I think that's slightly unfair on Bielsa, Rob. The "second division journeymen" are largely players he inherited - Ayling, Dallas, Cooper, Phillips, Forshaw, Klich, even Roberts. To that he added Meslier, Bamford, Koch, Llorente, Raphinha, Rodrigo and James - so I don't think the plan is to buy low-grade players that he can make adequate; the plan is to buy *the best players Leeds United can afford to buy*, and if that requires buying Dan James and turning him into a striker (rather than dropping £150m on Harry Kane or something), that's just the way things are.
Ed. On Thu, 24 Feb 2022 at 14:25, Robert Heath <heathpalai...@gmail.com> wrote: > For the first time I am starting to entertain some doubts about Bielsa. > > I fear his unique system simply cannot survive implementation long term in > the Premier League. Ultimately, to ask players who, don't forget, are > nothing more than jumped-up 2nd Div journeymen to go up 1v1 game after game > against the top top players some of these clubs have (Forshaw v pogba, for > example............he may play crap and be lazy sometimes, but there is a > reason why Pogba cost 97 million quid or whatever...........he's a bloody > good footballer!) is never going to work in the long run. Plus there is a > massive flaw in the system in that the oppo CBs can just advance with the > ball. In the 2nd Div it didn't matter b/c they were crap, but players like > Matip & that Swedish lad from Man U are good players who can (and did!) > cause serious damage. > > The other thing is that Bielsa's system relies on us winning the ball in > the middle third and then slicing through them when they are "unbalanced" > (as he likes to say.) But again, the quality of players in this league are > just too good to dispossess. But in tearing in to challenge the way he > wants, we leave ourselves chasing the ball time after time while they > advance, leaving them often 5 or 6 v our back 4. No wonder they look all at > sea sometimes. > > And it doesn't bloody help when we keep losing players to > injury..........and we are denied certain penalties while the oppoes get > gifted 2 soft ones! > > On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 1:19 PM MATTHEW GAYNOR via Leedslist < > leedslist@gn.apc.org> wrote: > > > > > What evidence do we have that Bielsa is losing the players > > The crowd as Elland Road seem to be firmly behind him - i'm not sure how > > relevant the noise on social media is. > > > > Yes i'm worried for the first time - largely due to the teams below > > starting to win - but we wouldnt be better under any other manager and > > should improve in March as fixtures are better and we should start > > getting important players back. > > > > The size and make-up of the squad is a discussion for the summer - > > stubborn as he is i dont think Bielsa is immune to the need for changes. > > > > Matt > > > > ------ Original Message ------ > > From: "James A. Lundon @ Yahoo! via Leedslist" <leedslist@gn.apc.org> > > To: "Leeds List 2010" <leedslist@gn.apc.org> > > Sent: Thursday, 24 Feb, 22 At 12:11 > > Subject: [LU] Not good! > > Worse than I expected. Bielsa is quickly losing the players, the fans, > > the media, everyone. Hard to see how this is going to end well for all > > involved, not without radical surgery. > > Many people who were previously short sighted to what Bielsa brings to > > the table are having their eyesight lasered. Bielsa is on some spectrum > > and we are seeing the brutal results of it now with his > > inability/unwillingness to change in light of the evidence in front of > > his/our eyes. > > We will survive this season but will not survive the next one. We might > > not even stay up this season, the way the wheels are coming off our > > bandwagon. > > Even neutral commentators are starting to speak seriously about Leeds > > being relegated this spring. Some of us have been talking about this > > increasingly-likely scenario since a few games into this season. That > > pre-season 9/1 about Leeds to be relegated is starting to look like a > > good bet. I was tempted but not tempted enough. > > No point talking about last night in detail. We all saw it with our own > > eyes, at least I did until the second penalty was conceded. I didn’t > > let the result ruin my evening, not that the wife cared a jot as I > > sobbed quietly in the corner. > > James. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leedslist mailing list > > Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > > To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org > > > > Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ > > > > Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat! > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org > > Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ > > Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat! -- Ed Morrish e...@morrish.org | 07870657825 www.edmorrish.com _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ Rest in Peace Guy, and wear your hat!
