MAGICIAN BIELSA IN TRAGIC SPELL
LEEDS ................... 0 BRIGHTON .............. 1
MARCELO BIELSA is fast losing his magic, with his Leeds side heading into a tail spin.
Dumped out of the FA Cup by
League Two
Crawley and now well beaten by a Brighton side who hadn’t won since November – it’s turning sour for the revered Argentinian boss.
Defeat by Graham Potter’s excellent Seagulls – thanks to a well-worked Neal Maupay goal after 17 minutes – inflicted a third straight defeat on Bielsa.
And on a day when his stars were outplayed by a clever and skilful Brighton performance, the deep-thinking South American professor will need to dig deep to find a way to stop the rot.
Bielsa said: “We didn’t attack well, we didn’t defend well and we also didn’t play well but the result could still have been different.
“Even while playing below our capabilities we still could have aspired to a better result. The lack of chances worries me.
“The fluidity to attack is not the same in the last two games to what we have been used to.”
Leeds – without suspended
Kalvin Phillips – were missing their usual high-tempo intensity and creativity was also in short supply.
But that shouldn’t detract from a mightily impressive Brighton display that makes it baffling why Potter’s stars have been struggling in the lower reaches so far this season.
Potter said: “To come here for our third game in six days, against this team, and keep a clean sheet is a great result.
‘‘I’m so proud of the players. It shows a lot about the character of a team, especially with the week that we’ve just had, including 120 minutes and penalties against Newport in the FA Cup last Sunday.”