Marcelo Bielsa said he was “satisfied” with Leeds’ first season back in the Premier League after their last-day win against West Brom.
Leeds finished off in style in front of an 8,000-crowd at Elland Road as goals from Rodrigo and Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford’s penalty secured a 3-1 victory and ninth-placed finish.
“It’s difficult to offer a conclusion because on one side I’m very satisfied with what the team achieved, but on the other I feel like we could have added a few more points,” said Bielsa.
Leeds closed the season on 59 points, the most by a promoted top-flight club since Ipswich in 2000/01, but the Argentinian feels they should have got more.
“If we divided the competition in two, in the second part we received 50 per cent less of the goals conceded in the first part,” he said.
“If we had that security defensively for the whole campaign, we could have added the points I would have liked.
“Anyway, I’m satisfied with what we achieved. It’s very difficult to win a game in the Premier League, very difficult. On the other side, we could have had a few more points.”
Leeds scored 62 goals, a record-extending total for a promoted club in a 38-match season and became the first promoted club to win their final four Premier League games.
“Sincerely, the evolution of the team has been very big,” said Bielsa, who has yet to confirm he has committed to a fourth season as head coach.
“This is linked with the rush of the individual and the team to be better.
“It’s very common for a human to say they want to be better, but it’s not very common a human puts himself in the surroundings to be able to grow, to make all the effort demanded and manage to reform the highest possibilities each one has.”
Bielsa paid another tribute to both Pablo Hernandez and Gaetano Berardi, who both bade farewell in their final appearances for the club.
Phillips missed the players’ lap of honour after the final whistle having appeared to have sustained a shoulder injury in the closing stages.
The midfielder is hoping to be named in England boss Gareth Southgate’s 26-man Euro 2020 squad on Tuesday.
“Sincerely I haven’t received any information to the gravity of the injury,” Bielsa added. “We all hope that it’s something that can be resolved quickly.
“Knowing the fortitude of Kalvin, I know he has the resources to quicken any problem he may have.”
West Brom boss Sam Allardyce’s final game in charge ended in disappointment as his side lost their final four matches.
“It’s very much us in a nutshell today,” said Allardyce, who experienced defeat for the first time as a manager at Elland Road.
“Always in the game, but missed a chance to go 1-0 up in the first minute, a free header in the six-yard box wide and other chances after that and we conceded tow very sloppy goals.”
The Baggies’ relegation straight back to the Championship was confirmed two weeks ago, but Allardyce feels his replacement will not be inheriting a broken squad.
“They’ve got the basis of a very talented Championship squad, needs some additions obviously and I think the experience they got this season will make them better when they go back down.”
