LEEDS HAVE SPENT BIG... IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT BIELSA
Says Sean Dyche
SEAN DYCHE has reminded Marcelo Bielsa’s fan club that the Argentine’s success at Leeds has come at a price.
The Burnley boss has kept the Clarets in the Premier League on a shoestring budget – spending around £1.5million in the summer while Bielsa was allowed to invest £55m on his team.
But while the Leeds manager has developed a cult following – Sky pundit Gary Neville was gushing in his praise of Bielsa in the aftermath of Leeds’ 6-2 thrashing at Manchester United last week – Dyche feels the cash factor must be taken into account.
Dyche said: “Whatever people think of Leeds and that 6-2 defeat – be it good, bad or indifferent – I don’t think Bielsa will be bothered. He will just keep playing their way to be successful. Bielsa will know deep down that Leeds have to win whatever style he chooses.
“It’s all relative to expectations, to the size of the club, to the funding, to how much you put in – and Leeds have put plenty of money in, by the way.
“They have put in a lot of money over the last few seasons, so it’s not all about the manager having this, or that, style.
“Was success going to come their way? Well spending money increased their chances, as well as having a very good manager and a team full of energy to get out of the Championship.”
Bielsa spent his entire press conference ahead of Burnley’s trip to Turf Moor today insisting that the statistics from Leeds’ humbling in Manchester proved his team had not been outclassed.
Dyche also arms himself with numbers in a bid to give himself a tactical edge, but he is very aware that the only stats that matter are the scoreline and the table.
He suggested that style often comes before substance when it comes to how certain managers are perceived.
Dyche said: “A pundit, or columnist, will say one thing one day and the opposite the next. That’s life. There are fashions in football like there are in life. Things are recycled and refashioned.
“When we finished seventh, some said that we were playing more football.
“But I knew what our stats were and I knew that wasn’t the case. They said we were passing more, but I knew the facts and I knew the substance.
“If that’s what people wanted to say then fine. But it’s a clear example le of how the story changes with very little to go on.
“It was like we couldn’t finish h seventh if we were playing that way.”
Dyche added: “Leeds are a big club historically and from a fanbase point of view. And everyone has been telling elling me for years they should be in the Premier remier League – so the manager there has a pressure that comes with that.
“But Bielsa won’t be thinking ing about anything other than his team winning games.
“If they get the stuff on pitch h right, then the rest fits into place, so of course he will be thinking of what he can do better ter to win more matches.”