BIELSA’S RELENTLESS HIGH PRESS CRUSHES LIFE OUT OF DERBY

(and no, the scoreline didn’t flatter Leeds)

SIx WeeKS of preparation and two league games later, marcelo Bielsa has got Leeds playing the best football in the Championship and in a way that is leaving opposition sides paralysed.

On the opening weekend of the season, recently relegated Stoke City were the first to fall victim, before derby were humiliated on Saturday. two contenders for promotion bullied and battered by Bielsa’s willing runners, midfield henchmen and clinical attackers.

two wins out of two games, six points on the board and now Bielsa’s Leeds are the bookmakers’ favourites to go up to the Premier League as champions.

most worrying for their rivals is that Leeds revealed their approach against Stoke. their high pressing style stunned Gary Rowett’s side, who lost 3-1.

derby manager Frank Lampard had a week to plan for Leeds’ visit to Pride Park, and still lost 4-1.

‘ of course we were aware of it,’ Lampard said when asked about Leeds’ high press. ‘If you play, you play out quickly and you get out and if not then maybe you miss out the press and you get up the pitch and play out. there are a lot of different ways of dealing with it.’

Great in theory, but Lampard’s players either didn’t listen or were not good enough to do what was asked of them by their young manager. Certainly, the scoreline didn’t flatter Leeds.

Kemar Roofe was lethal, his movement and finishing helping him to two goals. Roofe is Leeds’ first line of defence. he doesn’t stop hassling and harrying.

Roofe operated as a lone striker but was joined in attack quickly by runners in a formation that changes from 4-1-4-1 to Bielsa’s famed 3-3-3-1.

Roofe’s first put Leeds back into the lead at 2-1 after derby’s tom Lawrence had scored from a free-kick following mateusz Klich’s opener.

It was a typical Bielsa goal. Left full back Barry douglas won the ball on the halfway line, played in ezgjan alioski down the left before Roofe moved between defenders to meet alioski’s cross and plant a header past derby goalkeeper Scott Carson.

By the time Roofe added Leeds’ third in the 60th minute, derby had two players on bookings and were struggling to keep up. Joe Ledley and Richard Keogh suffered the most. Ledley was replaced by Bradley Johnson at half-time after Samuel Saiz, Bielsa’s Spanish general, hadn’t given him a moment’s peace.

Keogh was booked after pulling Saiz back to stop yet another counter-attack. But the 32-year-old centre back couldn’t stop Roofe as he turned him inside out and found the top of the net with a cracker. derby had fallen apart and a fourth goal by alioski four minutes later confirmed it.

It was a demolition job. each Leeds player is given a different task, sharing the load while inflicti n g maximum damage, all while Bielsa squats on his haunches to get a better view.

It looks good, but there is a long way to go and it is easy to get carried away. Bielsa has seen it all go wrong before. he won eight of his first 10 games at marseille in 2014, had them top of Ligue 1 only to finish fourth.

Worn out by mid- season, his players weren’t able to cope with his demands after starting so ferociously. that has to be the worry for Leeds. Can they really keep this up for 44 more games? Bielsa thinks so. ‘I think that the fatigue and the style are not obstacles for the offensive players,’ he said.

Speaking in english is difficult for Bielsa — who is accompanied by his translator, Salim Lamrani, at every press conference — but his message has got through to his players despite only having been in the job since mid- June.

Bielsa has also connected with the fans, or ‘destinataries’ as he calls them. It has been disappointment after disappointment at elland Road but finally those who turn up to support the team — 2,000 here — are seeing their commitment reflected in the players.

‘the fans are the destinataries,’ Bielsa said. ‘the most important destinataries of football and what we produce. If they are happy we are even more happy.’