The presser:
Beren Cross
Good afternoonSit tight. We’re waiting on the main man from 1.30pm.
Bielsa's hereFirst question imminent.
Spygate judgement - pleased?Yes I am happy it’s over.
Jack Clarke?He is not available yet. One change is Roberts for Roofe.
Roofe latest - how long?We don’t have a final date for his return. It will be between four and eight weeks.
Izzy Brown - how long?He is making constantly positive steps and we have to link his improvements to the needs of the team to see when he will start.
Bolton - thoughts?It’s very difficult to confirm in the games the differences you find in the table. If we look at the table we could think Birmingham couldn’t lost to Bolton and Bolton won. You have opposite examples too. The norm in the Championship is you won’t have easy wins for anyone.
Changes in Bolton since winning there?I have a global idea of the Bolton team, but it’s not that detailed to make any comparison between the team two months ago and now.
Importance of Saturday with rivals winning?In any case it’s important for us to get points. The final games we have to play are very important, each of it. We don’t feel obliged because the rivals have positive results. We don’t feel we don’t have the duty to win when the rivals don’t win their games. All the points at stake will have significant importance.
Douglas and Forshaw?Douglas tomorrow with the under-23s. It’s his final step before getting back to the group if everything goes well. That’s not the case for Adam Forshaw yet.
His injury will need more time. It will be hard for him to come back in the next two games, the same thing for Clarke and Roofe.
Bamford progress - pleased?When you have been absent for such a long time you need time to develop your sports performance. He’s making constantly positive steps to reach his best level.
Big expectations for Saturday - unrealistic in the Championship?The expectancy is due to the fact Norwich beat Bolton 4-0. We are focused on winning, first that’s our goal. Then we are focused on deserving to win and then we will try to make the most importance difference possible.
This is our idea for this game. I couldn’t make any opinion on winning convincingly or not.
Benefit of 10-day break?It all depends on the next three results. If everything goes well we will say the break was a good one. If it goes wrong we will say the break stopped the development of the team. We always have explanations for everything. The difficult thing is to find the right explanation beforehand.
Good rest?I never get tired.
Enjoy this part of the season?Of course. The axis of our profession is the competition. When the consequences of the competitions are final it’s when we are more happy.
Feel responsibility for the fans' expectations of promotion?The expectancies of the fans are legitimate. We know what a fan feels thinking about the possibility of promotion. We have the same hopes as the fans. First of all, because we desire the same thing as them. Second because we assume we represent the feeling of people and this has to boost our strength.
Difficult living with that responsibility?I never need external support to increase my desire my team needs.
This season going to last game?It’s very difficult to focus on what has not happened yet because, among other reasons, one of the things making football most attractive in the world is because it is possible the team doesn’t deserve to win actually wins. If you want to estimate the results of eight teams it’s very difficult. If you add to that the fact you can’t make a logical analysis because it can happen the teams that wins is not the best one. Taking into account this it’s impossible.
Leeds unknown in South America but followed since Bielsa's appointment - still loved in Chile - what do you make of this love?The only thing I can say is as a maximum goal we all have the aspiration to be loved. This is common for all human beings and I love Chile. I felt loved by the Chilean people. I never forget how admirable are the people who built Chile everyday.
How easy has it been to get to the heart of English players?All the opposite. The English players have developed their capacity to respond to emotional solicitations. I’m talking about our group, our team. You are asking me about English players and I can only talk about my team.
Guillem Balague is here - how do you do what you do and why?People who work in football are overestimated. It’s not only because many people are interested in it because you have many important things that interest only a few people and you have things without value that interest a lot of people.
The most significant thing in football is the love of fans for the club. The identification of many around something which allows them to gather together and express themselves. We live in an individualist society and the fact we have something to unite people and when you have the possibility to participate in this, from privilege, unfair it’s privileged, it’s something people desire.
It’s a privilege to be a participant in this.
Can you judge what you have given to Leeds the club and city?There are some questions that invite you to give a demagogic answer. When you have the privilege of playing every two weeks in front of 35,000 fans it is something you can only thank and feel gratitude.
How does he deal with the journey and enjoyment of the process?In English football, traditionally, you always have the time to develop your idea because the time allows you to get the best final result. This is culture in today’s word. Nobody expects, nowadays, has the patience to see the positive things you’ve done before and people always expect positive things.
I’ve read an article in El Pais weekly. I don’t remember the author. It’s a thinker. This person with a lot of culture talks about this subject in an extraordinary manner. The example of Real Madrid. Real Madrid, out of the last five Champions Leagues, they have won four and the last was just some months ago.
Even in this case, when you have four out of five Champions Leagues and the team stops winning there is a crisis. The person who gave something, instead of gratitude, develops the obligation of having to win constantly.
This article puts another admirable example. Some time ago, when you make a favour to someone, you felt you could feel the gratitude of the person receiving the favour. Now, instead of gratitude towards the giver, people think they have the right to ask for another favour again and again.
For me, it’s easy to make a link between these thoughts and your question. If you don’t make a link between the final result and the path you choose, not making the link between the result and the path is the only way to survive in this profession.
Those who value public results reject this. Those who value public results, either they praise the good things or they condemn, with strength, the bad things. This article also gives another example that is extraordinary.
I like talking about this. Now you see the novels are something fancy and a renowned author who made a series on TV instead of getting gratitude is being asked to make the next season. As if it was easy for Pep Guardiola to build the team of Barca and forget the goal every three years.
Why don't you do one-to-ones with the media?As I can’t tell the truth I prefer not to give an answer.
All overThat’s it from Bielsa. Another of those 45-minute epics.
https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/marcelo-bielsa-press-conference-live-15864922
