Leeds (dirty thugs) discussion

Spiersey

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Honestly its like people think its the 1970's or something and every other clubs preparation is steak and chips before the match. Virtually every club in the top few division has their own in-house analyst teams these days, and virtually all invest in football stats software which is where basically everything he showed. Most the stuff he showed would have taken one of his analysts seconds to find out.

Yet because its Bielsa people are pretending its a sign of his mad genius as if he's sitting at home calculating all the minutes played by individuals with pen and paper.
I've done analysis work (freelance stuff through a 3rd party) for Prem sides and Bielsa's is far and ahead any of the ones I've worked with (albeit very briefly). Level of minutes isn't anything special but the detail and time spent per game is more than any Prem side I've heard of.
 

soccerMad

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Bielsa has essentially demonstrated how he carries out opposition scouting and analysis work, by showing how he probably knows more about Derby County than Derby County themselves do. :lol:

Also I like how he used Derby as his example... could have used anyone but used Derby. I get the feeling he did that as a middle finger to Lampard and Derby.
Classic, we need him in the PL. He beat Lampard regardless of what he did. PL will be more colourful with him, surely far far better than José.

Good luck in their promotion fight.
 

Ekkie Thump

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So let me get this right. Leeds sent some dude to Derby, he stands on public land and observes them training, gets told to move on and does so. Bielsa then comes out and says he does this for all teams he faces. Is that right?

That does not appear to be the crime of the century.
 

Listar

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Great. We are getting another passionate rival (with a competent coach no less) against us next season on top of City and Liverpool.

Who is City hated rivals anyway (except us) that don't lie down for them?
 

Snow

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It’s mental, isn’t it? Surely he’s just doing what you’d expect every decent manager to do? This is a multi million dollar business. Not doing this sort of research would be borderline negligent!

I guess what’s unusual is him proactively telling them all this stuff. Usually the journos are fobbed off with generic nonsense because they ask generic nonsensical questions.
The research involves people illegally being on a property. You think if a tech rival paid people to take some pictures at product in development wouldn't be sketchy? That's just fine?
 

Keeps It tidy

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The research involves people illegally being on a property. You think if a tech rival paid people to take some pictures at product in development wouldn't be sketchy? That's just fine?
I think he was referring to all the opposition scouting stuff Bielsa was talking about not the spying thing.
 

Ekkie Thump

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The research involves people illegally being on a property. You think if a tech rival paid people to take some pictures at product in development wouldn't be sketchy? That's just fine?
That would be different, but it doesn't seem like that was what Bielsa's scout was doing.

 

Snow

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I think he was referring to all the opposition scouting stuff Bielsa was talking about not the spying thing.
That whoscored post is just bs. You think Pocchetino expected Solskjær to play a 4-4-2 diamond? Fletcher talked about that pass from Pogba to Rashford for the goal was something they had been practising specifically that week. You don't grab that information out of statistics.
 

Snow

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That would be different, but it doesn't seem like that was what Bielsa's scout was doing.

That's "fine" in this istance from the POV of the law. Are the 23 other training grounds in the Championship with the same kind of access or the training grounds in Spain or France?

I'm surprised the FA doesn't have rules on this specifically. There are so many laws regarding this in various businesses and football shouldn't be any different.
 

Keeps It tidy

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That would be different, but it doesn't seem like that was what Bielsa's scout was doing.

I feel that it can still be "legal" but, still be against the integrity of the game. There is a lot of things that are perfectly legal that would still go against the integrity of the game.
 

Sir Scott McToMinay

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Alternate universe;

- Chelsea win the league
- City Lose the CL final
- Leeds lose the playoff final
- We appoint Biesla

The guy hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s done everything that I’d want United to do.
Never quite understood the fascination with this man.
He’s a character for sure and his teams usually play good football, but for such a long career he’s achieved very little of note.
This is Manchester United, a serious club with serious ambitions, we’re not a circus.
 

Keeps It tidy

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Never quite understood the fascination with this man.
He’s a character for sure and his teams usually play good football, but for such a long career he’s achieved very little of note.
This is Manchester United, a serious club with serious ambitions, we’re not a circus.
And we already have Pep and Poch who are sort of like what happens when you match a lot of Bielsa's tactics with people skills.
 

Ekkie Thump

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That's "fine" in this istance from the POV of the law. Are the 23 other training grounds in the Championship with the same kind of access or the training grounds in Spain or France?

I'm surprised the FA doesn't have rules on this specifically. There are so many laws regarding this in various businesses and football shouldn't be any different.
I don't know, but then nobody knows where the scout's brief ends. Perhaps it's "go see if you can have a gander, but don't do anything illegal". That would seem both prudent and reasonable given the lack of guidance from the authorities.

I agree they should make a rule that it's forbidden, but they haven't. As far as I can see it's a token fine and stern warning for 'should know better' and they bring the code up for review at their AGM or whatever.
 

Ekkie Thump

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I feel that it can still be "legal" but, still be against the integrity of the game. There is a lot of things that are perfectly legal that would still go against the integrity of the game.
Yeah, I do think it's underhand just not explosively so. Dude exploited a loophole to gain an advantage but to be honest I'm gobsmacked more folk don't do it. I'd never heard of this unspoken law before this week and just assumed teams' training pitches would be obscured from public view for just this reason.
 

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I don't know, but then nobody knows where the scout's brief ends. Perhaps it's "go see if you can have a gander, but don't do anything illegal". That would seem both prudent and reasonable given the lack of guidance from the authorities.

I agree they should make a rule that it's forbidden, but they haven't. As far as I can see it's a token fine and stern warning for 'should know better' and they bring the code up for review at their AGM or whatever.
I would agree with that.
 

Keeps It tidy

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Yeah, I do think it's underhand just not explosively so. Dude exploited a loophole to gain an advantage but to be honest I'm gobsmacked more folk don't do it. I'd never heard of this unspoken law before this week and just assumed teams' training pitches would be obscured from public view for just this reason.
I feel like in this day in age it does not seem to be worth the hassle. Because as Bielsa's presentation showed there is an absurd amount of tools available for opposition scouting these days.
 

BigBebe

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I think that this is hilarious. Bielsa has basically played everyone. You can imagine owners/chairmen this morning, going up to their managers and asking to see their folders on every opposition team.
 

Keeps It tidy

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I think that this is hilarious. Bielsa has basically played everyone. You can imagine owners/chairmen this morning, going up to their managers and asking to see their folders on every opposition team.
Any club that bothered to hire match analysts should have all this type of information.
 

Mrs Smoker

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That would be different, but it doesn't seem like that was what Bielsa's scout was doing.

Why is the police politely asking people to move on from public spaces? Aren't they busy enough asking people how old are they when they go looking at titties?
 

Pogue Mahone

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The research involves people illegally being on a property. You think if a tech rival paid people to take some pictures at product in development wouldn't be sketchy? That's just fine?
I’m talking about the analyses he presented at the press conference. None of which came from spying on training sessions. I find it weird the way the press are fawning over it, as though no other manager/club has thought of doing the same.
 

Bastian

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I’m talking about the analyses he presented at the press conference. None of which came from spying on training sessions. I find it weird the way the press are fawning over it, as though no other manager/club has thought of doing the same.
I'm not sure there is competence and great efficiency at every club, or even the majority of clubs, just because there is loads of money involved. I'm not sure the equation is as simple as: loads of money = great expertise and due diligence. Examples of that are found all around society, in politics, banking, you name it.

Wenger is often credited for having "revolutionised" the game here with regards to fitness, nutrition, recovery. Back in the day Steve McClaren was said to be one of the first to utilise sports psychologists when he was at Middlesborough. There are so many managers in the leagues who come across as square, rigid and repetitive.

Competency is a precious and rare commodity.
 

::sonny::

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What a bad job is the football analyst

An anal job, transform football in numbers, most of them useless infos
 

Coxy

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Why is the police politely asking people to move on from public spaces? Aren't they busy enough asking people how old are they when they go looking at titties?
I live just round the corner from the Derby training ground - they could probably ask him to move because where he was hiding / standing would have been 'dangerous'. There is no footpath so he could have got hit by a car or something I guess they could use.
 

GazTheLegend

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((Giggs on Bale)).
Figures.

All the morons on talksport etc slating Bielsa and saying “we all do analysis” generally have about half a brain cell between the lot of them.

Footballers aren’t statisticians. The reason they can play football is not that they are good with numbers, but I’d be amazed if most clubs didn’t employ their own statto/moneyball man.
 

Pogue Mahone

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Remember when that pdf got leaked of an opposition analysis Mourinho was using with his team to prepare them for a game against Newcastle? Exact same amount of detail and that was, what, 10 years ago? Maybe longer? I just don’t get the idea that this Bielsa stuff is revolutionary.
 

amolbhatia50k

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I'm not sure there is competence and great efficiency at every club, or even the majority of clubs, just because there is loads of money involved. I'm not sure the equation is as simple as: loads of money = great expertise and due diligence. Examples of that are found all around society, in politics, banking, you name it.

Wenger is often credited for having "revolutionised" the game here with regards to fitness, nutrition, recovery. Back in the day Steve McClaren was said to be one of the first to utilise sports psychologists when he was at Middlesborough. There are so many managers in the leagues who come across as square, rigid and repetitive.

Competency is a precious and rare commodity.
It's not that rare. Most managers in the PL are competent by virtue of being PL managers. Van Gaal was also extremely thorough with his analysis. As was Mourinho. This is hardly ground breaking stuff.

I'm guessing clubs have teams that work on things like all the time.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Remember when that pdf got leaked of an opposition analysis Mourinho was using with his team to prepare them for a game against Newcastle? Exact same amount of detail and that was, what, 10 years ago? Maybe longer? I just don’t get the idea that this Bielsa stuff is revolutionary.
Maybe he has been influential in the past but it's funny that an old dog rolling out an old trick that seemingly plenty of of other dogs (not Giggs I know) do as well, is getting a rousing reception.
 
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amolbhatia50k

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Figures.

All the morons on talksport etc slating Bielsa and saying “we all do analysis” generally have about half a brain cell between the lot of them.

Footballers aren’t statisticians. The reason they can play football is not that they are good with numbers, but I’d be amazed if most clubs didn’t employ their own statto/moneyball man.
Two things here - 1. Are you sure other clubs don't do in-depth statistical analysis? 2. Does it matter how a club gets promoted/does well ? If Burnley do well without Excel sheets, I doubt they're going to care much.
 

Pogue Mahone

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