I was a Leeds United youth blooded by Marcelo Bielsa and now I'm back in the Premier League

Discussion was not a novelty Marcelo Bielsa tended to dwell on during his time as Leeds United head coach. Virtually every hour of the day was used to research opponents and his players were told this is how you win this game.

For Jack Clarke, blooded as a 17-year-old by Bielsa in that first season under the Argentine, the prospect of debating with one of the planet’s foremost coaches was not on the agenda. Speaking as an Ipswich Town player this week, Clarke admits he didn’t know any different and considered Bielsa’s approach the norm.

“My first season in professional football was under Marcelo, so stepping into it I thought everybody was like that and that was the normal thing that happened when you play professional football,” he said, as per TWTD. “It was hard not to learn under him, he was so detailed and particular in everything he wanted on and off the pitch and you had to be like a sponge in taking in whatever he was saying.

READ MORE: Leeds United and other EFL clubs could be affected by historical TV decision amid £37m claim

READ MORE: 'I don't like this attitude' - Leeds United warning sent after cheating and booing despair

“To be fair, there wasn’t much room for discussion about what he wanted from his wingers, it was just run as much as possible and the rest of it should take care of itself.”

Clarke’s yet to nail down regular starts with the top-flight new boys. There have been regular cameos from the bench around three starts across late September and early October.

The move to Suffolk reunited Clarke with former Leeds colleagues, Kalving Phillips and Leif Davis. They both shared many trips with Clarke through those first two years under Bielsa before the winger left for good, the second season being a loan back from Tottenham Hotspur anyway.

“Kalvin and Leif were the main two in terms of who I actually knew before coming to the club,” said Clarke. “There’s always a sense of familiarity and it makes it feel a little bit more homely when you know a couple of people, especially when you’re moving to the other end of the country. That definitely helped a little bit.”

There’s less than a year in age between Clarke and Davis. They played most frequently together in United’s under-23s, which were regularly populated with the senior faces Bielsa couldn’t give minutes to on any given week.

“We spent a lot of time together playing under-23s and reserve football when we were still at Leeds together,” said Clarke. “Our journeys took us down different paths, then we’ve met together at the same point which is nice.

“I was more of a conventional winger when he first joined and he probably wasn’t getting forward as much as he is now. We had a good relationship back then and, hopefully, it’s something we can build upon going forward.”