MB Post Swansea

[Cjay]

Not a happy man, frustrated id say.

Bielsa's here. What did your performance deserve?
The individual performance of the players was positive.
Our players played a little under the limit that they have.
We defended well. We created enough chances to deserve two or three goals.
The chances that the opponent team had was restricted to corners, more from the second ball from the corners.
So honestly we can’t criticise this point of the team.

What would you have done differently now you look back?
Alioski played with a yellow card, but did not show it.
Kalvin did a very good game. Forshaw gave the balance in the middle.
Klich was playing with enough influence in the team.
Today the wingers did out game, Hernandez, Harrison and Costa.
The different possibilities as a nine and ten are four different players.
I cannot say some of the things would be different.

Is Phillips ok?
He is a very brave player. After his problem all of the kicks he received he never put his level down. In the moment when we were thinking of subs, he returned to the game.
We had a high possession of the ball. We attack with enough calm. That is the analysis of the game

Were you missing luck today?
We are curious to be as strong as we were in the last part.
We cannot create that this is missed luck. At the same time, Leeds had a lot of the luck too.
In the chances that we received including the goal, were second balls. We cannot say we have a big gap with these kind of details.
At the same time, having 70 per cent of the ball with a very good balanced referee, with an opponent that tried to play and the team created 12 or more chances at goal, something we need to criticise, but I don’t know what to say.

Going into the international break, how happy are you with the start of the season?
We needed to win today. Or the minimum don’t lose the game. We lost one game that we could win perfectly.
We have lost five points playing at home, then you have enough space you can be a little bit disappointed.
We cannot criticise the style of the team who play but we were creating conditions to win all six games.

[Irish Ian]

He says we defended well. Maybe according to all the percentages he uses to analyse games but sorry chief what was missing was a touch of reality.

We are a shambles at the back from set pieces, all this blah about defenders being able to pass the ball out of defence is great but their primary role is to DEFEND the goal.

I'm bloody frustrated at the minute

[BGwhite]

Our home form is a big concern and it will end any thoughts of promotion if it continues. I'd be more happier if all the remaining games were played away. I genuinely believe that they cannot handle the pressure at home .If they can't handle this forget PL.

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[60sUnited]

Our home form is a big concern and it will end any thoughts of promotion if it continues. I'd be more happier if all the remaining games were played away. I genuinely believe that they cannot handle the pressure at home .If they can't handle this forget PL.

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Agree with that BG, its not too early to flag up this weakness but I feel that great as Bielsa has done for us his stubborness has also cost us and will in the future, but hey I like the championship....think we may be here for a while yet

[Velotrax]

I think the problem is we play the same way every game, and teams have adapted to that, so they know how to stop us scoring, which seams to be MB's priority, strange as we are shite at it

[HarryofOz]

Spot on analysis by Bielsa

[rab_rant]

Elland Road is not a problem, I'll tell you what is a problem, half empty stadiums at Stoke, Boro, and Sunderland. I ask you what is more discouraging for a player... realising that no one wants to see you play... turning up to a stadium that is more like a cemetery, or one that is packed to the rafters and rocking. It is too simplistic to say ER is intimidating, and to me it is just a simplistic excuse to explain away a defeat. The real reason for the loss was a scuffed shot just like what happened with Forest... a ball that seemed to become epicentric and waywardly bounced towards goal in an erratic fashion.

In the beautiful game there are always goals to remember, but these scrappy goals from Forest and Swansea are goals to forget... there was no fluidity, no grace, no finesse, it was more like a bag of coals being dumped down a coal shute, and it is an absolute disgrace that anyone should be seen celebrating a goal like that.

They should have hung their heads in shame and walked in silence back to the half way line... but not only that Cooper their manager should have told his team to let Nketiah score straight from the kick off... now that would have been Bielsa ball and something to applaud and remember.

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[BGwhite]

I'd take a fluky goal every game if it got us promotion. Most games at ER I reckon will be not to dissimilar to the one's already witnessed so far this season so if it takes scruffy flukes to win them that'll do for me. We have to get out of this bloody league no matter what.

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[rab_rant]

I'd take a fluky goal every game if it got us promotion. Most games at ER I reckon will be not to dissimilar to the one's already witnessed so far this season so if it takes scruffy flukes to win them that'll do for me. We have to get out of this bloody league no matter what.

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We do scruffy quite well, but the only trouble is the ball does not go in the net.
Miss hits, wayward headers (like Eddie into the side netting) he could have chested
that ball down and tapped it into the net.

There is also this idea going around that Bielsa is too stubborn to make changes.
Eddie is the new kid on the block, the pretender to the throne of King Paddy.
We see his movement and pace and compare it to Bamford and the fans are
then clamouring that he should be starting the games.

The same with Costa we are all dazzled with those flashes of brilliance, but the fans
all say Bielsa is too pig headed to give them a start and only brings them on as super subs,
all the while forgetting that Bamford for all his lack of pace and misplaced headers has scored
4 goals in 6 league games... lets play a game and extrapolate and see what we get 3/4 x 46 = 34.5
I'll take that.

Bielsa is not interested in the flavour of the month. If we know anything about the man he is
a man of principle and integrity, and the fans confuse this with stubbornness.
He always defends his players and selections, never makes excuses , never blames the referee,
and these three aspects are always attacked by the fans... play Eddie instead of Paddy... why bring
on Douglas for Alioski... if the referee had one more eye he would be a cyclops.

Win and the fans are elated, loose and the fans are deflated... they are tossed about by the waves
of fortune, ruled by emotion. Thank God Bielsa is an anchor that holds fast, and steadies the ship,
I don't think he cares much for the individual talent of a player, he is more interested on how
that talent can be integrated into the team. Individual brilliance may score the odd goal, but what
typifies and dazzles in Bielsa ball is a goal scored by team work... now that makes your heart sing.
Dare I say it the clamour of the fans to replace one player with another only brings discord and confusion.
Elevates the confidence of one at the expensive of another. I bet that the thought that Bielsa has is
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, Never be wise in your own sight.

And there you have it, teamwork instilling a confidence in players that they can rely and depend
on each other. How often have you seen a striker point to his feet and with an exasperated look
shake his head as if to say... you should have passed the ball to me? It is an old saying "Team before
self" and that is the dynamic Bielsa is trying to create.

He is not stubborn he is steadfast, and that is a quality that should be admired.

[1964white]

My thoughts are we were always going to lose games at some stage of the season, although it does appear we lose the most important games on our home soil.

I just hope deja vu doesn't occur during this season losing silly games against the lesser sides in the championship.

We can't afford to chuck points away at ER then have a repeat of last seasons fiasco's on our travels.

I personally feel we'll batter the tykes at Oakwell after the international break

[HarryofOz]

My thoughts are we were always going to lose games at some stage of the season, although it does appear we lose the most important games on our home soil.

I just hope deja vu doesn't occur during this season losing silly games against the lesser sides in the championship.

We can't afford to chuck points away at ER then have a repeat of last seasons fiasco's on our travels.

I personally feel we'll batter the tykes at Oakwell after the international break

Play like we did against Swansea and we win nine times out of ten.

[YorkshireSquare]

Play like we did against Swansea and we win nine times out of ten.

Think is Harry, I dont think thats true.

Play like we did against Swansea and we should win 9 times out of 10. But you can point to so many occasions last season; QPR, Wigan, Ipswich just a few examples.

[Irish Ian]

Play like we did against Swansea and we win nine times out of ten.

But did we really do enough to win yesterday?

If their keeper had played a blinder then I would have agreed with you, but we rarely tested him. 3 shots on target in z home game where we dominated possession?

Helder has to start ahead of Jack H now.

[HarryofOz]

Think is Harry, I dont think thats true.

Play like we did against Swansea and we should win 9 times out of 10. But you can point to so many occasions last season; QPR, Wigan, Ipswich just a few examples.

Fair enough, maybe I was being a tad optimistic. But I still reckon you can't fault much about the way we played.

[HarryofOz]

But did we really do enough to win yesterday?

If their keeper had played a blinder then I would have agreed with you, but we rarely tested him. 3 shots on target in z home game where we dominated possession?

Helder has to start ahead of Jack H now.

We played well, willingness to attack and good football. But so did Swansea, and each of us defended better than the other team attacked. They just had that bit of luck with a scruffy goal. I'm saying they were lucky to win, because they also played well, and they had to be in the position to take advantage of their chance. But the winning team (if their was going to be one) came down to one moment and that was because we had two equally adept quality footballing teams doing battle.

[weasel]

Play like we did against Swansea and we win nine times out of ten.

That is the key point and why Bielsa persists with his methodology. There will always be the game(s) where the ball doesn't go into the net and that has been my point all pre-season in that we need goals from all around the team. With Wilko's title winning team the only players unlikely to score were Batty and Lukic. Both fullbacks, Sterland and Dorigo, scored goals, the centrebacks, Whyte and Fariclouigh did, Strachan, Speed and McAllister did, and up front Wallace and Chapman did. Even bit part players came in, Wetherall, Newsome, Hodge and Cantona came in and scored. With this team you have Kiko, White, Cooper, Phillips and Forshaw who probably won't get 5 between them so that is a huge part of the team that offers little in the way of a goal threat.

Yesterday the expected goals from our chances suggested we would score between 2 and 3. So we should have won the game. So the performance wasn't the problem. The defending wasn't the problem either, Swansea created little. They didn't even create from corners directly but from the second or third phases after we initially dealt with the danger but then failed to properly clear our lines.

But it is deja vu from last season, good performance, fail to score and get hit by a sucker punch. Defensively though I do think we look stronger. Last season we conceded goals when we got cut open horribly. This season the 3 goals we have conceded have all been a bit scruffy. Forest's was pinball in the box that fell for them and trickled over the line, ditto Swansea. Bristol City's a better goal but even then the shot took a slight deflection or was possibly going to be saved.

[rab_rant]

Scruffy goals and chicken little fans are rushing around shouting out that the sky is falling.

[The Subhuman]

Scruffy goals and chicken little fans are rushing around shouting out that the sky is falling.

nice

[weasel]

the sky is falling.

Thankfully our defence will be the last affected due to them all being midgets.

[The Subhuman]

lol