Leeds have conceded 16 goals in their last eight games and are now second in the Championship behind Norwich, who beat them 3-1 on Saturday, but it’s important Bielsa maintains his attacking style.
Both clubs are level on 57 points, but Leeds’ early-season form has begun to die out as it has done so often in the last few years. Since the beginning of 2019, they’ve lost four out of six in all competitions, and fans and ex-pros alike have called for Bielsa to be more defensively weary.
With Bielsa’s philosophy, the best form of defence is attack, very much like his friend Pep Guardiola’s thought process at Manchester City. By being high up the pitch and having more players in the opposition half you lose the ball in a place where it’s easier to win back without conceding chances.
This isn’t working at the moment and the stats show it. Leeds are conceding possession and losing defensive duels too often, so there are two ways to solve this issue. A team either scraps their ideology and plays more ‘pragmatically’ by defending and avoiding any risky passes, or they improve at what they’re aiming to do.
The top teams in England at the moment, City and Liverpool, both have a clear way of playing and they sign players to fit this system. Nobody is better than them at playing ‘their way’ and so when teams try to adapt their own style of play to beat them, they’re not comfortable.
A known and trusted style breeds confidence and although Leeds are conceding goals for fun at the moment, the trend is more likely to shift in their favour as the season goes on. The better they get at retaining the ball in tight spaces and winning the ball back in the crucial five seconds after losing it the less chances they will concede.
We all saw it with Manchester City in 2016/17, when it looked like Guardiola ‘couldn’t do it in the Premier League’. Leaking goals, losing 4-0 away to Everton, and finishing fourth. The next season they conceded less goals than anyone else, and without a particularly amazing defence, just a well-oiled philosophy.
It seems frustrating but Leeds fans and Bielsa himself must trust the way they play and the rewards could be reaped in May.
