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Adrian Durham defends Marcelo Bielsa over Leeds United-Plan B calls
TalkSPORT host Adrian Durham has blasted those who feel Marcelo Bielsa needs a plan B at Leeds United.
Since winning promotion, Bielsa has suffered a lot of praise and criticism, with critics mainly suggesting his heavy defeats owing to a stubbornness surrounding the Argentine’s tactical decisions.
Last season, Chris Sutton suggested as much [LeedsLive] while at the weekend, talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook also bemoaned Bielsa’s failure to mix it up at Elland Road after the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool.
However, Durham simply isn’t having it and has backed Bielsa to continue doing what he’s doing because he’s only suffering heavy defeats against teams you would expect heavy defeats against.
As shown in a clip on the talkSPORT Twitter account, the radio host said: “It’s not been the greatest start for them.
“They went to Man United, got battered. They’ve had a draw against Everton, a draw against Burnley – they’re not bad results in the whole context of things. And then they’ve been battered by Liverpool so the two batterings they’ve had are Liverpool and Man United.
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“This plan B does my head in. I mean, you have a plan – Bielsa’s got a plan, a way to play. And plan B is to try and get better at plan A – that’s simple. That’s all he wants.
“He doesn’t want to lump it up to the big man up front, he doesn’t want a plan B, he’s not interested in that. And actually, I’ll say it again. It’s like a broken record with Leeds.
“The fans love Bielsa, the fans are loving every second of what’s going on. Yes, they don’t like losing but they know they’re going to lose some games because they don’t spend absolute fortunes like some other clubs.
“They’re not established like some other clubs are.
“Bielsa’s not been in charge of Leeds as long as Klopp’s been in charge of Liverpool so of course, Liverpool with better players are going to do better and going to beat them.”
Change the record
Every time we lose a game by more than two goals, the same criticisms come out and Twitter is full of them.
Leeds United fans are guilty of it too with one saying “Bielsa needs a Plan B” after the defeat to Liverpool while CBS Sport journalist Luis Miguel Echegaray said on Twitter on Sunday that they also need a contingency plan as “clubs know what LUFC are all about now so their preparations have more context”.
Does the manager who led a newly-promoted side to a ninth-placed finish in the Premier League last season need to listen to the criticism of journalists, former pros and fans?
That question shouldn’t need answering but for those in doubt – no, he doesn’t.
That probably sounds a bit hypocritical coming from our standpoint because we’re also suggesting what Bielsa should, would or could do. But we really don’t think the Argentine will baulk to the demands of amateurs on radio shows, television and social media.
He’s the man who’s been the driving force behind Leeds’ return to the big-time and guiding them to a top-half finish.
He’s the man we trust and Durham is absolutely spot on.
Yes, we might get rolled over every now and then by better teams but we also took points off all the ‘big six’ clubs last season and even won away at Manchester City.
We’ll take points off them too.
In other Leeds United news, Roy Keane and Ian Wright hit back at a TV host over what he said about Patrick Bamford.