BIRMINGHAM v LEEDS Pep: I’ve nicked Bielsa’s tactics
BLUES BOSS ADMITS STEALING HIS BEST MOVES
PEP CLOTET has admitted “stealing” Marcelo Bielsa’s ideas as he paid tribute to the Argentine’s “fearless” pursuit of attacking football.
Birmingham City’s boss welcomes one of his mentors to St Andrew’s this afternoon and Bielsa will arrive with words of praise ringing in his ears.
Stuart Dallas’ late equaliser earned the West Yorkshire side a point on Boxing Day and they remain eight ahead of thirdplaced Brentford.
Clotet’s Blues are in desperate need of a show on their own turf after recording just one win in 10 and the home boss knows exactly what he is up against.
The Spaniard was assistant to Garry Monk at Elland Road and said: “I know Leeds very well. It’s a team I love to see play because it’s football I identify with.
“As a coach, I always extracted a lot of things from Marcelo. Well, I stole a lot of things from him really.
“At Birmingham, we use a lot of things that I’ve learnt watching his teams and the way he trains.
“He wants to get the ball back as quickly as possible. Why? He wants to keep attacking. To do that, he employs a manmarking system. Obviously, that means any player is going up against his opponent.
“What happens if that opponent is beaten? The next player has to be ready to cover them. Leeds do this with really good quality. It’s really interesting the way he does it, I’ve never seen it anywhere else.
“Marcelo is the best one in the world at it because that fight inside him, to go forward and cause you problems – and not being scared of opponents causing him problems – means he is totally fearless.
“That mentality to go forward and create problems is easy on the eye, but it takes a huge amount of work to achieve. For me, it’s a pleasure seeing him getting his football across and making a massive difference in the Championship.
“I’m not surprised at the impact he’s had at Leeds. If he had taken over a Premier League team at Leeds, he would have had the same kind of impact on them in the Premier League.”
Despite Birmingham’s poor recent run, Clotet has just been confirmed as the club’s head coach on a permanent basis.
He has tried to oversee a change in philosophy and it has been met with a mixed return.
However, despite grumblings of discontent, the appointment of assistant Alberto Escobar prior to Christmas suggests he
LIAM COOPER insists Leeds are ready to match the standards and expectations placed on them as they look to get back to winning ways in their push for the Premier League.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side have failed to win in their last three games.
They sit three points adrift of leaders West Brom – with the top two meeting on New Year’s Day – and play Birmingham today with is staying put. One bright spot has been the emergence of England Under-17 midfielder Jude Bellingham.
Clotet has had scouts from most of Europe’s biggest clubs running the rule over the 16-year-old at St Andrew’s.
Bellingham tweeted a heart next to a picture of himself in the Blues kit after the draw at Blackburn Rovers, which suggests the club’s Academy product is going nowhere.
Clotet said: “I have a lot of conversations with him – helping to get the best out of him. He’s never mentioned anything other than being 100 per cent focused on us.
“You should not forget he is a massive Blues fan as well.”
Cooper calling for a top performance before the table-topping clash.
“We are used to playing with this expectation and pressure and we know what we have to do,” said the Leeds captain (left).
“Birmingham is going to be another tough game. We are excited to go there and, hopefully, get the performance and the levels of performance that we are used to.”