Leeds United captain Liam Cooper has explained why Wednesday's training sessions are the worst part of playing under Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa.
The Argentine tactician taking over at the helm at Elland Road was greeted with surprise by some, with the legendary figure dropping into the Championship, and he duly transformed the Whites.
Bielsa's Leeds lost out in the playoffs last season, but the Argentine signed on again for another crack at promotion and the Whites are again looking strong.
To lead the team straight from 13th to third in the table in his first season, the 64-year-old had to implement his philosophy and training drills, including something dubbed murderball by the players, which Leeds captain Cooper describes as the worst part of playing under the Argentine.
On Wednesdays in training, Bielsa will field his team to play a eleven vs eleven game among themselves, with the intensity turned up to maximum, the Scotsman revealed.
Cooper described the training drill as organised chaos, but feels it stands them in good stead for competitive games as he believes no team in the Championship play with as much intensity as Leeds do in training on Wednesdays.
"The hardest part [of playing under Bielsa] is probably [training on] Wednesda,," Cooper said in a recent Q&A event at Elland Road.
"It's an eleven vs eleven game situation and we usually do it in four or five five-minute segments.
"And to be honest, it is just organised chaos.
"The running starts at the highest there will ever be all week and to be fair, at first it was a struggle, but now I think we have become accustomed to it.
"The lads just have a charge about. Honestly, the physical output that the lads put in is unbelievable, but we take that into a game.
"It links to the game because that's the easiest part. When you get to the games, you never play under that sort of intensity.
"No other team play under the intensity that we play under in training, so it becomes easier.
"I think that's why we have the success we have and why dominate teams like we do because we train at such an intensity that no team we play against can replicate that."
Bielsa's side currently sit third in the league table with 31 points, which is just two off of table-toppers West Bromwich Albion.
