Leeds (dirty thugs) discussion

TheLiverBird

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Yes he's an excellent coach
Indeed

took him just 2 seasons too turn their fortunes around getting promoted

And then gets them finishing in the top half of the toughest league in the World in his first Premier League season

His plan A works very well to a certain extent in that some teams just can’t handle them, but it comes up trumps when against a machine which is what United were yesterday

obviously not a Pep or Klopp etc

but a good manager nonetheless
 

TheLiverBird

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Leeds seem to be a strange rival club for me and I can't seem to view them as fierce rivals. They don't feel like a club with their own identity currently, their identity is more dependent on Bielsa. Like it's a "Bielsa team" and not Leeds United. Don't know if that makes sense. Even Liverpool with a massive personality like Klopp don't have this issue (but then, Liverpool weren't stranded in the lower leagues for 2 decades).

When Bielsa leaves, they'll go back to being a bang average side with no personality.
That totally depends on who replaces Bielsa when he leaves surely?
 

Roosney

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Why do all their players have the same awful man bun haircuts? It’s their second season in the league and I really can’t register any of their players in my head because they all look the same.
I was thinking the same last season already.
 

Robertd0803

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Be very interesting to see what happens when Bielsa is no longer manager.

Funny thing is they will be fine again this season just like last season, there are going to be days where their game style doesnt work and they get hammered but it will get them more than enough points to be comfortable at the end of the season.
 

SilentWitness

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They looked really poor yesterday. Didn’t seem to be the same air of intensity that they usually have which may be due to the first game back after a long summer but it might be a tough season for them. Saying that they’ll probably trounce us next week.
 

Ekkie Thump

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They looked really poor yesterday. Didn’t seem to be the same air of intensity that they usually have which may be due to the first game back after a long summer but it might be a tough season for them. Saying that they’ll probably trounce us next week.
I dunno about that. Usually what happens is we look terrible and sluggish during preseason, but somehow that translates into starting the season at full pelt. Honestly yesterday looked identical to when Ajax trounced us a week ago. Things should pick up (they better had), but I've a feeling things aren't quite right.
 

Classical Mechanic

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I dunno about that. Usually what happens is we look terrible and sluggish during preseason, but somehow that translates into starting the season at full pelt. Honestly yesterday looked identical to when Ajax trounced us a week ago. Things should pick up (they better had), but I've a feeling things aren't quite right.
To be fair we slapped you last season too. You play the perfect style for us. It’s great.
 

RedSinha

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That totally depends on who replaces Bielsa when he leaves surely?
True. Yeah, my last sentence is a bit hyperbolic, under the assumption that whichever manager manages them next won't be able to stamp their identity on the club to *this* extent.
 

Ekkie Thump

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To be fair we slapped you last season too. You play the perfect style for us. It’s great.
That's true, but at least in that match we appeared to have teeth, inadequate though they were. This time not so much. I gotta say I'm not exactly enjoying this new tradition of the annual Old Trafford spanking.
 

RedorDead21

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True. Yeah, my last sentence is a bit hyperbolic, under the assumption that whichever manager manages them next won't be able to stamp their identity on the club to *this* extent.
same as us post Fergie then….Every team needs a good coach…look at Arsenal now…
 

nickyboy1981

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I think I saw some of those morons getting kicked out for sitting in the United end :lol:

To be fair there were Leeds fans on the train on the way in handing beers out to United fans so it just goes to show not all fans are idiots, every club has em.
 

Ekkie Thump

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We've played terribly all season, and preseason. Don't think we've been the better team against anyone, not even Burnley. First time we've ever started a season like this under Bielsa. Desperately needed to buy a central midfielder. Ah well, roll on Toon.
 

Bob Rivers

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It's arrogant and silly of Bielsa to think he doesn't have to change his playing style depending on the opponent. You can get away with it when you're playing a midtable side or relegation battlers but playing like they did against United and Liverpool, you're going to get destroyed nine times out of ten.
 

Ekkie Thump

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It's arrogant and silly of Bielsa to think he doesn't have to change his playing style depending on the opponent. You can get away with it when you're playing a midtable side or relegation battlers but playing like they did against United and Liverpool, you're going to get destroyed nine times out of ten.
You say that, but we were the better team at Elland Road last season. What's so surprising is that last year even when we were getting tonked we still showed some ability to retaliate, had that feeling we could always bounce back. So far this season we're just flat, and getting bullied.
 

Jericho

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It's arrogant and silly of Bielsa to think he doesn't have to change his playing style depending on the opponent. You can get away with it when you're playing a midtable side or relegation battlers but playing like they did against United and Liverpool, you're going to get destroyed nine times out of ten.
They're going to lose those games 9 times out of 10 regardless though. Maybe the reason they’re so good at that style against the lesser teams is because they always use it.
 

Bob Rivers

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You say that, but we were the better team at Elland Road last season. What's so surprising is that last year even when we were getting tonked we still showed some ability to retaliate, had that feeling we could always bounce back. So far this season we're just flat, and getting bullied.
Perhaps you just caught everybody by surprise last season and to give your team credit they're great to look at but it's just not a practical approach against sides that are clearly a level above you in class, you're way too open. By now, teams have figured things out and adapted. Bielsa hasn't because he's too stubborn for his own good.

I was watching the game and was shocked at the amount of space Liverpool players were allowed to operate in. It's suicidal to play that way against a top attacking side.
 
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RooneyLegend

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They do this strange thing where they totaly gut their midfield and leave one poor soul in there. Its truly bafflling to watch at times.
 

PepG

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His decision to play high press with full backs out wide deep in the opposition area and at the same time to defend man-to-man is baffling. Why not use the zonal marking? Sometimes Bielsa is too clever for his own good.
 

Nick7

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Bielsa is a fun coach, similar to Zdenek Zeman (his Pescara team with Veratti, Insigne, and Immobile was a joy to watch) in that when it clicks, you’d be hard pressed to find a more fun 90 minutes to watch. But against better teams if it’s even slightly off it’s horrible and falls apart easily.
 

Xaviesta

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They have Newcastle, West Ham and Watford before the next international break. That's a decent little run of games after a tough start. If they're still winless come the international break, then we might be looking at a dose of 2nd season syndrome.
 

FootballHQ

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They have Newcastle, West Ham and Watford before the next international break. That's a decent little run of games after a tough start. If they're still winless come the international break, then we might be looking at a dose of 2nd season syndrome.
Newcastle is big game really. Pretty sure West Ham beat them home and away last season although possibly playing them after europa (?) may help.

Don't think Leeds have signed enough. Was expecting them to get in a good CM alongside Phillips but it's just likes of Klich again and struggling upfront if Bamford isn't around.

They have played Everton, Man. United and Liverpool in first 4 games for context though.
 

Brightonian

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I don't think it's really about Bielsa's style. It's about the fact that so many of their key players don't have plausible back-ups. I know they can't afford a squad like the big boys or even an Everton or Leicester have, but still. It's paper thin.
 

Foxbatt

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He is not arrogant. He knows he is not expected to win the PL or CL. His teams are entertaining and good to watch. So long as he doesn't get into a relegation fight the club and the fans will accept it.
That's what Bielsa is. You know what you get with him. That's why he doesn't manage big clubs who are expected to win trophies.
 

ray24

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A good interview with Bielsa saying why he does the things he does.

https://www.skysports.com/football/...ng-to-his-principles-in-the-face-of-adversity

"We have constructed a club where you can imagine this possibility being achieved," Bielsa says when Radrizzani's objectives are put to him.

"If I thought another way of playing would improve the team, I wouldn't have any doubts in doing it.

"The style of the team is always in conjunction with what's convenient and then it's a case of being able to execute those plans.

"There's only one great difference in style and that concerns what the goalkeeper does with the ball at the start of attacks. There are teams who put the ball in play, and others who opt to go long.

"It's a legitimate route to go direct as it reduces the potential for errors but it also reduces the beauty of the game and the possibilities to attack. Both approaches are legitimate but what I intend to do is improve what we do.

"What some have proposed is that we change our way of playing. To change it would be to forget the praise we have received during the three previous seasons."

"When you don't achieve immediate results, there are those who don't protect the essence," he says.

"They throw it away, and substitute it with something completely different. We've only had four rounds of matches, so it's a bit premature to draw conclusions."

"My motive is always to seek ways of winning. The position of those who want to see a different way of playing is understandable as it's human nature to not have tolerance towards adversity.

"There's another, more loyal way of looking at it whereby the adversity which comes in the process of constructing a team in your image is tolerated.

"When something is broken or suffers, there are two options: you throw it away and change it for another, or you look after it and try to put it back together. It's the same in life."
Bielsa really explains why some neutrals who keep insisting he must change and be more adaptive don't understand him at all, and are really just cowards in regards to football.
 

tomaldinho1

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A good interview with Bielsa saying why he does the things he does.

https://www.skysports.com/football/...ng-to-his-principles-in-the-face-of-adversity



Bielsa really explains why some neutrals who keep insisting he must change and be more adaptive don't understand him at all, and are really just cowards in regards to football.
This makes complete sense for their objectives which is the most important thing & he can point to multiple seasons of success and having built a team that has only ever done well and kept rising. I don't think anyone is expecting them to compete for European places so why change the style when that's made them many neutral's favourite team? I think they'll finish in a similar position to last season and we should always appluad coaches who veer away from the Big Sam or Roy Hodgson route (and who don't sit deep against us ;) ).
 

ray24

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This makes complete sense for their objectives which is the most important thing & he can point to multiple seasons of success and having built a team that has only ever done well and kept rising. I don't think anyone is expecting them to compete for European places so why change the style when that's made them many neutral's favourite team? I think they'll finish in a similar position to last season and we should always appluad coaches who veer away from the Big Sam or Roy Hodgson route (and who don't sit deep against us ;) ).
Because some fans think they ought to know better than one of the best managers in the game. They look at games when Leeds was trashed and completely ignore the games that Leeds have played well and won. They think a mid-table manager should not be receiving so much praise, while forgetting that Leeds is a newly promoted team with a core of players from the championship.

There's a bunch of anti-hipsters out there. And given that Bielsa is the hipster's darling, they think he ought to listen to them and be less hipster-friendly.
 

Ekkie Thump

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Feckwit comments. Ignorant of history, bereft of understanding and lacking in judgement - quite the cocktail. He's been excellent for us and somehow manages to make a rod for his own back. Not happy.
 

Cascarino

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Feckwit comments. Ignorant of history, bereft of understanding and lacking in judgement - quite the cocktail. He's been excellent for us and somehow manages to make a rod for his own back. Not happy.
Well said