Eighteen games into the 2018/19 EFL Championship season and Leeds United fans can dare to dream. The Whites are not atop the pile but they are within touching distance of leaders Norwich City. Marcelo Bielsa’s appointment as manager was a major statement of intent from owner Andrea Radrizzani.
Leeds are currently placed 3rd and are 3 points off top spot. Bielsa’s side has the third-best offensive record in the league. Only West Brom, with 39 goals, and Norwich with 32, have scored more goals than Leeds’ 31 goals this season.
The 63-year-old Argentine is in the middle of a mini-revolution, awakening the sleeping giants and looks set to lead Leeds back to the Premier League. The West Yorkshire club was relegated from England’s top-flight in 2004 and have gone through many managers in their attempt to regain former glory.
Here, we look at three positives from Bielsa’s season at Leeds so far;
Marcelo Bielsa has earned himself the nickname “El Loco” which loosely translates to the Crazy One. The Argentine is not crazy by any means but he is a perfectionist, who is obsessed with the tiniest of details.
When he took over from Paul Heckingbottom, Bielsa led his team to pick up litter from around the club’s Thorp Arch training ground for three hours (h/t The Guardian). He wanted the squad to appreciate the work a fan does to afford a game’s ticket. It also showed his obsession with discipline and team spirit.
The boss asked for the first-team players to be separated from the academy while installing a bed in his office, spending hours on end studying tactics, calculating probabilities and poring over videos (h/t The Guardian). He is meticulous in everything, including match preparation.
Marcelo Bielsa’s teams are set up either in a 3-3-1-3 or a 4-1-4-1 system and its close variation is a 4-2-3-1. The Argentine’s tactics require a huge work rate and the moves are straight out of the training ground. The manager’s training methods are gruelling both mentally and physically and he is well-known for laying an emphasis on one-on-one coaching.
While recently relegated clubs are eligible for parachute payments and Leeds have been boxed in by FFP rules, the Whites needed a creative solution. In Bielsa, they got one. The Argentine offers a competitive advantage in terms of knowledge, experience and patented tactical approach.
Bielsa’s teams are often characterised by a three-man defence or marauding full-backs. His teams are set up for extreme width, aggressive pressing, risk-taking, continuous movement and persistent running.
For every Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp playing fluent attacking football, there will be a Jose Mourinho or Sam Allardyce comfortable of “parking the bus” for an entire match. Tony Pulis’ Middlesbrough are in the promotion picture, thanks to a well-drilled backline.
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Boro boasts the best defensive record in the division. Leeds, on the other hand, are in the reckoning for a promotion since they are often set up to play offensive football. Like his successful student Guardiola, Bielsa’s sides are set up based on an aggressive pressing of the ball and intelligent positioning in the defence and the attack.
The boss has built Leeds’ foundation on this principle and it is unsurprising that they have one of the most offensive attacks in the Championship.
