What went wrong for Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds?

[@yoguster]

Bielsa did absolute wonders at Leeds but no manager is perfect and the high intensity training coupled with a small squad created a perfect storm.

[@mattpotter8725]

I do agree, but he likes working with small squads so this situation is partly down to him. I think one of his faults was not refreshing the squad enough over the summer, keeping the Premier League quality players and adding to them. He desperately needed backup for Bamford, Rodrigo and James are not goalscoring strikers. I think the best Leeds fans can hope for is that there are 3 worse teams in the division and stay up by the skin of their teeth, maybe improving when some of the key players are back.

[@curbroadshow]

They only went up because the COVID problems gave them a break at the point of the season when they would usually collapse. Derby had the same problem under McClaren with collapsing in February due to the high intensity.

[@mattpotter8725]

@@curbroadshow Whilst you're right that Bielsa works his teams so hard that often fail away towards the end of the season and I'm sure this helped in the season they got promoted, last season they didn't have a break and did quite well so I think it is more down to having a small squad and after the first 11 there isn't the same quality, the reliance on Bamford, and not bringing in enough quality new players that could play Bielsa's system or enlarge the number of players to be able to cope, and especially in certain key positions. I still think this and Leeds still having a large number of Championship quality players that are ok to play if you also have the better players in the team, but can't carry the team without them is a big problem. I also wonder about whether the number of leaders on the pitch has been a problem for them this season. Either way, this season Leeds have not been great from the start soi don't think it's down to fatigue, but lack of quality, leadership, and confidence in the end. They have to hope that Burnley or Everton are worse than them and they can sneak a few wins. The next game at home to Norwich is a must win.

[@sebastianbardon391]

So why the players started getting injured on the 3rd season?

[@sebastianbardon391]

@@curbroadshow We ran more than any team last seasom without a covid break. How do you explain that?

[@paymonhashemi6892]

A few factors led to Bielsa’s sacking. These are not mutually exclusive. 1. Injuries to key players of a small squad 2. More international players than the previous season due to our success in 20/21. 3. Congested international schedule 4. Tactical inflexibility and increased murderball when the injuries started amounting.

[@mattpotter8725]

I'd add to this list Bielsa's stubbornness to bring in new, needed, quality players that are good enough for the Premier League. Even the best teams at the top of the division don't stand still, and even if they couldn't afford a bit overhaul they needed in January to bring in a like for like replacement for Bamford for when he's not available. The transfer policy of bringing in the likes of Koch, Firpo, James is admirable, but they are young, mostly untested in this division and it has shown. Rodrigo was also an odd transfer, but I put him down to bring the best Leeds could afford and who would come at the time. I think losing Bamford was the key missing player as even last season with Phillips and Cooper in the team they'd ship goals, less than this season, but still quite a lot. They needed a few more proven Premier League players not Championship ones. His loyalty to his squad has cost Bielsa I think.

[@paymonhashemi6892]

@@mattpotter8725 We definitely needed at least one more box to box CM. “Good enough for the PL” is very subjective. As for the players we went after, I have no issue with who we went after given how much money the owners could spend. Koch was a full international when he arrived. As was Rodrigo. Excluding Raphinha, our best and most consistent players were all secured when we were in the Championship. Slightly related, I did a FM22 save with Leeds in which I basically spent the peanuts we had in the transfer market on a future striker and three backups that are better than u-23s where we are thin. We finished 3rd simply because we had enough backup when the fixtures and injuries became thick and fast. Getting a PL quality player would’ve limited me to 1-2 players.

[@tenzaemtade6146]

Main factor he was overrated

[@mattpotter8725]

@@tenzaemtade6146 And that's why he took an average Championship standard team, got them promoted, and kept them up easily in his first season? Yeh, overrated. I'm not a Leeds fan, and he isn't faultless, that's for sure, he's very stubborn and I think this was a big part of the problem. Being overrated doesn't explain anything, it's just an easy excuse for someone who doesn't know what they're talking about.

[@magnumruthlesskilla]

Arguably nothing went wrong and this was a roaring success for Bielsa

[@colouredIncognito]

He got sacked for a Great success

[@Boomtowndogs]

:,)

[@Bzorlan]

Short sighted owners

[@lukebelmarclips8669]

What went wrong was a run of games against the worlds best, with a team missing its entire spine, playing in a way that exposes the difference in quality when we don’t have our best team available. I never wanted Bielsa to change, and I’d of had Bielsa in charge forever, the man is a genius with the upmost integrity. But if you’re looking for what went wrong, then it’s the situation I just described coupled with the owners panic as soon as we lose 4 on the bounce. Remember leeds under Bielsa were not in the bottom 3 ever, not once

[@mattbristolcity8843]

As a lower league fan I only normally watch the top 4 or 5 play in the premier League as to be honest most of the other sides in the league aren't great to watch. Bielsa changed that. Leeds both overachieved and played beautiful football, which lets face it is rare. A true genius and hope he takes another job in Europe!

[@altonotis1975]

Thank you Marcelo. You turned average players into internationals and established premier League regulars in a short period of time. We'll never forget you. MOT

[@shawngillogly6873]

And this is where we point out Jesse Marsch had 2 of the best defenders from Nagelsmann's tenure sold out from under him, and no replacements of any real caliber were added to defense. It was a bad time for RBL to return to Rangnick ball. Add in personal issues for Marsch and a general resistance in the squad to returning to playing at that tempo, and it was a worse fit in fact than it seemed on paper.

[@perspii2808]

It’s a sad time to be a leeds fan ;(, I’ll miss Bielsa

[@heartfulbreeze6801]

hope you guys survive relegation ✌️

[@chubskii]

@@heartfulbreeze6801 we will, players are coming back and marschball isn’t too bad

[@wally86_]

I feel for Bielsa, he is a character and the Prem needs characters. That being said, with all the injuries he had in his squad, why could he not adapt his style? For me part of his rigidity and sticking to his system, cost him his job.

[@alvinaditya1610]

agreed

[@TheSm1thers]

You can't really blame a manager for having a bad period with injuries. All managers struggle with it.

[@crkan0608]

@@TheSm1thers its not about Leeds having injuries, its about what led to such recurring injuries

[@TheSm1thers]

@@crkan0608 Well what did?

[@crkan0608]

@@TheSm1thers style of training maybe?

[@joe.whiting02]

I think the physio spent too much time working on his knees

[@jamesdeacon7908]

I think one other aspect JJ didn't touch upon was the ageing of players like Dallas, Klich, Forshaw, Cooper and Ayling. Many of them see to have lost a spring in their step this year.

[@mattpotter8725]

Yeh, I agree with this, but I'd probably go a little further and say Bielsa was too loyal to his group of players and didn't refresh the squad, which I find it unbelievable that he didn't, when some key injuries happened. I think the biggest loss was not getting a like for like Bamford type player in, sure Phillips and Cooper missing does hugely impact the team, but they were shipping goals (albeit not in the same quantity) last season with them available. He brought in Rodrigo as another striker and he's just not good enough at this level, arguably not even a striker at all, and James, who is a useful addition, but not a striker. And this wasn't the first time he has been like this at Leeds. When they were in the Championship and Bamford was out Bielsa had the young Nketiah on loan from Arsenal and very rarely used him (not that he's the same type of player as Bamford, but he is at least a striker). I could forgive Bielsa for not bringing someone in at the start of the season, but in January they urgently needed more striker options beyond what they had, and I don't believe the club wouldn't have backed Bielsa in bringing someone else in. I'm not a Leeds fan but have enjoyed watching them play under Bielsa, but the man is stubborn beyond belief. I'm not sure Jessie Marsh is the right manager either having seen how he failed discrepant with a good squad at Leipzig, who are now on the brink of Champions League places in the Bundesliga.

[@F-Tier_Physique]

Well running twice as much as other PL teams for worse defence numbers will certainly age you twice as fast lmao.

[@jaydoublebee]

Generally agree, particularly in the cases of Ayling and Klich, but Forshaw having any proportion of spring in his step is a miracle given what he's been through!

[@ryanfinnerty6239]

Regime decline. Workload takes its toll, tactics become monotonous even naive, and once a few down tools even in attitude or a slip of work ethic… others will follow in their step. The crumbling of the ageing hierarchy

[@mattpotter8725]

@@ryanfinnerty6239 I don't think their workload is why worse it's just that last season with Bamford the focal point of the attack, maybe even the team, the goals they got for them the points that had them safely above the drop zone, helping not having defend as much as well as putting opponents under pressure. I'm sure there'll have been some drop off and once the confidence is gone and doubt creeps in it snowballed and needed intervention to correct it, a signing, a change in tactics, something, but Bielsa wasn't interested in doing this.

[@fishyfish6510]

Gotta feel for bielsa. My team Chelsea lost Chilwell and James which was enough to spoil our title race. Leeds missed like half their team!

[@Thodoris_Ioannidis]

Chelsea were not left out of the title race due to injuries, they were just not as good as Liverpool or Man City. If you check the xG difference, you'll see.

[@jackgrealish6914]

Chelsea fans making it all about themselves

[@odysseus1660]

@@Thodoris_Ioannidis Meh stats arent indicitive of that, they suggest that chelsea were being fortunate but who's to say they couldn't continue that form. Losing both wing backs with no quality replacement was a massive loss to Chelsea's title push

[@HufflepuffDaddy]

@@Thodoris_Ioannidis how can injured 1st team players contribute to an overall xG? Isn't a lower xG a clear indictment against their poor backups/replacements?

[@colouredIncognito]

😂😂 Or you just weren't good enough

[@jace283]

Also worth saying they had a difficult schedule recently. Bielsa only lost 3 games to teams outside the European places, and only 1 was by more than 1 goal.

[@perspii2808]

Yeah, their schedule until the end of the season is the easiest of any of the teams battling relegation It’s such a shame that Bielsa’s gone ;(

[@stephenpalmer9375]

However 7-0, 6-0 and 4-0 aren’t going to help a team in terms of goal difference. They even got tonked 3-0 by Everton who are looking like one of the worst teams in recent history

[@Cyanova1312]

@@stephenpalmer9375 That was Lampard's cup final though, lots of Leeds fans called him going on a horrendous run after that game.

[@jace283]

@@tommccrae2475 Villa and Leicester were under Marsch.

[@ldjl3322]

The fact that there was not any true commanding midfielder beside Phillips which means that the side had a massive hole in the middle of the park.

[@10mibrahim]

This video is so well explained. You explained it so simple for me

[@thewhitbyphotographer]

One of the most significant factors I saw in the last year was his (Bielsa') stubborn belief that Tyler Roberts was a centre forward (or indeed a footballer), when quite clearly and very obviously he is/was neither. This has been a huge problem for the club.

[@itsdayzzz7086]

Indeed a footballer 🤣🤣 agreed pl

[@WOOOPdoctorFROGhere]

Did it really go wrong? Leeds lost 4 in a row against teams that they should be getting beat against. Do the Leeds hierarchy think that Leeds will be playing against Liverpool every week? It doesn't matter if you get beat 1 nil or 6 nil - it's still a loss. But it seems because Liverpool put 6 past them, united 4 etc then Bielsa has to lose his job. This is only their second season back in the Premier league - in that time they've always been well clear of the relegation zone. Most promoted teams don't manage to do that and either get relegated or scrape along for a few years. Had Leeds kept Bielsa he'd have won the next few games against lesser opponents and kept them up again.

[@dreadful_name2924]

Hamstrings in Leeds are as strong as cheese strings.

[@colouredIncognito]

Which doesn't have a cause at all right... 😉

[@kyawzawlin2852]

Please do next about Everton; possibly a big Premier team that is facing a possible realistic relegation and points deduction as well.

[@TeZapeo]

If he had a team like Chelsea, Liverpool or City, he could have done it. But he wanted success in the PL with a small team like Leeds (no disrespect). Bielsa will die with his ideas, and we always will respect that.

[@gilbertwalker3222]

Leeds are bigger than City

[@reefalefunk1244]

Heart goes out to bielsa and I’m a utd fan

[@bjrnarhovland9741]

Have to give credit. Tifo is pumping out videos like everyday. Lovely

[@manedwolf815]

Something else to think of with Marsch and Leipzig is that Leipzig lost both of their best cbs in Konate and Upamecano in the same window without bringing in adequate replacements. Not that xG against isn't still a relevant stat, but that player difference is still a significant factor in Leipzig's defensive issues and it shouldn't be put solely on Marsch's shoulders for the sudden defensive dip.

[@vincentanthony5989]

You were spot on, shame victor orta didn’t watch this last year. I think people forget that bielsa got us to finish 9th in the prem, first year back, with half the quality and half the players that marsch had everything he wanted, more quality, more players, yet still cocked it up.

[@will_from_pa]

Thank you Tifo, now I will have that jingle stuck in my head... for six whole months

[@dave5798]

He lost his best players it’s that simple.

[@FREE_WILL_DEFENDER]

Thank you. It's simple as that

[@UnbiasedBayernFan]

Something to consider for Marsch and Leipzig is that they lost Konaté, Upamecano and Sabitzer in the same window. Simakan is a decent defender but not near those levels. Neither is Gvardiol (but is rapidly becoming a solid player)

[@Xavyer13]

Never forget Don Marcelo

[@jamaln9056]

The board undermined him by not signing anyone in January. Also Rodrigo has been a massive let down.

[@r3zaful]

It was bielsa's decision also he prefer to work with small squad eventually cost him and his entire coaching staff their jon.

[@genri.a9128]

In short: Injuries, stubbornness and setting the expectations too high..

[@Dave-Shearer]

But if Firpo comes in to mark his man, shouldn't hendersons marker stay on henderson and fill the space when he runs into it?

[@DavidChong]

If the ball is played into space, it becomes a footrace. Henderson isn't the quickest and whoever is marking him may be quicker but with a man to man system you can't expect every such marking assignment to favour your marker. good opposition will be able to isolate those assignments where they have the edge and exploit it. zonal marking means the attacker could have much more space to cover than the defender does, allowing a less pacy defender to have a chance. If the defender responsible is always tight to the man as in man to man, the distance is always going to be about even.

[@F-Tier_Physique]

They dont swap spaces, meaning Hendersons marker is still standing ontop of him. When man marking you are always chasing, so he cant cover that area before Henderson runs into it. So when a ball comes over the top into that area you only run once Henderson would already be running full speed into that area.

[@pecansandies9521]

I am more than happy if we shithouse our way to survival this season. Scrape 1-0 wins over stronger sides and try and get 2 against the other relegation teams. Can worry about style of play next season after we're rid of the dead wood

[@nthoj6510]

Keep these coming!!! Love the analysis!!! And the song at the end!!!

[@miche1df]

I think firing Bielsa was harsh, but I think your analysis about the issues associated with his strict man-marking system is spot on. I don't know how viable that type of system is these days, especially when you're up against teams with better players who are going to be better at de-marking. Obviously the injuries are an issue as well, but it's possible that trying to play such a high intensity style with such a small squad contributed to that, since it's a lot of wear and tear distributed over a relatively low number of players. They needed to invest in January to supplement that, and not doing so was a fatal mistake. I am curious to see how Jesse Marsch will get on, as a self-interested American. I think he's going to have to make the same adaptation that other coaches from the German pressing-oriented school (Tuchel, Klopp, etc.) have, tempering their extreme verticality with some possession/positional play elements. Marsch is very much a "principles" guy, and I think his principles make more sense for an underdog team like Leeds than they did for one of the top dogs in the league like Leipzig, since teams will give them more space for their direct attacking play. Of course it doesn't matter if they do what they did this weekend, where they quadrupled Leicester's xG and lost 1-0. Maybe their underperformance of their xG wasn't Bielsa's fault.

[@farhadchaudhry]

I think man marking like that can work. But you need really quick really physically fit players. All 10 outfield players. Who can play in any position. So if Son did drop into midfield, the player marking him would do the same and play as a midfielder instead, and another player would also likewise switch positions with him thus nullifying the gap.

[@nydeidith]

the system is a major problem if your players dont have the quality to compete with the opponents they are man-marking....if he had a better set of players it wouldn't collapse so easily...and lets admit it its so entertaining to watch and we all love it......there is a reason for the big defeats against the top teams...the gulf in quality is so huge its like the entire team is losing their 1v1 battles all over the pitch....if players are of comparable level/quality that is unlikely to happen...

[@ILikedGooglePlus]

Kalvin Phillips got injured (And everyone else)

[@xClunky]

One thing I still don't understand is why they don't use switching when man marking like in basketball. It would correct a lot of the problems shown in this video.

[@MangoFandangoBB]

7:47 a glimpse into the future of tactical analysis 🤣

[@KT-ki6gz]

Bring him to Man United for a year! Not for any sort of tactical benefit, but just to whip them in training

[@Beeeman-u3s]

The players are just gonna moan and walk around just like they are under ralf.

[@KT-ki6gz]

@@Beeeman-u3s Ralf isn't mean enough, Bielsa wouldn't hesitate to throw his chair at Maguire's giant head lol

[@sarahjessicafarter7383]

Kinky

[@Boomtowndogs]

Lmao United’s players are utterly incapable of Bielsa’s demands. There is nothing that can save United. Club has an ego it will never match again on the pitch.

[@azlankhan4172]

Their bodies will literally refuse haha - there would be so many injuries

[@aimeewhitaker7244]

I feel like this chap doesn't understand why the man marking failed. It didn't fail because it was man marking it failed in your specific example because people weren't tracking their man. In all the examples given if all players had done their job the sitautions wouldn't have occurred. For example in the Liverpool goal if Klich had followed Henderson the opportunity wouldn't have occurred, but instead he let his man run on.

[@juwankane5150]

It’s a conjunction thing. If Klich tracks the man out wide, he’s abandoned the central areas so Thiago (for example) has an acre of space to find a pass, which he will do if he has time. That’s how Liverpool ripped them apart. Send the central players wide, bring the wingers inside and Leeds are suddenly at sixes and sevens and Liverpool can capitalise on the confusion. Even if everyone marks their man perfectly, the ability of the wing backs and Van Dijk to find passes leaves Salah/Jota/Mane/Firmino/Diaz one on one and Firpo especially gets cooked. It’s a bad system to play against the top sides. Having said all that, I still don’t think they should have sacked Bielsa.

[@eljee102]

Well as jj alluded to, if you prioritize a man marking system, naturally you're at a disadvantage when you come up against a team that attacks in constant and conditional positional rotation (coming to be the bread and butter of modern football). Either, you'd need tactical perfection on defense because your team would need to be prepared for a virtually infinite number of attacking permutations and combinations or you'd have to hope that you pressure the opposition enough to have an off or less productive match day compared to yours. One is impossible, the other is out of your hands as a tactician. If you're lucky, you win 4-2, if you're unlucky or you play against a good team on their day you lose 8-2. Other than that, you draw 3-3 or something crazy like that. Don't get me wrong though, it's fun to watch but it's unsustainable as hell.

[@F-Tier_Physique]

If you are to man mark you often dont have a second defender as good a position to help once a man has been beat. It also often requires more running. If your centre back has to track the opposition striker thats twice as fast all the way down to their own 16 and back they will lose the footrace. Also when players switch position you often have defenders overlapping, where a single player in a man marking system could hold down that area or abandon covering it because it isnt worth two people. A pure man marking as a system really isnt optimal in modern football.

[@TetaTalk]

Bielsa didn't want new players, Bielsa didn't/couldn't/ wouldnt adapt. Bielsa ran his players into the ground with his training methods, Bielsa created all the success but caused all the downfall.

[@DavidChong]

i dunno about that first part, he just didn't think getting them in january would be useful without a proper pre season to learn the system. i think if he'd been offered more in the summer he might have taken them

[@TetaTalk]

@@DavidChong he was offered numerous players by V Orta and turned them down. And didn't think they'd be useful???? were playing 18yr old kids and getting slapped about every week, we definitely needed and still need reinforcements...

[@DavidChong]

@@TetaTalk I'm not saying he's right, I'm just saying that his feelings pertained more to the January window than generally

[@gilbertwalker3222]

@@DavidChong He played Firpo and Dan James immediately. Without either having a full preseason.

[@cockoffgewgle4993]

Literally all this is wrong, smears released by the club which have now been proven to be wrong and were obviously lies at the time. The club literally bid for players that Summer and failed to sign players Bielsa wanted. Namely Conor Gallagher and Lewis O'Brien. Bielsa wanted at least another midfielder. Radrizzani has since come out and said Bielsa said to him that Summer he needed a whole new team because he couldn't repeat what he'd done with these players. So what did Radrizzani do? He sold 5 players and signed 2. Leaving and already wafer thin squad a joke of a squad. Then signed nobody in January when we were decimated by injuries and all our rivals were strengthening. Bielsa was given just 6 new players in 2 years after promotion, promotion with a small squad of midtable Championship players. On top of losing players like Ben White and Kumar Roofe (who was never replaced). Tyler Roberts was his backup CF and 10 ffs (now struggling in the Championship). The squad we have now is far better than the one Bielsa had to work with. Then you have all the injuries, a terrible GK, a lot of bad luck (hitting the woodwork about 20 times that season). And STILL having us 5th from bottom with 12 games (easier) games left. His sacking was a criminal act. A relegation scrap is the norm for any promoted team under normal circumstances. That Bielsa was sacked for having us outside the relegation zone (for almost the whole season) under these circumstances was utterly disgusting, it's little wonder Bielsa doesn't return Radrizzani's calls. I wouldn't either. Bielsa bore the brunt of everything, never complained, never deflected blame, never complained about injuries, refereeing decisions, never criticised the board, never criticised players. The buck stopped with him, even though he was concealing others' failings. Then he was stabbed in the back. The fans never turned on him, aside from some boos at HT against Spurs, when 3 or 4 down. They proudly sang his name when our youth team was getting smashed at home by Arsenal. Dean Smith kept his Villa job as they stayed up by a point, and stayed into the next season. Wilder kept his job while Sheffield United were rock bottom all season (only left because of a falling out, would have stayed on otherwise, and rightly so). Brendan Rodgers kept his Leicester job up until close to the end. Arteta kept his job while Arsenal were bottom half in his second season. But Bielsa delivered astounding success from day one and was sacked at the first sign of hardship, in impossible circumstances. Any other manager would have had us rock bottom that season. We had about 14 senior players, the worst GK in the league (and no experienced backup to drop him), no striker all season, no Kalvin Phillips for half the season and an average of 5-6 injuries every single game. A bench of literal teenagers with Tyler bloody Roberts as the most senior sub most games. And an ageing squad of Championship players. With the only genuine quality being Raphinha and Rodrigo (who Bielsa rinsed every ounce of quality from, turning Raphinha into a £50mil player). And when KP was fit that season, we were solid. We conceded something like 13 goals in 13 games. Any other manager would also have spent the entire season moaning and making excuses. Bielsa: not once.

[@Mugairyuiai]

We will never know if it went "wrong", or not. As a Leeds supporter, all I wanted from this season was survival and Marcelo wasn't given the full opportunity to that. I would have been prepared to go down with Marcelo as he also had the perfect championship experience. The new manager has no premiership or championship experience at all. What a risk the board has taken. Anyway, we will never know. Bueno.

[@normanby100]

Jack Charlton hated man-marking defensive systems (insisted on by by previous Leeds skipper Freddie Goodwin) and was allowed to dictate his own zonal system under Revie.

[@JamesCM86]

Love a JJ Bull vid

[@farhadchaudhry]

Leeds when attacking were amazing. When defending they were atrocious. This video perfectly explains why. When attacking, they're direct and are interchanging positions all the time. When defending, they're rigid and resort to man marking. It's very Jekyll and Hyde. They get beaten in defence by the very tactics they use to beat other teams.

[@lucadonnini7391]

IT IS ONE POUND PER MONTH FOR SIX WHOLE MONTHS IT IS ONE POUND PER MONTH FOR SIX WHOLE MONTHS

[@gsquared2394]

I was thrilled when United offloaded Daniel James as the best version of himself is sprinting past his defender and either completely skuffing a cross as he falls down, or missing the goal by a fortnight, also resulting in his tiny body on the floor.

[@larphraulen]

😂😂

[@cockoffgewgle4993]

At least he works his bollocks off and has a great attitude. I'll take that every day of the week over the uncaring primadonnas you currently have and we had last season.

[@hopelessaquarian]

Gracias, Senior Bielsa!!!

[@t.robinson4774]

Given Leeds history in the EPL they’re one team for whom relegation can’t be an unplanned surprise? They can always return with more/ better footballers.

[@21Rodge]

Bielsa had said he could only take the current group of players so far.

[@leedsunitedoldschool2837]

Classic case of players starting to believe their own hype and didnt really fancy keep doing the things that took 'em there in the first place; Bielsa's methods 💥

[@stephenpalmer9375]

Its a fault that not just Bielsa teams have, but those of his acolytes. Spurs under Poch for example. The players get knackered over a season, and get injuries (and the desire for a smaller squad means you can't drop players in). Over 2-3 seasons you get a tired, injured and threadbare squad. It absolutely works in the short term.. but has no longevity

[@alexreese9751]

Pochettino sets up quite differently to Bielsa. Don't mistake managers stating their admiration for him with them emulating him. He has almost no disciples out there, no one mirrors his tactics. Famous, innovative and admired: yes. Influential tactician: no.

[@stephenpalmer9375]

@@alexreese9751 yep I hear what you are saying about tactics. But I was getting more at a more generic ethos.. small core to a squad that is rarely rotated, fitness is king, and an old school attitude to respecting teammates and other members of staff. I’m a spurs fan, and year after year saw the team collapse at the end of each season as tired legs took hold. This happened at Leeds too.. the exception was the season they got promoted.. where there was the covid gap that probably boosted the tired legs

[@larphraulen]

@@stephenpalmer9375 Exactly. That summer transfer window where they brought ZERO players in was the beginning of the end for Poch Spurs. You need to compliment the core with fresh talent; especially with high-intensity philosophies that both managers employ.

[@FREE_WILL_DEFENDER]

ALL THEIR BEST PLAYERS BEING SOLD. There it is

[@santiagostokle]

this is a smoke sale, it is the same man-to-man system that was used last season, and the previous two, the problem with the current one was that we did not have coops, Kalv, Pat or Gjianni, and to make matters worse we had to lead the whole season with bums like rodrigo, llorente and firpo, who like to go up with the ball, but never had the sacrifice of returning on time and to make matters worse they are fragile of mind. Coops, Kalv, Pat and Gjianni never hit too much, the Gallegos get frustrated and generate unnecessary fouls. He makes another video counting the number of bad passes given and the times the team was in a withdrawal situation because of those three, compare them with the last three seasons and talk about whether the fault is tactical and squad...

[@gilbertwalker3222]

Coops hasn’t been as bad as people make out but people wanted him out the club in summer. Koch, Struijk, Llorente and Cresswell are all better footballers. He’s not that missed, we still shipped plenty with him. People saying we miss Cooper, are the same ones who called him ‘League 1 Liam’ in seasons gone by. We let Alioski go and ended up giving Firpo a contract worth more than the one they wouldn’t give to Alioski. The summer recruitment was shocking. KP and Bamford are huge misses, Bamford is key to how we play and how he leads the press. KP is vital in how we organise ourselves but it begs the question why we’re replacements or cover not found in the summer window or January? Shocking recruitment again. Bielsa and the board only had themselves to blame for what has happened, they had many opportunities to fix obvious problems and didn’t. The results were clearly system based, if your system relies on specific individuals for it to work. If you need KP and PB for a system to work and they’re injured for months you’ve got to adapt and Bielsa didn’t.

[@timlamiam]

Man to man defense in a sport with 11 free movers is too much. It works in American football and basketball because there's only 4 or 5 guys to cover and defenders know intimately when to switch assignment with a teammate. With 11 running around the whole time, as in football, it gets too easy to rip apart with just clever positioning

[@dmac17x]

This is far too complicated. Nothing went wrong, it's just Bielsa's way. He has his principles and sticks to them no matter what. He's done it ever since he was at Newell's in the early 90's. He could quite easily have put another player in midfield and ditched the man to man marking system. But that would have been against his principles. Wherever he goes next he will do the same. It isn't a case of him being stubborn and it may not be the right way. But it's his way. That's BIELSA !!!

[@eoinfitzsimons]

Not enough little chairs

[@ranchan1111]

People who watch man marking defense for long enough know the cycle: -Perform at an insanely high level initially -Get found out by one team -Everyone else realizes the method -Concede 10 goals a game until the manager is sacked Sometimes it takes longer to get found out, but once found out, it's inevitable that things go from being insanely positive to dreadful almost in an instant

[@kimmichszn8900]

small squad/injuries plus bielsas lack of adaption are defo the two biggest reasons to his sacking

[@AndrewBairdPatchworks]

Someone should open Bielsa world, bring your own bucket!

[@jordan_roadhouse4798]

Clearly was just a hype issue. Bielsa should have recignised how every single team in the league found out his tactics so easy. Didn't change a thing. Terrible!

[@Realmadrid2fye]

As a player to play under Bielsa would be a nightmare 😂

[@juliantsenkov1585]

Maybe they needed to defend more especially with so many injuries.

[@Hensh11567]

Should have paid Brighton the 30 million for Ben White when had the chance.

[@petershortland478]

Simple Bielsa took Leeds as far as he could possibly go

[@MidPackRacer1]

Joe has been to the Adam Buxton school of marketing jiggles

[@BigMadAndy]

They kept blowing Leeds

[@davemurphy9468]

There is some truth to that, we have dropped about 15 points from winning positions.

[@teoarmes9413]

Getting your players to run about chasing like mad men can only work for so long

[@berri2692]

Having such a small squad did not help him

[@kevinbarnes218]

They beat my team West Brom 0-5 and 3-1 last season I think

[@QazwerDave]

Maybe test the board before recording ?

[@elizabethalice6634]

Don't be ridiculous, it wouldn't be a tifo irl video without the board having a tantrum!

[@thomasmorey4396]

is there a jj bull video not worth liking??

[@faustohernandez612]

Manchester United need to get him not poch Im telling you imagine what he would do with our resources !

[@WaterCarrier07]

Football is so boring most of the time, and Bielsa made it fun

[@krmunoz2169]

I'll tell you what'll happen: they're going to be more boring and will get battered against top teams anyways. They played top 6 clubs with an injury list. They got fucked by the schedule and Bielsa is not going to back down with his style, now Leeds are going to play Norwich and if they win everybody is going to celebrate how better Jesse Marsch is. If they go down it's going to be well deserved.

[@multifaceteduser3405]

its pretty dumb surely if your man marking you should do it when it makes sensec to do so and be smart about it when to go with him or drop off etc

[@djorgen]

No plan b. Thats what went wrong.

[@shafo4384]

This seems to happen to Bielsa. His teams collapse after a high.

[@phildale8451]

Wrong kind of bucket I reckon.

[@scottgifford7391]

It always goes wrong for bielsa.

[@typicalpilot7045]

Let Joe sing this live pleaseeee

[@morleywhite911]

Get the yank out of leeds asap

[@bluecheese20401]

A little late guys. This video was useful a month ago...sorry just saying....

[@frankunodostres473]

they got found out. simple as that. in 2 years bielsa didn't manage to fix the defensive problems and this season they didn't manage to outscore the opposition as often as last season. almost the same exact thing happened to sheffield

[@ps-ty4mw]

Too stubborn, training too hard,same players week in week out,didn't invest in new players and no plan b.

[@Azza.10]

I thought Ronald Koeman could've been smart. PL experience and similar type team to his Southampton. Could've kept Bielsa style but with more of different plans and shrewdness

[@alvinaditya1610]

in my opinion, his gung ho attacking style is too naive, you cant do that with a midtable team, not in the prem, leeds has been battered too many times, he didnt want to adapt, he didnt want to change, maybe his style inspires so many managers, but eventually those managers tweaked it and have their own style, i feel sorry for him but his tactical inflexibility cost him his job

[@00dude3]

Leeds was Bielsa's longest stint in his entire long career He would have been sacked earlier in the season if he wasn't named Bielsa though

[@prrrromotiongiven1075]

Don't understand why this average manager is worshipped so much here. You can like whoever you like but don't act like he's a genius.

[@overclockin2022]

The explanations of the system used were awful... Showing graphs with no explanation... Awful. This entire video was just you talking all the while saying nothing.

[@patmooney9024]

Stop making excuses we had strong teams out when we lost 5 -1 to united 3 0 at home to Liverpool and other games too. Bielsa is a championship manager and was out of his depth in premier league plain and simple Bielsa and Pocchetino two average managers and are classed as world class for some strange reason

[@bradleybeaumont9202]

You know nothing about football

[@patmooney9024]

@Mike Torres Stupid right?

[@dannycrotch5188]

Bielsa was no more tactical then Kevin Keegan's Newcastle!!

[@teamtempest844]

Leeds fans lost the plot having their kids wave an Argentina flag for photos when he was leaving.

[@yoguster]

so what?

[@Cyanova1312]

It is hard to understand from the outside, he isn't the same as other managers, and Leeds is a club that has (for now) managed to retain its soul.

[@aayushkarnik7166]

Overrated manager

[@yoguster]

Not for Leeds fans. He turned a mediocre championship side into a 9th place finish in the premier league. Injuries got him sacked.

[@aayushkarnik7166]

@@yoguster He wrote his own obituary when he was too stubborn to change his way of playing or he was just one dimensional.

[@yoguster]

@@aayushkarnik7166 I agree with you to a certain extent.

[@paymonhashemi6892]

Perfectly rated manager who is a visionary. Non-Leeds fans don’t realize that Leeds’ payroll is so low and thought that maybe we had mid-table or top half wages. Leeds don’t. Even this year, which has been a s*itshow, our place in the table is better than where we are in the payroll table.

[@firestarter1888]

He never learnt english

[@Cyanova1312]

Yes he did, he just felt that some of the nuance would be lost if he didn't use a translator that was more familiar with English.

[@zigzag4189]

I’m backing Jesse all the way! 🤞🤍💙💛