level and throughout the academy, it's had an impact on us all and obviously I've improved a lot from it.
Leeds are in good hands with Radrizzani
Soccer finance expert Kieran Maguire has labelled Andrea Radrizzani as being 'extremely smart' and what he lacks in personal wealth, he makes up in experience.
He is certainly at the top rung in terms of people involved in the executive side of the game. He’s been on both sides of the table to a certain extent in terms of buying and selling commercial deals. He also knows what he’s looking for as a broadcaster so he can see if he’s getting the best value for money in terms of top-tier deals like this. “He’s an extremely smart bloke and that is beneficial for Leeds because he certainly doesn’t have the same level of ultra-high net worth as some of the other owners in the division. He isn’t at that particular table in terms of personal wealth, but his background is hugely beneficial to the club.
The 46 year old, founder of global media giants Eleven Sports, has just added 'Team Whistle' to his portfolio in recent days. They are a New York based digital sports and entertainment company, as the Leeds Chairman reaches into the online North American market.
Top Leeds Utd bargains
Last night on match of the day, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker gave their top 10 bargain transfers of all time. Leeds featured twice. They bought Lucas Radebe in 1994 from the Keiser Chiefs for just £250,000, and they sold Eric Cantona to Manchester Utd for £1.2m two years previously. Who would make your top 5 Leeds bargains of all time?