da bet nacional： Pablo Hernandez hasn’t been at his brilliant best this season.
da brdice： For one reason or another, the Spaniard hasn’t been able to hit the heights of 2018/19 where he contributed to 24 strikes via 12 goals and 12 assists.
Perhaps one explanation for this is his switch in position.
The 34-year-old has played a high volume of his games in central midfield this term, whereas last campaign he was deployed more often as a right-winger.
However, Marcelo Bielsa believes that his position switch has actually helped him, stating that he makes more of an impact as a playmaker than a winger.
What’s been said then?
The Argentine was talking about the two-time Player of the Year winner in his pre-match press conference.
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“I think that to play him as a winger on the right is different than when you play in the middle. Today Pablo has more of an impact as a playmaker than as a winger,” Bielsa said.
“Pablo is a player who makes his teammates play. I let them at a good condition, have a good offensive play. When he plays on the right side, this impact is just on the right side.
“When he plays as a playmaker, he has an impact all over the pitch – to play in the centre is the same as anywhere else on the pitch, because you are close to any place in the pitch and you’re in a condition to receive any ball that is in play.
“Because you are close to goal when the ball is in front of him, or behind him. And that for Pablo is something positive, because what he does best is move the ball.”
Wrong
It’s really hard to agree with Bielsa on this one.
Hernandez’s numbers show that he is much better when playing on the right, and even though Bielsa says he’s a better playmaker in his new position, the statistics don’t reflect that.
He made more key passes per match last season, and he had a better assist per game record as well as an improved goal per game record.
His impact may only be down the right when he plays on the wing, but that influence is far greater than what he offers in the middle of the park.
The manager seems to have misjudged this one a little bit.
In other news, Leeds made a January transfer mistake according to Phil Hay.