Bielsa: This has been one of my most difficult weeks at Leeds
‘Worried’ manager has had to face up to harsh realities since Southampton defeat but will not change his philosophy
As Marcelo Bielsa picked the bones from one of his most difficult weeks as Leeds United manager, he offered an insight into his methods of lifting his teams out of a slump.
The six days following the 1-0 defeat by Southampton had been focused on the psychological, about “convincing” his players they could return to the form of last season, when they breezed back into the top flight and became the Premier League’s entertainers.
While Leeds have been hit by injuries in their second season after promotion, the loss at St Mary’s was concerning for Bielsa as his team had been outrun by their opponents. Aside from matches with a red card, it was the first time a rival team had covered more ground in the past two seasons. “It’s one of the things that I observed with worry,” said the Argentine coach.
Injuries to key players have been one of the biggest influences in Bielsa’s sophomore campaign in the Premier League. Kalvin Phillips will miss today’s game against Wolves, which will make controlling central areas harder, while Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling and Robin Koch are also significant absences.
Even without those, the fundamentals of running further than opponents is expected by Bielsa, and has made it a week of reflection at the club’s Thorp Arch training base.
“Yes, [it was] one of the most difficult [weeks], perhaps there’s been five or six but this was one of the most difficult,” he said. “What makes a manager big is how they manage the bad moments, not how they get to the good moments. The great moments, the players are usually exclusively responsible for them, but the bad moments demand some management. “There’s a phrase I read not so long ago, that teams are made out of crystal. It’s difficult to make them solid but they break from one day to the other.” Bielsa cites a period of his career when he succeeded Leo Beenhakker at Club America in Mexico and how the Dutchman was able to forget about a bad performance and move on. For Bielsa, the defeat last week hurt and has
tested him more than at any other time in England.
He is committed to his team being the “protagonists” in games, and starting the day one place above the relegation zone will not mean changing his attacking philosophy. To maintain morale, he never singles out the mistakes of individuals, insisting it will take a collective effort to get Leeds back up the table.
“I don’t ignore that the last game wasn’t just another game,” he said. “It was a game we were very far from playing how we tried to play and the goal was produced through a counter-attack, which is also one of the other criticisms the team receives.
“After you’ve taken on board these errors, you see if you have the resources and the capacities to not commit them again. Put it to the test during the week, [with] the fortitude to avoid repeating.
“Another thing that is very important is that every player feels that with any error that he makes he’s not going to be singled out or made responsible for that error but that the group is going to find a solution.
“It’s very difficult to imagine a different way of playing. We try to have the ball more than the opponent. We try to take the ball from our half to the opponents’ half without putting it too much at risk.”
For all of Bielsa’s methods, they will be a better team with their key players returning. Phillips needs more time training, Bamford and Ayling are out for another two games, Koch misses another month and Junior Firpo, his first-choice left-back, is also sidelined. At least Raphinha returns against Wolves, after the international schedule prevented him facing Southampton.
“Last season, Leeds were the team who used the least amount of players, who changed the least amount of players to form the starting XI and who ran the most,” Bielsa said. “We suffered a lot of injuries and sometimes simultaneously and in the same position.”