Are Leeds United going up? 20 Questions about Marcelo Bielsa answered
Leeds United's 4-1 defeat of Derby has got the world of football Loco for El Loco.
Nestor WatachAug 13, 2018
Action Images/Alan Walter
After defeating Stoke 3-1 in the opening weekend of the Championship, there were murmurings that Marcelo Bielsa would be delivering something special at Leeds United.
The hype subsequently went into overdrive when they followed that up with an even better performance, going to Pride Park and thrashing Frank Lampard’s Derby 4-1.
Be it his idiosyncratic interviews, the emphatic performances matched by the scorelines or the clips of intricate passing football clipped and shared by tactics nerds, people are sitting up and taking notice of a sleeping giant, the second tier of English football, and one of the most fascinating figures in the game.
Here’s everything you need to know about Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United so far:
Bielsa’s barely won anything. Why does everyone rave about him?
Because his emphasis on Positional Play has paved the way for so much of what we see in top-level football. Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur. Jorge Sampaoli’s Chile team from a few years back.
In fact, Bielsa himself laid the foundations for the Chile team that captured hearts and minds at the 2014 World Cup and won two consecutive Copa America.
Elsewhere, his Athletic Club demolished Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the Europa League and his Newell’s Old Boys are in the pantheon of great South American teams.
The end result might not be silverware but people fall in love with his football. 
Some pundits, including former Leeds manager Steve Evans, suggested Leeds would have been better getting a manager who “knows the leagueâ€, such as Mick McCarthy. Were they wrong?
Unequivocally, yes. Regardless of Bielsa, the likes of Rafael Benitez, David Wagner and Nuno Espirito Di Santo have disproven this idea in recent years. A quality coach with tactical nous is more important than experience of the league.
Leeds tried that with Neil Warnock, the most proven coach at this level and he parted company with a team miles from the play-offs, playing some of the most turgid football in living memory. He also left a rotten squad behind that took years to fumigate.
It's only been two games. Isn't it too early to make that judgement?
Fans have a right to get excited because a coach of international repute has produced arguably the best performances from Leeds since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2004.
It's a certainty Mick McCarthy or Steve Bruce or any other "steady hand" could not have produced this kind of football, because they haven't done so in their entire careers.
But Leeds started last season well too and then they finished 13th?
Yes, but with hindsight that was clearly a false dawn. Top after seven games, they only beat poor bottom-half teams; Bolton, Sunderland, Forest, Burton and Birmingham.
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The performances, while functional then, were light-years away from this. So far, Bielsa has made easy work of Stoke (the bookies favourites for first place) and Derby (in the play-offs last season). It's a big difference.
The club has done plenty of business in the summer, could that not be the difference?
No. Bielsa has largely started the same players from last season, those that only won three games out of fifteen under Paul Heckingbottom.
Only Barry Douglas from Wolves, and Mateusz Klich, back from a loan at FC Utrecht, are any different.
But there are lots of new signings. When can we expect to see them?
Tomorrow, most likely. The League Cup fixture against Bolton presents Bielsa with an opportunity to rotate.
Expect to see him use Jamal Blackman and Lewis Baker, both on loan from Chelsea, Jack Harrison on loan from Manchester City, and Patrick Bamford, Leeds most expensive signing since Robbie Fowler in 2003.
Is Pontus Jansson still a standout at the back?
No, he's not played yet. After coming back late following Sweden's World Cup, Gaetano Berardi took his spot in the back four and played so well against Stoke that he retained his place against Derby.
Who have been the most outstanding players?
Almost everyone has done well.
Kemar Roofe has led the line brilliantly. His movement and work-rate were so good against Stoke that he was awarded Man of the Match. He followed that up with two well-taken goals against Derby. It will take a lot for Bamford to take his place.
To a man, the four behind him — Samuel Saiz, Ezgjan Alioski, Pablo Hernandez and Mateusz Klich — have been excellent, too. Barry Douglas and Luke Ayling are underlining their case as the best pair of full-backs in the league.
Have they really been that amazing?
Yes. It really is difficult to overstate quite how good Leeds have been. It wouldn't be exaggerating to say they've played with a level of sophistication seldom seen in the second tier.
The controlled aggression and intensity of the pressing is a Bielsa hallmark but there's so much to admire in possession too: playing it from front-to-back, attacking with versatility, and the precision of the passing.
Is he still using his famous patented 3-3-1-3 system?
Not yet. He's experimented with variants of it in pre-season and, when he named the line-up for the first game of the season, there was speculation it could work that way, especially as Kalvin Phillips had played as a ball-player in the middle of a back three in the final pre-season friendly against Las Palmas.
So far, though, it's been a 4-1-4-1 system with Phillips bridging the gap between the back four and midfield.
We may see it appear later in the season, especially once Adam Forshaw returns or another defensive midfielder arrives on loan.
Are there any doubts?
Not doubts per se but, after just two games, there will be other hurdles to jump.
With players like Mason Mount and Joe Allen, teams like Derby and Stoke have attempted to play football which has played into Leeds hands and allowed them space work in. There are plenty of agricultural teams in the Championship and last season Leeds fell apart when Neil Harris's robust Millwall bullied them.
Action Images/Alan Walter
They will need to show that such methods won't phase them anymore. With hype and expectation comes a new challenge: will Leeds become frustrated if teams are defensive and look to play two deep banks of four in order to counteract Leeds technical quality?
When the Championship really gets going come the winter and there are regularly two games a week, that's another question to answer — can Leeds continue playing to this standard?
Any doubts with the players?
Bailey Peacock-Farrell in goal was poor to allow Derby to score. Tom Lawrence's free-kick was whipped in with pace but he allowed it to go straight through him. There were also a couple of unconvincing moments against Stoke.
Chelsea's Jamal Blackman was impressive on loan at Sheffield United last season and is waiting in the wings. It appears a matter of time before he takes over.
Don't Bielsa's teams always burn-out at the end of the season? Is that a worry?
There's no denying that. But that's something to face if and when it comes.
We're now in August and that's a long way away. If Leeds can keep this up, they should be promoted before a potential collapse.
There's also genuine depth to the squad and the two-week international breaks (without that many international players) should allow for rest and recuperation.
How has he managed to get them playing like this so quickly?
That's the big question. Outside of witchcraft, it could be changing the culture at the club.
For example, putting an emphasis on dedication and training, often with the players at the Thorp Arch training ground from 9am until 8pm, has clearly paid off. With an obsession with eliminating body fat and general fitness, the players will be equipped to carry out his gameplan.
Beyond this, insider Dave Hynter of the Guardian detailed how the players had to pick up litter for three hours to empathise with the work fans do in order to buy a match ticket.
I'd like to see Paul Heckingbottom try getting the Leeds players to litter pick.
There's a point in that. Marcelo Bielsa comes with a reputation and natural authority.
This isn't just another hopeful punt on a leftfield manager and expendable presence on the touchline. He comes backed by the board and the players don't have a choice but to buy into his methods. When they see the results they yield, it will only become easier.
Action Images/John Clifton
Bielsa has earned that reputation: just as Zinedine Zidane earned his, in a different way, before becoming coach at Real Madrid. Players just listen to such figures.
If Bielsa’s so amazing, why hasn’t a Premier League club come in for him?
Because he’s very demanding of owners and potentially volatile.
If backed, there’s no telling what he could achieve at a club with the potential of a Newcastle, Everton or West Ham.
But owners don’t look at the ceiling, they look at the floor and, with Bielsa walking out of Lazio after two days or embroiling Lille in a relegation battle, they understandably fear the worst.
Those who run Premier League clubs want to avoid relegation above all else and the idea of Mike Ashley or David Gold giving him free reign to mould the clubs in his image is laughable.
Could it not blow up at Leeds?
With Bielsa, there's always a danger of things blowing up but the board and manager appear to be on the same wavelength at present.
He has been backed in the transfer market and, after extensive meetings, it's clear that chairman Andrea Radrizzani and director of football Victor Orta believe in his methods. It's only positive signs so far.
How did Leeds manage to get such a respected coach?
By showing they were serious. When Bielsa became aware of the club's interest, he tested their dedication by demanding the club's hierarchy fly out to meet with him in Argentina. After doing so and after hours of discussions on strategy and philosophy, he was convinced .
Bielsa has since spoken of his respect for Leeds as an institution with a certain amount of self-deprecation, saying “I think I’m at a club that’s bigger than I deserve.â€ï»¿
What's with the bucket?
Just a quirk of how he likes to view games from the sidelines and nothing new.
Many will remember the time he sat on a cup of coffee, placed on a cooler box, in his time at Marseille.
So, are Leeds finally going up then?
It's too early to say. Leeds fans are just enjoying the positivity. But it's hard not to notice the bookies making them favourites for promotion.
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