Bielsa out

[Ellandback1]

If we had Citeh's money, we could build a squad capable of playing one way only, and we'd be good enough to win, but we haven't got the funds to do it, so need to rely on tactics as well as playing to our strengths.

Unfortunately, although a fantastic Coach, I see his Managerial capabilities as limited and detrimental to the team at many times.

[Irish Ian]

Funny so far no-one has voted for him to leave.

My 2p worth....

I am mainly picking up on what others have been saying for a while

Every one in that dressing room would walk through walls for him, he is held in such a high regard.
We have a united dressing room as a result. But they are letting him down. They are the ones who need to work it out.

While it is obvious that some of our players are out of sorts it has to be accepted only Watford so far have got their tactics wrong against us. The rest have all played to their strengths and exposed our weaknesses. That is football.

Injuries. Preventable? Imo two of our injuries ( Firpo and Llorente ) were caused by poor conditioning, the rest were just random occurrence. Ironically some were calling for Raph ( last week) and KP ( this week) to get thrown in and possibly risk more damage... Is that really good management?

Small squad. It is the core of Bielsaball.
It allows for fluidity, switching of roles exciting football which we all enjoy. Can we do this with a larger squad? Dunno but more players equals more wages and more players does not always equate to better performances or a happy dressing room.

Tactics While the players can sometimes be the same it doesn't mean the tactics are. They do change. To be honest most of us know more about the workings of the game now that we have had three seasons of Bielsa in charge. He has a way of making us interested in these things that very few managers have. I will say our big weakness is the KP role. But how do you replace a player like him? Are we Man City or Chelsea who can have a £40M bench warmer to serve as his understudy.

Loyalty to players.
Bamford. Bielsa vas vindicated, promoted in Bamfords first season he was fit and last season he scored a goal every other game.
Dallas. Injured half the first season and more then stepped in and became a leader. Bielsa vindicated
Klich Was in the middle group but injury ( ironically to Forshaw) allowed him in. Key player for us even last season when he was struggling with injury Bielsa vincicated.
Roberts Roberts started well under Bielsa finding the net three times I think in season one, but injuries etc essentially lost him a year. Bielsa sees something in him. I just think it is too much for him, and unless he shows us the fans something soon I fear for him. So far he hasn't reflected well on Bielsa.
Forshaw. He was ok in season one. Not KP level creatively but as a defensive screen was fine. Injuries robbed him of two years of his career and perhaps Bielsa feels as if he owes him something... I dunno. But we actually dont know how he will do once he finds some match fitness. .. In fact I would rather see him as DMF than either Struijk anyone else.

The kids Play the effing kids....
Shackleton Plagued by injuries but there is a player in there, not keen on him as a RWB but he has been ok not great.
Meslier. Broken through. First team player. How many other managers would have used him in our first season in the PL? Not many...
Struijk Broken through.
Cresswell. Shows potential should be an asset. I would happily see him as a Cooper replacement at some point.
Joffy and Greenwood. While we all want to see them succeed I fear we could have another Roberts on our hands if their progress isnt managed carefully. This is the PL. Huge pressure on them.
Bate.. Ok but Charlie Allen looks a better prospect.


Transfer market.
The most area of concern. Buy a player and he doesn't gel for whatever reason. Happens all the time in football. Remeber Alexis Sanchez? Lit up the PL playing for Arsenal. £63M move to Manchester. Flop. Left on a FREE this year.
Rodrigo, purchased because it was felt that perhaps a Bamford upgrade was needed. Bamford begins the season on a goal spree while Rod when fit finds himself being played in a system he isn't used to or up to. Poor
Costa. Promises made when we needed a winger in season two. Looks to sulk a lot and once Raph came along ( in that same game at Palace he suffered that freak Og) he looked like he would never do. Never hit the heights. Poor
Harrison. Deserved a contract and last season some of his stuff was sublime.. Decent
Llorente. When fit AND IN A BACK FOUR he does very well. Great
Raph.. Bloody Great
Koch.. Fitness issues so a dunno there but leaning towards poor
Meslier Decent. But 5M for a prem keeper with massive potential is great business
Firpo. Decent.
James Unknown.

The big issue is of course our lack in midfield and I mark Bielsa as dreadful in not having this addressed obvious hole in our squad.

Clearout.
Alioski had the option to stay, he left. His problem
Pablo Made sense for him to return to his home in Spain
Kiko Good riddance
Douglas. Same
Berra Time to go. Dont think he has a club? Says enough

Loans
Costa Hasnt started yet
Poveda Possible rfuture player? Doing nowt at Blackburn
Bogusz. Possiby a good experience but when he returns he will be out of contract.
Kiko Nuff said
Davis. Injury blighted waste of time so far
McCalmont. Looked a promising player but he wont be back to Leeds.
Loans poor overall.

[Clacton White]

I think he will go at end of this season anyway , taken this current lot as far as he can , though I would like him to stay ......which tells you which way I voted. This squad/team is at least 5 or 6 top players away from being top 6 . They probably over achieved last season , like it's been said elsewhere some of these players are good championship players but maybe not top premier League players ......Cooper , Ayling , Roberts . Some aren't anywhere near where they were last season , maybe burn out from 4 seasons of Bielsaball and no rest because there is inadequate back up . Not really impressed with Orta's transfer business this season, seems very few targets get over the line ,that's if names mentioned are actually targets. Bielsaball has made Leeds one of the best clubs to watch , got the side up , I am still happy for him to be there though maybe sometimes you don't always get the results you want to see on the football field right now .

[1964white]

Marcelo has to stay for reasons CJay has already stated.

A new coach could be an absolute disaster!

Yes he frustrates the hell out of me, but we have to remember where we are now compared to just a few years ago pre-Bielsa. Surely MB is much in credit for what he has achieved at Leeds.

I'm pretty sure Bielsa wants to manage Leeds in a European campaign. If his wishes don't come to fruition, I suspect his next move will be retirement to spend time with his family.

[Byebyegeegee]

I’m in, of course I am!

I don’t believe you can go from everybody thinking you are the best Manager in the world at the end of last season to being sacked just 8 games into the new season. After 4 years of excellence Bielsa and his team need to be given a chance surely.

At the moment we are in the middle of a perfect storm with injuries to our best players, not Bielsa’s fault.

I’m assuming that Bielsa had identified a weakness in midfield and had asked for that position to be strengthened in the summer which is why we were linked with the likes of Gallagher and O’Brien etc. The fact that we didn’t sign a midfielder is not Bielsa’s fault.

I’m also sure he, and everybody else for that matter, expected a lot more of a contribution from our £27m Spanish international forward and that has yet to be realised. Personally I don’t believe it will be but again not really Bielsa’s fault.

He is not the type of man who will stick around if he thinks he is not making progress or indeed holding the club back, he will know himself when it’s time to go and that will be a sad day for me and I suspect a great many Leeds fans.

[Lumiukko]

Bielsa should stay. No other manager is equipped to get this squad out of the doldrums given how drilled they are to a certain style. We know that this squad ARE capable of beating anyone when we're firing on all cylinders. Yes, a big rut right now but I can't see why he can't turn things around, especially if he accepts to make even a few minor compromises with his thinking.

[mentalcase]

Marcelo has to stay for reasons CJay has already stated.

A new coach could be an absolute disaster!

Yes he frustrates the hell out of me, but we have to remember where we are now compared to just a few years ago pre-Bielsa. Surely MB is much in credit for what he has achieved at Leeds.

I'm pretty sure Bielsa wants to manage Leeds in a European campaign. If his wishes don't come to fruition, I suspect his next move will be retirement to spend time with his family.

I too reckon he's in credit, but resting on your laurels is a huge mistake.
How on earth could we cope with a European campaign with the smallest squad going ???

[1964white]

I too reckon he's in credit, but resting on your laurels is a huge mistake.
How on earth could we cope with a European campaign with the smallest squad going ???

We couldn't cope tbh, Beilsa would have to change his habits if he has European ambitions.

Pep works on a relatively small squad, however the majority of their players are top class.

Citeh's bench is frightening, whereas our bench is weak & uninspiring.

[White Riot]

We couldn't cope tbh, Beilsa would have to change his habits if he has European ambitions.

Pep works on a relatively small squad, however the majority of their players are top class.

Citeh's bench is frightening, whereas our bench is weak & uninspiring.

Our bench frightens me when I see Forshaw and Roberts there

[1964white]

Our bench frightens me when I see Forshaw and Roberts there

I dread it when we make substitutions, no impact whatsoever, mate,

[rab_rant]

I dread it when we make substitutions, no impact whatsoever, mate,

Yet everybody cries out for letting the kids have a go and when Gelhardt and Somerville are brought on everybody is frightened because the bench is so weak.

you can't have it both ways.

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[1964white]

Yet everybody cries out for letting the kids have a go and when Gelhardt and Somerville are brought on everybody is frightened because the bench is so weak.

you can't have it both ways.

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They got less than twelve minutes coming on in a very depleted team, our subs with much more experience than those two generally make no difference. Truth is, our bench is weak.

[weasel]

It seems strange that people are knocking Bielsa. Yes we could have done with strengthening the squad but let's think about how much it would have cost to have suitable back up for the players that were missing in the last match - KP, Raphinha, Bamford, Ayling, Firpo and Koch. People say we are poor without KP and we need a better back up than Strujyk but considering people talk about KP as being worth £80m+ then I think realistically you'd have to be looking at £20-£30m for a back up to be anywhere close to him. A lot of money for a benchwarmer. Raphinha okay so how much does a back up for him cost? Dan James has been brought in so we have got the 3 for 2 places cover there but he is still learning the Bielsa way and Harrison seems a little off the pace at the moment (not really much a manager can do about that). Bamford - interesting how many used Bielsa's insistence on playing Bamford as a stick to beat him with until Bielsa proved them all wrong - again how much to have a back-up and really Rodrigo was likely bought as that as well as to be able to play elsewhere. Rodrigo looks short on confidence but we all saw what he could do at the end of last season. Just another player short on confidence at present. Ayling - okay many seem to not rate him although I don't know why. Cracking at getting forward and decent at getting back. We always looked weaker when he had to play centreback but for me that wasn't due to him being bad at centreback but that we missed him so much at right back. Shackleton deputising really well but if Ayling was fit then Shackleton's energy may have been better used in helping te midfield. Firpo - okay the jury is out but he was looking like he was getting better. Again we have seen how disruptive it can be to move players around but you can't really spend what we did on Firpo and then also buy a back-up, we're not Man City. Koch - well wouldn't it be nice to see a Llorente Koch partnership? We splashed out on 2 international centreback yet found ourselves playing a kid a few weeks back. How much is it worth spending to ensure we don't have that situation again with 4 centrebacks out at the same time?

Look how sh*te Liverpool were with just Van Dijk out? Every team can struggle with 1 or 2 key injuries and no matter how strong your squad some players are just so good the back up is nowhere near as good. Same at City when DeBruyne is out. Imagine Man U without Bruno Fernandes.

So for all those knocking Bielsa then at least judge him when we have a near full squad. Just look how good we were at the end of last season when we had a settled side. Don't knock Bielsa for the lack of squad depth and then knock him for not playing youth - you can't have it both ways as if we fill the squad with 'back-ups' the youth will never get a chance. I'm sure Bielsa wanted another midfielder and judging by how Gallacher is doing at Palace it looks like he'd have been a great fit - interesting how many fans knew better than Bielsa and didn't want him.

Bielsa has done a fantastic job. Yes a bit of a wobble now but any manager would struggle with the players we have out at the moment and a few of the others being a bit below par formwise at present.

[BGwhite]

It's weak because of no rotation . When we were flying our youngsters should've been given game time for obvious reasons but Bielsa chose to stick rigidly to his chosen few . Thinking about today is fine but you must have one eye on tomorrow.,.unless you're very short-sighted, ..no pun intended.

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[Bally]

Bielsa to stay if we were losing with a fully fit squad then it'd be a different story but we aren't the most frustrating thing is he doesn't give some of the younger players more of a chance whereas some of the older players are given chance after chance after chance

[rab_rant]

It seems strange that people are knocking Bielsa. Yes we could have done with strengthening the squad but let's think about how much it would have cost to have suitable back up for the players that were missing in the last match - KP, Raphinha, Bamford, Ayling, Firpo and Koch. People say we are poor without KP and we need a better back up than Strujyk but considering people talk about KP as being worth £80m+ then I think realistically you'd have to be looking at £20-£30m for a back up to be anywhere close to him. A lot of money for a benchwarmer. Raphinha okay so how much does a back up for him cost? Dan James has been brought in so we have got the 3 for 2 places cover there but he is still learning the Bielsa way and Harrison seems a little off the pace at the moment (not really much a manager can do about that). Bamford - interesting how many used Bielsa's insistence on playing Bamford as a stick to beat him with until Bielsa proved them all wrong - again how much to have a back-up and really Rodrigo was likely bought as that as well as to be able to play elsewhere. Rodrigo looks short on confidence but we all saw what he could do at the end of last season. Just another player short on confidence at present. Ayling - okay many seem to not rate him although I don't know why. Cracking at getting forward and decent at getting back. We always looked weaker when he had to play centreback but for me that wasn't due to him being bad at centreback but that we missed him so much at right back. Shackleton deputising really well but if Ayling was fit then Shackleton's energy may have been better used in helping te midfield. Firpo - okay the jury is out but he was looking like he was getting better. Again we have seen how disruptive it can be to move players around but you can't really spend what we did on Firpo and then also buy a back-up, we're not Man City. Koch - well wouldn't it be nice to see a Llorente Koch partnership? We splashed out on 2 international centreback yet found ourselves playing a kid a few weeks back. How much is it worth spending to ensure we don't have that situation again with 4 centrebacks out at the same time?

Look how sh*te Liverpool were with just Van Dijk out? Every team can struggle with 1 or 2 key injuries and no matter how strong your squad some players are just so good the back up is nowhere near as good. Same at City when DeBruyne is out. Imagine Man U without Bruno Fernandes.

So for all those knocking Bielsa then at least judge him when we have a near full squad. Just look how good we were at the end of last season when we had a settled side. Don't knock Bielsa for the lack of squad depth and then knock him for not playing youth - you can't have it both ways as if we fill the squad with 'back-ups' the youth will never get a chance. I'm sure Bielsa wanted another midfielder and judging by how Gallacher is doing at Palace it looks like he'd have been a great fit - interesting how many fans knew better than Bielsa and didn't want him.

Bielsa has done a fantastic job. Yes a bit of a wobble now but any manager would struggle with the players we have out at the moment and a few of the others being a bit below par formwise at present.

The voice of reason once again great post.

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[Mountain]

...considering people talk about KP as being worth £80m+ then I think realistically you'd have to be looking at £20-£30m for a back up to be anywhere close to him. A lot of money for a benchwarmer.

Bamford - interesting how many used Bielsa's insistence on playing Bamford as a stick to beat him with until Bielsa proved them all wrong - again how much to have a back-up and really Rodrigo was likely bought as that as well as to be able to play elsewhere.

Don't knock Bielsa for the lack of squad depth and then knock him for not playing youth - you can't have it both ways as if we fill the squad with 'back-ups' the youth will never get a chance. I'm sure Bielsa wanted another midfielder and judging by how Gallacher is doing at Palace it looks like he'd have been a great fit - interesting how many fans knew better than Bielsa and didn't want him.

Lots of great points but particularly those 3. There is one big overlap between those who main about Bielsa, moaned about Bamford, moaned about possibly signing Gallagher,moan about not enough big name signings and moan about not playing the youngsters.

It's all riddled with the inconsistencies of fans who say "drop experienced player X or big signing Y, pick the untried kid Z" and if it all goes wrong you'd just know they'd be the first to shrug their shoulders and find fault with it.

[danhirons]

big IN - we'll be in the championship for sure with this squad without him

[Johnboy1965]

I voted to stay but with the caveat that IMO Bielsa is the single point of failure in a system that would fail apart if he left.
For us as a club to be in this position is very dangerous as Bielsa could leave of his own accord and that would leave us very vulnerable as the players are all geared to playing his way and would struggle to have to adapt again to a new system especially some of the older players who simply do not have the time to reinvent themselves again.
I agree with CJ that the club are somewhat held to ransom in so much as we all know that this squad is specifically moulded to Bielsaball and its doubtful that any available alternative coach would be able to do any better.

My issue with Bielsa atm is that we are too one dimensional and predictable and teams are now finding ways to nullify our superior fitness and high press and we don't adapt accordingly during games to this.
We either:
Play well and win
Play well and lose
Play crap and lose
We never play crap and win, by grinding out results which is what you have to do sometimes at this level, especially if your struggling for form and confidence.

So he stays but we need some proper investment in the squad in key positions in January else I think we'll be back in the championship.

[VinnysTattoo]

I voted stay but if we don’t get a reaction this weekend that may change.

Injuries aside we need to run Wolves into the ground. Last season most teams were spent in the latter stages and we capitalised on tiring players.

This has to be a minimum because anything different will mean we have a major problem.

In addition Gelhardt has to be given a start surely. My worry is the manager will maintain his faith in his 18 and goal shy Rodrigo will start once more.