Leeds (dirty thugs) discussion

sullydnl

Ross Kemp's caf ID
Joined
Sep 13, 2012
Messages
34,063
Meslier has faced the most 1v1s of any goalkeeper in the league this season and watching Leeds you can absolutely see why.
 

awop

Odds winner of 'Odds or Evens 2022/2023'
Newbie
Joined
Sep 28, 2010
Messages
4,257
Location
Paris
Supports
Arsenal
One thing nobody will miss is his interviews though. Painful to watch
 

BerryBerryShrew

Full Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2021
Messages
1,534
Bielsa's viewpoint is fairly simple: there's no point in adapting his style of play against the top teams in order to lose games with a better goal difference. That 720 or more minutes of playing their usual style in competitive matches against better sides will stand to them when they play teams from the bottom half even if they have to endure some spankings. It's smart if anything.

I mean he's got an appalling squad and is missing a few of his most important players. Finishing high in the table last year was impressive. If he keeps them up this year it will be impressive too.
 

SAFMUTD

New Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2018
Messages
11,787
Bielsa's viewpoint is fairly simple: there's no point in adapting his style of play against the top teams in order to lose games with a better goal difference. That 720 or more minutes of playing their usual style in competitive matches against better sides will stand to them when they play teams from the bottom half even if they have to endure some spankings. It's smart if anything.

I mean he's got an appalling squad and is missing a few of his most important players. Finishing high in the table last year was impressive. If he keeps them up this year it will be impressive too.
I don't think loosing to Liverpool 6-0 or Spurs 5-0 helps them for shit against mid table teams.

If anything it destroys their morale, point wise it may be the same to lose by 1 or 7 goals, but imagine the environment in that dress room, getting spanked over and over again against top teams.

Surely you may want to go out and be brave, but after conceding 2-3 goals it's game over, lock down the shop and concentrate on damage control. But Bielsa? Feck nah bro, let's keep going let's attack and leave spaces in the back for the full 90....it's poetic and naive.
 

lex talionis

Full Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2017
Messages
14,178
Just listened his post match interview. I didn’t realize that Bielsa still can’t speak a word of English.
 

BerryBerryShrew

Full Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2021
Messages
1,534
I don't think loosing to Liverpool 6-0 or Spurs 5-0 helps them for shit against mid table teams.

If anything it destroys their morale, point wise it may be the same to lose by 1 or 7 goals, but imagine the environment in that dress room, getting spanked over and over again against top teams.

Surely you may want to go out and be brave, but after conceding 2-3 goals it's game over, lock down the shop and concentrate on damage control. But Bielsa? Feck nah bro, let's keep going let's attack and leave spaces in the back for the full 90....it's poetic and naive.
It's a training exercise. The more you play in a certain way the better you become in playing in that way. If he's constantly changing his approach then his team are less fluent in the way that they should play and will lose to the teams around them.

He has the choice of either losing to the top sides and also losing to the lesser sides or losing badly to the top sides but punching above their weight against the rest of the league. The latter is what he did last year and it's what they're doing this year. The only difference is that they have been very unlucky with injuries this year so they haven't been able to beat the lesser teams as regularly as they did last year. They don't have anyone capable of scoring when Bamford is out and missing Phillips for as long as they have means that their midfield is really poor.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cheimoon

SAFMUTD

New Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2018
Messages
11,787
It's a training exercise. The more you play in a certain way the better you become in playing in that way. If he's constantly changing his approach then his team are less fluent in the way that they should play and will lose to the teams around them.

He has the choice of either losing to the top sides and also losing to the lesser sides or losing badly to the top sides but punching above their weight against the rest of the league. The latter is what he did last year and it's what they're doing this year. The only difference is that they have been very unlucky with injuries this year so they haven't been able to beat the lesser teams as regularly as they did last year. They don't have anyone capable of scoring when Bamford is out and missing Phillips for as long as they have means that their midfield is really poor.
I think the gain of those "training exercises" its not enough for the humiliation they get.

I don't think any serious players finish the game thinking, well we lost by 3 or 4, but this is going to be really helpful against Burnley.

You can develop a way of playing without having to play every single game the same way, specially if that way it's the kamikaze approach which will get you seriously spanked by top teams 9 out of 10 times.
 

Teja

Full Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
Messages
5,871
Are they really PL quality absent Bielsa's methods? I like Bamford and Raphinha but rest are pretty mediocre. Don't really think going full big Sam will help them avoid relegation.
 

CloneMC16

Full Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2021
Messages
4,520
Should have been sacked already. They've conceded 60 goals this season. They barely even try to defend. Even conceding that many, they've barely score more than the other teams down there. Newcastle, Everton, and Brentford have scored a similar amount. Leeds fans can't be happy with this. They're in massive trouble.
 

Pearl.Jam

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jul 4, 2021
Messages
440
Location
Lukin’s
Couldn’t happen to a nicer club..feck Leeds and everything they stand for, I’d rather see City and the Dippers win the title and CL for the next 100 fvcking years if it meant those inbred, knuckle dragging Neanderthals never ever darken our doors again…there’s cvunts, supercvnts and then there’s Leeds fans….Fvck em with every fibre of my being
 

VanDeBank

Ma’am
Joined
May 13, 2021
Messages
4,862
Was funny as shit seeing him squat down to get a better view of the battering. I'll miss that.

Bielsa's viewpoint is fairly simple: there's no point in adapting his style of play against the top teams in order to lose games with a better goal difference. That 720 or more minutes of playing their usual style in competitive matches against better sides will stand to them when they play teams from the bottom half even if they have to endure some spankings. It's smart if anything.

I mean he's got an appalling squad and is missing a few of his most important players. Finishing high in the table last year was impressive. If he keeps them up this year it will be impressive too.
The squad being appaling is of his own making. He signed Firpo for 15m and Dan James for around 30?

Lord almighty.
 

FootballHQ

Full Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
18,305
Supports
Aston Villa
Why was he ever so rated?

Won feck all and managed shit clubs, not dissimilar to our Ralf.
Leeds have done nothing for decades and he quicky got them into prem playing excellent football. Then finished top 10 last season. This season simply not good enough but overall that's a pretty good body of work for someone with no experience of english football when he turned up in summer 2018.

Interesting what Leeds do now. Do they go for Hodgson type appointment for last 12 games to try to get 3-4 wins or do they get in a longer term appointment with gamble it might not give short term boost and so they likely go back to championship?

Edit: Looks like they're going for Marsch then. Would've thought he'd have been a good pick up for US for 2026 world cup.

Bob Bradley was disaster at Swansea and didn't really happen for Marsch at Leipzig so risky move late part of the season I think.
 

Dan-Utd

Full Member
Joined
May 17, 2016
Messages
201
Location
United Kingdom
I think it's disrespectful when someone comes to live in England for nearly 4 years and doesn't learn the language, It's said to be the easiest language to learn in the world. (I also think English people who move abroad are disrespectful if they don't learn the language too)

I remember when Pochettino had a translator for sooo long that fans used to say he could actually speak good English! :smirk:

Marcelo Bielsa always freaks me out, one minute he sits there on the touch line like a loner either on a stool or crouched down, the next minute he marches up and down, always struck me as looking like someone whose fidgety like he's having withdrawals.

He reminds me of Maurizio Sarri with his cigarettes :houllier:
 

sglowrider

Thinks the caf is 'wokeish'.
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
25,223
Location
Hell on Earth
I think it's disrespectful when someone comes to live in England for nearly 4 years and doesn't learn the language, It's said to be the easiest language to learn in the world. (I also think English people who move abroad are disrespectful if they don't learn the language too)

I remember when Pochettino had a translator for sooo long that fans used to say he could actually speak good English! :smirk:

Marcelo Bielsa always freaks me out, one minute he sits there on the touch line like a loner either on a stool or crouched down, the next minute he marches up and down, always struck me as looking like someone whose fidgety like he's having withdrawals.

He reminds me of Maurizio Sarri with his cigarettes :houllier:
I think he does understand English. Just isn't confident enough to do an interview in it. You can tell when he answers in Spanish very quickly after a question is being posed to him, and before the (english) question has been translated.
 

GMok

Full Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2020
Messages
221
Location
The Good Place
Supports
ATK Mohun Bagan FC
Jesse Marsch in
The question is, why? The first thing Leeds need to ensure is that they improve the defense and don't concede so many goals. Marsch is terrible in that aspect. His RB Leipzig at the start of the season was playing like Leeds, with better players.
 

adexkola

Doesn't understand sportswashing.
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
48,543
Location
The CL is a glorified FA Cup set to music
Supports
orderly disembarking on planes
I think it's disrespectful when someone comes to live in England for nearly 4 years and doesn't learn the language, It's said to be the easiest language to learn in the world. (I also think English people who move abroad are disrespectful if they don't learn the language too)

I remember when Pochettino had a translator for sooo long that fans used to say he could actually speak good English! :smirk:

Marcelo Bielsa always freaks me out, one minute he sits there on the touch line like a loner either on a stool or crouched down, the next minute he marches up and down, always struck me as looking like someone whose fidgety like he's having withdrawals.

He reminds me of Maurizio Sarri with his cigarettes :houllier:
Disrespectful to who?

It's kind of arrogant to expect someone to speak more than their native language. He had no issue communicating to his team so I see no issues.
 

United in sin

New Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2020
Messages
2,781
I think it's disrespectful when someone comes to live in England for nearly 4 years and doesn't learn the language, It's said to be the easiest language to learn in the world. (I also think English people who move abroad are disrespectful if they don't learn the language too)

I remember when Pochettino had a translator for sooo long that fans used to say he could actually speak good English! :smirk:

Marcelo Bielsa always freaks me out, one minute he sits there on the touch line like a loner either on a stool or crouched down, the next minute he marches up and down, always struck me as looking like someone whose fidgety like he's having withdrawals.

He reminds me of Maurizio Sarri with his cigarettes :houllier:
Who said this? I'm surrounded by non native English speaking immigrants and they all tell me English is very hard to learn. It's actually considered as such

"The English language is widely regarded as one of the most difficult to master. Because of its unpredictable spelling and challenging to learn grammar, it is challenging for both learners and native speakers"

https://thelanguagedoctors.org/is-e...e is widely,both learners and native speakers.
 

ThierryHenry14

Full Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2015
Messages
4,264
Supports
Arsenal
Was it Pep who said Bielsa is the best manager in the world?
He overachieved with the squad he has. Bamford's injury cost him the job. He is an excellent coach given what he did with Leeds United. Everton's wage bill is 4.5x higher than Leeds United. Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips, and Liam Cooper are the backbone of his team and they are all injured.
 
Last edited:

Vaultech

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
140
I don't get people underrating Bielsa just because of this season.

This season they had an injury list on par with Klopp's Liverpool last season. But no one is calling Klopp overrated.

Arsenal at the start of the season being forced to play kids were similarly wrecked. There's no way a squad with less money is going to do well when their established PL players were all injured.

As for Leeds getting wrecked by teams this season? Last season they managed to go head to head against top PL team and managed to win a few points off them with Bielsa-style football. With a good starting 11, Bielsa can go head to head against even the top sides.

With a shit starting 11, there's nothing he can do. Sure, he can park the bus, but where's the joy in football for that.

I swear this board is full of people who think parking the bus is the answer for most small teams. Which is proabably why the fanbase keep supporting the wrong Man Utd manager nearly all the time.

This board feels like it is stuck playing dinosaur football at times.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 12OunceEpilogue

Goldfiessli

Full Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2021
Messages
219
Supports
FC Basel
The question is, why? The first thing Leeds need to ensure is that they improve the defense and don't concede so many goals. Marsch is terrible in that aspect. His RB Leipzig at the start of the season was playing like Leeds, with better players.
I have to agree with this. Marsch seems to be married to the high-energy, high-line RB-style, which is why he was sacked at Leipzig as they transistioned to a more possesion-orientated style under Nagelsmann.
 

GMoore23

Full Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
3,526
Possibly the most overrated manager of all time. The guy was totally delusional which led to Leeds taking so many hammerings.
I'll miss him.
 

Josep Dowling

Full Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
Messages
7,673
I was arguing with my Leeds mate yesterday as I called Bielsa impact on Leeds overrated. From my perspective average Championship teams have got promoted before and managed to stay up.

The likes of Ipswich Town finished 5th under George Burnley. Barnsley, Blackpool and Huddersfield have all got promoted.

They usually come back with ‘he’s playing with a Championship squad’. The first season they were promoted they spent nearly £100m, which was one of the highest spends in the league!

This season alone he’s lost 7-0 to City, 6-0 to Liverpool, 5-1 and 4-2 to United, 4-0 to Spurs. No other manager would be allowed such results and be called a genius. Their injury problems is also clearly his fault for wanting such a small squad.
 

BerryBerryShrew

Full Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2021
Messages
1,534
In a way parallels can be drawn with Eddie Howe at Bournemouth.

1. They both did well to get promoted and keep their sides in the Premiership
2. They both played/attempted to play attractive football at the cost of defense
3. They both showed great loyalty to their clubs that ultimately was not reciprocated (Bielsa had his pick of clubs and Howe was heavily linked with superior sides)
4. They both were largely wasteful with the money they did spend.

I'm no fan of Leeds for obvious reasons but I like and admire Bielsa and he deserved better than this. Burnley owe a lot to Sean Dyche so they are sticking with him. Leeds owe a lot to Bielsa so it's a hasty exit the second they feel that they might be dragged into a relegation scrap. It's a shame.

Incidentally I also get the impression that the people in this thread who are throwing snide comments at Bielsa must have posters of Tony Pulis adorning their bedroom walls. He played decent football and that deserves respect (or for the resident Stoke fans, a tip of Tony's customary baseball cap).
 

DWelbz19

Correctly predicted Portugal to win Euro 2016
Joined
Oct 31, 2012
Messages
34,084
Yes, failure to mindlessly worship Bielsa’s one dimensional often unsuccessful suicidal football, must mean you love shithousery hoofball. :houllier:

They’ve conceded the second most goals ever in PL history after 26 games, near enough all of his signings have been atrocious, and he shows zero signs of tweaking a [blatantly unsuccessful] system. Get over yourself with this football purism nonsense.
 

Acole9

Outstanding
Joined
Feb 17, 2013
Messages
12,507
The Leeds fans used to worship him but it seems like they've had enough now and want him gone.
 

G-manc

Full Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2011
Messages
955
I don't necessarily buy into the 'horrendous' injury list people are saying they've had to contend with - Phillips and Bamford i get because there's no direct replacements for them but Cooper is a championship player at best - Koch and Lllorente are both Internationals and no worse than him. it's bitten him on the backside because he likes to work with a small squad and has no replacement striker or CM. Even going back a couple of years, he used to play Ben White in midfield when Phillips wasn't fit.

I think you need to look at what preceded Bielsa to understand why he's so revered and still highly thought of despite the mess of this season - the previous regime under Massimo Cellino, the bizarre managerial appointments and awful players that were signed in those years when they were drifting into obscurity. Bielsa came in and changed the mentality and work ethic and got them promoted with a pretty average squad (which is still pretty average). He's got a tune out of Bamford, which no one else has been able to do, converted Phillips form a nothing attacking mid player to an England international at DCM and changed the culture at the club which the players bought into.

I live in Leeds about 1/2 a mile from Bielsa and a couple of miles from the training ground so i've been able to gauge the feeling of Leeds fans in the town and at work etc. He seems like a nice bloke and has made himself accessible to the fans/locals - he lives in a modest cottage that's half the size of my house opposite a car park and a Sainsbury's local, is always in town at Costa or the local Italian, walks everywhere (including to the training ground every day) and even when people are knocking on his door, he will come out with merchandise for the kids etc.