Former Leeds United defender Leif Davis has hailed the impact Marcelo Bielsa has had on his career after an impressive season with Ipswich Town. The 23-year-old left back signed for the League Two side for a fee of £1.5million last summer and has set up on average a goal every three games for the Tractor Boys on their way to promotion back to the Championship.
Only two players in Europe's top five leagues have more assists than the former Leeds United youngster, who has 14, with Kevin De Bruyne and Lionel Messi boasting better statistics. Across English football, only De Bruyne and two others from League Two have more assists to their name - Owen Moxon at Carlisle United and Elliot Watt at Salford City.
“It’s a big part of my game,” Davis told the Athletic. “I saw a stat the other day that I’d created the most chances in the EFL. I was delighted when I looked down the list and realised they were all, apart from me, attacking players. I was the only defender. I just love getting up and down the pitch, trying to create goals.”
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Davis created 132 chances for Ipswich in a season where they scored 101 goals, the most in England's top four divisions. It's been a season of great success for the former Leeds trainee, who faced a tough decision to leave Elland Road in the summer following a conversation with Jesse Marsch on pre-season tour in Australia.
“It was upsetting," Davis added. "I remember having a tear in my eye because of all the friends I had made at Leeds.
"It was a hard decision for me. But I needed to play regular games. It was no good for me to be sitting on the bench in the Premier League.”
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna convinced Davis that Portman Road was the right place to continue his career. The former Manchester United assistant has a growing reputation in English football, with Davis drawing comparisons between him and Bielsa.
“It was like a switch that changed my mind instantly,” says Davis. “I knew it was the right decision. Since then, everything he said to me has come true.
“I can thank him for all the assists because of the way he has helped me improve in the final third of the pitch. He has helped me so much in my decision-making and knowing which pass to choose. I’m not just getting my head down and crossing.
“A lot of people have asked me what he is like compared to Marcelo Bielsa. He’s exactly the same. His demands in training, his intensity of training, the way he wants to make everyone better.
“He wants the players to be really fit. ‘If you don’t want to run,’ he says, ‘you might as well not be here.’ That suits me because I love running. He’s developed me in so many other ways – my heading, my one-v-one defending. Everything has worked out just as I hoped.
“Marcelo liked how I was on the ball, my passing ability. I always saw myself as a left-back but working with him was like, ‘Wow, this is another level.’
"It was incredible how he improved footballers. If you can’t learn under him, you won’t learn from anyone.”
