Erling Haaland: Leeds United's Stuart Dallas joins the Super 6 Podcast to discuss swapping shirts with forward
Stuart Dallas is the latest Premier League guest to sit down with Laura Woods and Bayo Akinfenwa on the Super 6 Podcast.
Stuart Dallas earned promotion with Leeds in the summer of 2020, but it was in August 2015 when Leeds signed the Northern Ireland international from Brentford, in a fee of around £1.3m.
Left-back? Right-back? Central midfield? Dallas has gone on to make 200 appearances in the colours of Leeds, playing in an abundance of positions during his time with the club.
The club travel to the London Stadium on Monday to face high-flying West Ham, looking to end a dismal run in the capital. Ahead of that game, Dallas caught up with Woods and Akinfenwa to discuss a certain incident with Erling Haaland, the promotion celebrations of last year, and more.
“Marching on together” with Haaland
It was not one of his or his side’s best nights on international duty with Northern Ireland, suffering a 5-1 loss at the hands of Norway. Haaland was on the scoresheet, scoring twice on the night – but something occurred after the game that Dallas will hold dearly for the rest of his life.
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He said: “After the game, we had just been beaten 5-1, he played like the superstar he is and ripped us apart. After the game I went to shake hands with him and he said to me ‘can we swap shirts?’. I think if you watch the clip, I smile and walk on. He shouted at me and said ‘we will do it now’, we swap shirts and whispered into my ear ‘marching on together. I follow Leeds’.
“Looking back now, I have been smiling and laughing on camera when we have just been hammered 5-1, it probably wasn’t the smartest of things!
“Looking back, I will do in years to come, he will be banging in goals and be one of the best players in the world. For me to have his shirt is great and it is something I will be able to tell the kids when I am older, and he asked me for mine!”
The belief of Bielsa
On Leeds’ enigmatic manager, Dallas explained: “Bielsa has improved us all as players. It is hard to explain some of the things we do. You have to have quality, but we cannot get away from the fact that three years ago, the core of this team was a mid-table Championship team, it is there in black and white.
“You can see the changes he has made to all of us. It is the way he makes you see the game. Again, we thought we worked hard, we didn’t work hard until he came in! It is the way he makes you react off the ball. He is not bothered if you lose the ball or make a mistake, it is all about how you react and try to win the ball back, and cover for your teammates.
“Everything we do, a lot of the things in training are stop, sprint, stop, sprint, to make our reaction time better. Of course, we have the quality, but he has given us the confidence and belief that we are not bad players.
“I never ever thought, I always dreamt of playing in the Premier League, but never thought I would ever get the chance. Even last season in the Championship, I never thought I was going to start in the Premier League. He just gives players confidence and belief they are good enough. I have no words to thank him for the job he has done on me personally.”
You can catch Leeds United’s game at West Ham on Monday Night Football live on Sky Sports; kick-off at 8pm.
Listen to the full episode with Laura, Bayo and Stuart Dallas on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts now! Stay tuned for the upcoming shows, which are available on all channels every Thursday.
If you missed earlier episodes, don’t worry. You can listen back to interviews with Jamie Carragher, Conor Coady, Michail Antonio, Declan Rice and Callum Wilson, on YouTube or on Apple Podcasts.
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Round 41 Fixtures:
Borussia Dortmund vs Sevilla
Juventus vs Porto
Blackburn vs Swansea
QPR vs Wycombe
Portsmouth vs Sunderland
Peterborough vs Hull
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