I do. I was captain of East Sheen County Primary School. You can't buy that
experience.
Nick
On Wednesday, February 27, 2019, 12:03:43 PM EST, Nick Allen
<[email protected]> wrote:
However, Bielsa is revered as a tactical genius based on decades of actual
work in the game...whereas we are a bunch of gobshites who often watch some of
a game through beer goggles. Let’s just all stop pretending we know better,
because we don’t.
> On 27 Feb 2019, at 16:36, seanscribe--- via Leedslist <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> I think we are seeing that some of Bielsa's strengths are double edged, in
> that they also contain the seeds of our ultimate demise. To wit:
> - His loyalty to his core group of players. This doubtless results in
> reciprocal loyalty on the players' part and motivates them to run through a
> proverbial brick wall for him, but it seems to blind him to the need for
> change - and the availability of other options - when members of that core
> group show clear signs of mental fatigue and loss of form (indeed, it just
> serves to reinforce the mental and physical fatigue). Just a few examples of
> this are the failure to find a place in the team for Shackleton when Ayling's
> form has been so poor recently; the insistence on restricting Jack Clarke to
> second-half substitute appearances when he was already clearly the most
> dangerous player in the squad; the failure to even find a place on the bench
> for Edmondson when our team is clearly bereft of a consistent goalscorer in a
> division in which goal difference is likely to be crucial.
> - His obsession with leaving no statistical and informational stone unturned
> in his preparations. This led straight to Spygate. Of course it's ridiculous
> that the League fined the club two hundred thousand quid for breaking a rule
> that doesn't exist, but any Leeds supporter over the age of 15 could have
> told Bielsa that if he sent a Leeds employee to observe other clubs'
> training, and that employee was discovered to be doing that, our enemies
> would pounce on it and use it as a stick with which to beat us. This was
> dumb. It created a massive distraction at a crucial time of the season and
> cost the club a not inconsequential sum of money.
> - His openness and honesty, when combined with his insistence on sticking to
> only one style of play. By needlessly announcing his first XI for every game
> two days before kickoff, he gives the opposition manager 48 hours in which to
> plan how to counter us. Is it any surprise that as the season has gone on,
> more and more managers have figured this out? This is an absolute own goal.
> If I were Radz I would have told him to stop doing it months ago.
> - His insistence on working with a small squad. Bielsa's previous experience
> in Europe was managing sides in La Liga and Ligue 1. Both of those leagues
> have a 38-game season (in slightly warmer climes). The Championship has a
> 46-game season, much of it played through in the (mostly north) English
> winter. In addition there are two knockout cups and preseason games, meaning
> the first team is playing more than 50 games per season. For several players
> (Jansson, Klich, Douglas, Peacock-Farrell, Dallas, etc) there is the added
> burden of playing in (and traveling to and from) regular international games.
> The Championship - and English football in general - generally involves a
> much more physically demanding style of play than is the case in the Spanish
> and French top tiers. In addition, Rob Price himself acknowledged recently
> that players at the peak of fitness that Bielsa favors are more likely to get
> injured. Plus, we are Leeds United - we have injury crises that last years
> (cf: The O'Leary years). This all seems to argue for a larger squad than
> might be the case in Bilbao or Marseille. But not only did Bielsa insist on
> keeping the squad small, as players left the squad (Pearce, Saiz, etc.) they
> weren't replaced. I understand that it's easier to build camaraderie with a
> smaller squad, but are Bielsa's motivational skills so limited that he'd be
> unable to handle a squad with a few more players in it (let's say a creative
> midfielder, a dominant central midfielder and a proven, uninjured
> goalscorer)? I find that hard to believe. The results of all this are now
> clear for all to see.
> If Bielsa (or Corberan, if Bielsa leaves, as seems likely) could find a way
> to bend a little on the above points, and if Radz can find the cash to buy
> more quality while retaining players like Clarke and Jansson, then I'd say we
> have a good chance of going up next season. Otherwise, it'll be more of the
> same.
> Cheers!
> Sean
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Smail <[email protected]>
> To: leedslist <[email protected]>
> Sent: Wed, Feb 27, 2019 10:17 am
> Subject: Re: [LU] On the other hand.
>
> It wasn't ONLY a "bummer of a result" Our lack of cutting edge is becoming
> more and more evident. For all our possession, undoubted fitness, and
> willingness, teams know they can let us have the ball for long periods in
> the safe knowledge we're unlikely to find an end result. There was only one
> well worked move from us that nearly ended in a goal. It's becoming mildly
> embarrassing that our same old same old approach isn't yielding many goals.
> And then to cap it off, MB always states that with so much possession and
> domination, we didn't take our chances. I thought QPR were worthy of their
> win last night - they had a sparkle from time to time that we didn't.
>
>
>
> I think Brown, Roberts and Douglas are all poor, especially Brown - get him
> back to Chelsea and lose the other 2 quickly. How did any of these 3 manage
> to be signed - it's back to Doukara days.
>
>
>
> I think we'll do well to take a point from WBA on current form. I still see
> Norwich and Sheff U for auto promotion and a possible place for us in the
> play offs with WBA joining Norwich and Sheff U in promotion.
>
>
>
> Not all doom and gloom though - it's been an incredible season and the best
> we've seen LU for some time.
>
>
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> A very fair point Sean - MB is unlikely to be here for more than another
> season
>
> at most. I hope he has now learnt he has underestimated the resources
> required
>
> for this 'project', and will want to give it another go having bought 4 or 5
>
>
> quality players. It's not all over this season by a long chalk, but last
> night
>
> was a bummer of a result.
>
>
>
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