Since taking over at Elland Road in 2018, Bielsa has put together a senior team composed of a tight-knit group of players, and has largely stayed loyal to them.
However, the Argentine is currently missing a clutch of key players in the likes of Patrick Bamford, Raphinha, Luke Ayling, Diego Llorente and Robin Koch through injury.
Leeds legend Dorigo has admitted Bielsa’s insistence to only have a small squad worries him as the injuries continue to pile up at Elland Road.
The 55-year-old stressed Leeds are fortunate to have players that are able to step up and play in multiple positions, which could be a huge help for them now.
“Who knows [whether Charlie Cresswell or Stuart Dallas will slot in at centre-back] but Bielsa wanted this small, tight squad and now he has to manoeuvre things around to plug the holes. It’s not an easy job”, Dorigo wrote in his Yorkshire Evening Post column.
“Does it worry me? Yes, it does. However, you have to look at the overall situation.
“Yes, Bielsa wants a small squad, but we can’t have a massive squad anyway, financially.
“You cannot suddenly go from the Championship, with the squad we had and the quality we had, to boasting two teams in the Premier League like big clubs.
“It’s going to take a good while to get to that point and we’re slowly, slowly building up.
“For Bielsa, it takes a lot of time on the training ground and a lot of fitness work to get them up to speed and he finds the young players work out, in the short term, as replacements.
“That theory will be tested and we’ll see if it holds or not.
“Fortunately, we have players who can slot into one or two positions. We’ll need them now.”
With Llorente and Koch sidelined, Pascal Struijk suspended and Ayling battling to regain fitness, centre-back is one area where Leeds have been left shorthanded.
Leeds will take on West Ham United in the top flight at the weekend and Bielsa could turn to Under-23s starlet Cresswell, Dallas or Kalvin Phillips to partner Liam Copper at the heart of the defence.
