Leeds United staff were ‘privately cautious’ at prospect of problems ahead of the season
Staff at Leeds United privately expected there to be struggles this season as rivals adapted to Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics, according to The Athletic.
The club currently sit three points above the relegation zone after a third heavy defeat in a row at Liverpool last night (23 February), with the manager’s system being widely called into question.
But the club will apparently not be surprised by this as The Athletic’s Adam Crafton writes today: “Speak to those in the inner sanctum at Leeds and the difficulties of this campaign are not overly difficult to explain.
“They knew as far back as last summer that smart Premier League coaches would be wiser to the tempo and patterns of Bielsa’s system this time around and staff were privately cautious about setting expectations to match last season’s ninth-placed finish”.
Injuries have exacerbated the problem this term, particularly to Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips, with Crafton also pointing out: “Another pivotal issue is that Bielsa believes the success of his style depends on the strength of his team in the No 4 and No 9 positions.”
All very well
It will be scant comfort for the fans to know that the club foresaw issues in the second season back it the Premier League.
A slight regression would have been expected but the major drop off that sees the club in its current predicament is becoming disastrous.
The question which therefore arises is why the hierarchy did not better prepare for the rest of the league’s adjustment to the Whites’ style.
The injuries are without doubt a mitigating factor, but if losing Phillips and Bamford was going to lead to such ruin it is strange that stronger back up was not part of the summer transfer business.
In the wide attacking department Daniel James was finally secured from Manchester United, while Jack Harrison’s move was made permanent from City, and left-back Junior Firpo was brought in from Barcelona.
While none of these are bad transfers in themselves, striker and central midfield should have apparently been key areas of focus.
Clearly the benefit of hindsight now makes it all so clear, and any team would suffer if two of their best players were missing for significant time.
But knowing this is the system it seems like a risk to not have a better back up plan in place.
Terrible luck has brought conditions to a head this season but the club and manager appear not to have helped themselves, and now face an anxious few weeks as they hope to survive the drop.
In other Leeds United news, Simon Jordan has been a rare voice of support for Bielsa with a strident defence.