Bielsa sa nettopp på pressekonferansen at Pontus ikke stiller. Sliter med noe muskulært, men ikke så alvorlig.
Spørsmålet er om de tre lagene vi har møtt virkelig er så gode som vi tror? Var jo litt slik i starten av forrige sesong også. Men hittil har vi imponert i mye større grad prestasjonsmessig. Likevel så dukker det opp en stor tabbe i hver match. Kommer en ny i morgen kveld? Hva skjer med laget hvis vi kommer under?
Blir en rysare i morgen. Gleder meg
auren
Pressekonferansen, ja
We're in place at Thorp Arch
It’s a busy press room at Thorp Arch for Bielsa’s latest media briefing.
He’s due up in ten minutes, so stay tuned…
Any moment now...
Bielsa is generally a very good timekeeper - last week he apologised for being three minutes late, so I’d imagine he’ll be here any moment now...
First question is about the bucket - is he surprised?
It belongs to the folklore you find in football, so I just see it as a part of folklore, anecdotes and things you find in football.
Is it part of a feeling at Leeds United?
To tell the truth, my colleagues who take care of the equipment chose it, so I just use it.
You want me to say something more than it really is - it’s just a bucket. I have nothing more to add, it’s just a comfortable bucket.
The only thing I can tell you is what I just told you
What has the focus been on in training?
Yesterday we dedicate the training session to the organisation, that’s it. Coordinations, the collective work because you don’t need to use a lot of energy on these topics and they are necessary. The day before the game is always the ideal day especially when you only have 48 hours between games.
Will playing a relegated side tell you more about where Leeds will fit in this season?
This competition has different kinds of difficulties and you have to face each difficulty. The first game we played was against a team similar to Swansea, but we played at home. The second game was against a team that belongs to the top six.
The third game was a against a team that had just been promoted from League One but all games were difficult.
All games were very demanding. I imagine the same from the game tomorrow and I understand the features you give to the opponent.
What do you know about Graham Potter?
I know that he is an English coach that has had success in football of the north. He has new ideas, I know he’s young and I know he is admired by international fooball. He’s English, modern coach, he has new ideas, he brings new ideas.
It’s very difficult to create something new in football. But it’s possible to take from the past things that we usually don’t use anymore. This is the difference between being modern and using new ideas.
Are you any closer to signing any new players?
Nothing new at the moment.
At Bilbao, how did you prepare for long away days in Europe - will it be similar this week?
There are difference between the weeks where we have just one game to play and weeks where we have two games to play. The possibilities to make corrections are less frequent. Also you have less time to watch the rival in his preparation. The good thing about it is as we like to play games, it’s a good thing to play two games in a week. We prefer to play rather than train.
Is Roofe fully fit?
He trained normally today.
On Swansea
It’s a team that takes care of how they move the ball, how they move the ball, where they put the ball.
The players of Swansea know how to build from the back. In their style, the goalkeeper and defenders build from the back. And for me it’s the feature that you could underline from Swansea.
But they also have different possibilities. They have a real number 9 and they have substitutes who can modify the physicality of the game.
Surprised how quickly Leeds have taken on your ideas?
I don;t think the way to assimilate the style was fast. In the actual football, six weeks is a long time. The challenges were above transmitting a style and is to try to be faithful to this style over a long period.
How important is it to have impetus?
It’s always important to have good results, especially at the beginning of the season when you have to build the confidence and the period where you assimilate the style.When you win it’s always easier to accept the tools that you chose.
On changes this week
It’s not convient to talk about the second game of the week when we haven’t even played the first game. After the first game against Swansea it will be the right moment to think about which players are going to play in the next game.
How close to becoming Swansea head coach in 2015?
Yes, it was a possibility, a real possibility.
Why didn't it happen?
I was willing to work with Swansea but at the end they chose someone else.
I don’t remember very well. I think they wanted to start the season, not tom come in the middle of the season and the contact I got was in the middle of the season and they didn’t make it easy to reach an agreement.
But I have good memories of the dialogues I had at Swansea.
On Pablo Hernandez
He’s been constant so far. His performance was always positive. That’s all I can comment on.
Any other injuries?
Jansson will not play tomorrow. He felt something in his back yesterday.This problem does not allow him to play tomorrow. We’ll see about Saturday.
Bielsa's thoughts on Berardi
The games I watched, he played more as a full-back than centre-back. Obviously he can play on both sides as a full-back, and as a centre-back I’m satisfied
Saiz gets a lot of attention from defenders but isn't rising to it - have you worked on this?
Honestly no. But his professionalism allows him to resolve these kinds of situations.
On another part of English football, even if it’s a dispute over contact, I don’t see bad intentions and the referees control every excess and frankly I haven’t seen any excess.
That's all from Bielsa
Fairly short and sweet from the Leeds United head coach there.
He’s got a trip to Wales to make this afternoon, after all.
https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/marcelo-bielsa-lpress-conference-highlights-15049212