Marcelo Bielsa

[DDB220]

On reflection last nights game was the perfect storm in terms of MB’s style of play hindered by so many key absences, pitted against a City side brimming with quality.
We had to do everything perfect to be in that game and we were anything but. This is our style of play, risk and reward. All the players are relentlessly schooled in the methodology. If we suddenly cast that style aside for damage mitigation purposes mid game, the players faith in the system would melt away. Plan B has always been to be better at plan A. This is Bielsa’s philosophy. A philosophy that dragged us from the realms of mediocrity in the Championship.

Injuries aside, we all know that some players have not maintained the same levels this season. Form and confidence are brittle, they are hard to gain and easy to lose. This is the reality of football and just about any other sport.

There is no such thing as a happy clappy supporter. It is just a case of whether a person wants to concentrate on the positives taking everything that has happened under Bielsa’s stewardship into consideration. Or adopt a knee jerk reaction to every set back and highlight every perceived weakness to reassure your position.

In this game most teams on any given day can be on the end of a thumping. s**t happens - this is the nature of football. I would rather watch a Bielsa team taking all the highs and lows than having to watch turgid park the bus shite. Newcastle did that under Bruce - where did it get him.

Football is emotive and in the heat of the moment frustrations boil over. But honestly, taking everything into account under Bielsa do people really want to get off the ride and be a Burnley or even Wolves this season ? F**k that.

[1964white]

I have to go back to it - and it wont be popular with some on here.

We have been a soft touch defensively ever since Jansson was sold - the player that one season MB named as his best player. Yes, for the time that Ben White was here on loan a bandage was put over the gaping wound created by the departure of Jansson, but ever since White went back to Brighton the old wound has become exposed again, got worse and now gangrine has started to set in.

It's lovely having these fancy-dan ball playing CBs such as LLorente, but I would prefer a good old blood and thunder CB in the tradition of Charlton or Jansson. There is a very good reason why Leicester, Everton and Newcastle are after Jansson with his contract at Brentford shortly expiring - he's a bloody good CB who is brilliant in the air. I think that falling out with Jansson has been the biggest mistake of Bielsa's tenure at the club.

And what exactly was the point of signing Koch ? Is it one game he has played as a CB ? Most of the time he has been injured of course, but Orta has a special talent for signing crocked players...

Well, I won't argue with that as Pontus was & still is one of my favourite Leeds players of the modern-era, he was treated disgracefully by Leeds imo!

Like myself he is competitive, ambitious & a winner.

Some of our fans mocked his move to Brentford, well look who is sitting eleventh in the PL Fantasy League Table behind & in front of some top PL defenders. Pontus is currently way ahead of any Leeds CB.

Screenshot 2021-12-15 11.51.37.png (44.5 KiB) Viewed 1771 times

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Well, I won't argue with that as Pontus was & still is one of my favourite Leeds players of the modern-era, he was treated disgracefully by Leeds imo!

Like myself he is competitive, ambitious & a winner.

Some of our fans mocked his move to Brentford, well look who is sitting eleventh in the PL Fantasy League Table behind & in front of some top PL defenders. Pontus is currently way ahead of any Leeds CB.


Screenshot 2021-12-15 11.51.37.png

Quite.

If you think of a team as a building, then there are probably one or two load bearing walls. Take one of the two out and the structural integrity of the building is compromised, but maybe it can still function for a while. Take both away and the building collapses like it did last night.

For me Jansson and Phillips would be the two load bearing walls right now if they were both fit and playing for Leeds. With Phillips out we have lost 11 of the 14 PL games we have played,compared with 11 defeats in 41 games when he has played.

[Orange Box]

What irked me about last night is that our style of play was shot by 12 minutes. Yet our ‘manager’ did nothing, I repeat, NOTHING to change the way we went about business.
If your boat has a leak you heave to and do your damnedest to plug it. Sailing on regardless ends only one way.
Don’t get me wrong, I love what Marcelo Bielsa has done for this club, and the way he has developed some of the players is nothing short of miraculous, but, and I’ve said it before, he is a world class coach, but sadly, not a PL class manager.
Don Revie didn’t coach his players, Les Cocker did, but by hell he knew how to win games

[Carrick Dave]

On reflection last nights game was the perfect storm in terms of MB’s style of play hindered by so many key absences, pitted against a City side brimming with quality.
We had to do everything perfect to be in that game and we were anything but. This is our style of play, risk and reward. All the players are relentlessly schooled in the methodology. If we suddenly cast that style aside for damage mitigation purposes mid game, the players faith in the system would melt away. Plan B has always been to be better at plan A. This is Bielsa’s philosophy. A philosophy that dragged us from the realms of mediocrity in the Championship.

Injuries aside, we all know that some players have not maintained the same levels this season. Form and confidence are brittle, they are hard to gain and easy to lose. This is the reality of football and just about any other sport.

There is no such thing as a happy clappy supporter. It is just a case of whether a person wants to concentrate on the positives taking everything that has happened under Bielsa’s stewardship into consideration. Or adopt a knee jerk reaction to every set back and highlight every perceived weakness to reassure your position.

In this game most teams on any given day can be on the end of a thumping. s**t happens - this is the nature of football. I would rather watch a Bielsa team taking all the highs and lows than having to watch turgid park the bus shite. Newcastle did that under Bruce - where did it get him.

Football is emotive and in the heat of the moment frustrations boil over. But honestly, taking everything into account under Bielsa do people really want to get off the ride and be a Burnley or even Wolves this season ? F**k that.

[DDB220]

Can’t beat a good analogy. Cars, boats and buildings today.
Pontus is playing within a system at Brentford that suits his strengths. Having said that it was a sad when he left. Although I do not recall many people lamenting his absence when Ben White was ripping it up in the Championship.

[SG90]

I have to go back to it - and it wont be popular with some on here.

We have been a soft touch defensively ever since Jansson was sold - the player that one season MB named as his best player. Yes, for the time that Ben White was here on loan a bandage was put over the gaping wound created by the departure of Jansson, but ever since White went back to Brighton the old wound has become exposed again, got worse and now gangrine has started to set in.

It's lovely having these fancy-dan ball playing CBs such as LLorente, but I would prefer a good old blood and thunder CB in the tradition of Charlton or Jansson. There is a very good reason why Leicester, Everton and Newcastle are after Jansson with his contract at Brentford shortly expiring - he's a bloody good CB who is brilliant in the air. I think that falling out with Jansson has been the biggest mistake of Bielsa's tenure at the club.

And what exactly was the point of signing Koch ? Is it one game he has played as a CB ? Most of the time he has been injured of course, but Orta has a special talent for signing crocked players...

I agree, but we have Charlie Cresswell for that now. Grealish and Ake don't score if he was on the pitch yesterday imo.

[DDB220]

I agree that the absence of our talented youngsters during games where to the average fan their inclusion within the side is a no brainier - is hugely frustrating. The reality is MB watches the kids in training everyday - we are basing our opinion on cameo performances and 23’s football for the most part.
Stats are a guide but they do not paint the full picture. I go off my trolly on occasion when I look at our line up.
The fact is he makes the decisions because he is best placed to do so. Whilst I find some of them head scratching to say the least - I have to accept his knowledge is far greater than mine.

[DDB220]

This is not blind loyalty - just an acceptance of reality.

[weasel]

Wolves managed it Saturday, losing only to a penalty despite playing 45 minutes with 10 men

Wolves have been playing in a very defensive way for the last couple of years. We haven't. What makes you think players not used to playing defensively are going to suddenly become great defensively? We saw what happened against Chelsea when 2 attack minded players tried to help out defensively and gave away 2 penalties.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

We have 5 players in the starting xi who aren't PL quality; Dallas, Ayling, Roberts, Klich, Harrison. And they get picked every week regardless, so injuries aren't an excuse. Nothing to do with Man City or their wealth, typical deflection tactic. If you want to pick a squad with that much limitation, you're asking for trouble.

How much did the Leicester squad cost that won the title not long ago ? Answer - 22m for the 11 players, and 54 million for the entire squad. So the Ferrari analogy is not a good one - what we need is smarter recruitment with the budget we have.

[weasel]

I'm not surprised we lost the game, had we approached the game more cautiously & suffered a 3-0 or 4-0 defeat it would probably been acceptable. We conceded the first three goals due to our own inept downfall, schoolboy errors at the back. De Bruyne's strike was stunning but look how much space he had as seven of our players were drawn out to the flank. Stones had three attempts whilst he played ping-pong with Meslier as our inept defenders stood around ball-watching, more schoolboy stuff!

I didn't expect 7-0, although we were so feeble the score could have been 15-0

Next battering coming up on Boxing Day, god help us as confidence must be low!

So our feeble defensive errors were the reason for conceding the first 3 goals yet you, and others, suggest we should have been more defensive? Hardly playing to our strengths. You can be as defensive or attack minded as you want but if players make mistakes then the tactics are irrelevant.

[Cjay]

City fans praised us for attempting to come out and attack and in the same breath expressed shock that we were so naive.

Basically they want to play us every week.

[SG90]

City fans praised us for attempting to come out and attack and in the same breath expressed shock that we were so naive.

Basically they want to play us every week.

Of course they do. We are a gift for the top 6. They hate playing the likes of Burnley and Wolves who park the bus.

[BGwhite]

What irked me about last night is that our style of play was shot by 12 minutes. Yet our ‘manager’ did nothing, I repeat, NOTHING to change the way we went about business.
If your boat has a leak you heave to and do your damnedest to plug it. Sailing on regardless ends only one way.
Don’t get me wrong, I love what Marcelo Bielsa has done for this club, and the way he has developed some of the players is nothing short of miraculous, but, and I’ve said it before, he is a world class coach, but sadly, not a PL class manager.
Don Revie didn’t coach his players, Les Cocker did, but by hell he knew how to win games

Agree with this 100%. Great coach (had to be to get this lot promoted) but manager...no. Did Pep not give any thoughts as to how to play us ? ..of course he did and the team knew exactly how to exploit our shape and style. It appeared to me that Leeds tried to play the same way as every other game but from minute 1 it was clear that it wasn't going to work. This is where Bielsa should be stepping in and making changes but absolutely nothing was done therefore the players knew what was coming their way and it sure did ! Personally against these 'big clubs' I'd be putting 5 across midfield and 1 quickie up front to hopefully grab a goal on the break. This effectively gives us 9 defenders + keeper which is very defencive but we cannot match them . Look at how other teams line up against them and they pack out the middle and often have 6 across the back when defending. For me it's the only way to pick up points against the likes of city and Liverpool. If Bielsa doesn't change it for Liverpool then he's a bigger mug than I thought. If he doesn't have faith in players to effect the changes then he's using the wrong players, PL footballers should be able to adapt to any given instructions . We all know Bielsa isn't one for change but I believe he doesn't know how to rectify this situation , surely if he had any other ideas we'd see it on the pitch and I think this is the crux of the matter. In most industries times change and decisions have to be made to go with them otherwise they get left behind and Bielsa is incapable of adapting. Last season we caught a few teams out but now they have adapted to nullify our style and it's worked so now Bielsa has to prove his worth and come up with something else otherwise I can only see this getting very ugly unfortunately . Over to you MB.

Sent from my moto g(9) plus using Tapatalk

[pjm2019]

Our manager is very good at improving players, he was the one who got us promoted BUT

MB only has a Plan A
He cannot manager a large squad
He will pick the same players regardless of form
Every leeds fan will be able to pick the next 11 players for our next game because MB does not know any difference.

[DDB220]

The stark reality of our team is that when they are on song we look world beaters and generally get a positive outcome. But it is a house of cards style. Two many blunders and the whole thing can pretty much collapse.
Last season there were not as many individual mistakes as we are witnessing this season. The theory of our play is wonderful, but the execution is essential.

I think most fans embrace this style of play on balance.


Ultimately Bielsa has to pick the right 11 on any given day. What it boils down to are two key issues. Has he got the right resources to pick from and are his selections correct. These two issues are the biggest source of controversy for me and create the biggest source of discontent amongst fans.

[DDB220]

When we lose.

[eastyorkshirewhite]

the trouble with Pontus was his main thoughts self before side.

[Gandalf]

What irked me about last night is that our style of play was shot by 12 minutes. Yet our ‘manager’ did nothing, I repeat, NOTHING to change the way we went about business.
If your boat has a leak you heave to and do your damnedest to plug it. Sailing on regardless ends only one way.
Don’t get me wrong, I love what Marcelo Bielsa has done for this club, and the way he has developed some of the players is nothing short of miraculous, but, and I’ve said it before, he is a world class coach, but sadly, not a PL class manager.
Don Revie didn’t coach his players, Les Cocker did, but by hell he knew how to win games

I had the misfortune to travel down to Upton Park one cold November evening in 1966 to watch Leeds play West Ham in a League Cup tie. We were on the crest of a wave - Runners-up in the league and cup finalists the previous season, and in the top four in the league, and West Ham were 17th in the table. Don had professed before the match that we were going to play for the draw, which to my young mind was inconceivable.

The result a 7-0 loss, and a miserable journey home for my uncle and I. The defence that night was Sprake, Madeley, Charlton, Hunter and Bell. and we had Bremner, Giles and O'Grady in midfield, yet we tried to "park the bus". If social media had been around in those days, the Don would have been castigated, and no doubt, a thread like this one would have been started. Makes you wonder, eh.