Pep:
https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/latest-leeds-united-news/positives-birmingham-boss-pep-clotet-special-elland-road-homecoming-against-leeds-united-817025Amid the celebrations of the Whites' history and achievements, Clotet experienced somewhat of a homecoming.
"I felt comfortable because for me it was like coming back home," he said after the game, won by a 65th minute Kalvin Phillips goal.
"It changed nothing when it comes to preparation, when it comes to setting the team up and it meant nothing to me in the game, then I was always wanting to win, but it's very special for me to come back here.
"As well as Birmingham I have a lot of esteem for this club and this city."
"The [Leeds] team has been playing very good for a year and a half now, ahead of us in the way we want to play.
"We had two options, sit and defend our box or go on the attack. That is the way I am. My players too. Unfortunately we could not link a very good performance with a good result.
"I saw a lot of positive points that we take for ourselves.
"We know where we are in the league, we had the best start in 11 years. The club asked us to turn our football into possession based attacking with high intensity, high pressing. I thought I would like to achieve that in this season. Now we see a different Birmingham. In this kind of football we try to win a game but it goes to them. We took our football to Leeds and we're proud of that decision."
That ability to go from defence to attack so quickly in that particular instance was the difference between the sides, according to Clotet.
"Leeds are very strong in one department. We win the ball back, that transition from defending to attack, that is the most critical thing you need to do very well against Leeds. They have the ball and they lose it, their defensive transition is very good. It's very easy to put a lot of pressure on the man with the ball and they do it with a lot of intensity.
"We were fluent when we won the ball back, we managed to link up well, apart from that. It's one mistake, out of all the balls we recovered. It's unfair to punish the team for that. But obviously that cost us the result. That margin made a huge impact in the game."
Clotet kjente godt til Bielsa, langt tilbake i tid
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-leeds-united-bielsa-17102186The Spaniard went on to express his admiration for Bielsa.
“The way that I understand the game, a big impact is thanks to his work,†he admitted.
“When you analyse and you watch his teams play and what he does, I know exactly how he trains because I have researched it.
“I went and saw him train and I saw a lot of his games, not only here but when he was in Lille, Marseille, Bilbao or when he was in Argentina.
“I remember when I was on my Pro Licence in Barcelona in 2002/03 he came with the Argentina national team for a camp preparing for a tournament.
“I remember all the training sessions and I saw things that I hadn’t seen before and I understand now the meaning of them.
“He is not only a very good coach when it comes to setting a team to play but he is a coach that develops talent, that improves the player, plays young players and that’s something I admire because he has the right mindset to not judge age but judge talent.â€
Som vanlig er han veldig complimentary når det gjelder Leeds:
“I loved it at Leeds,†Clotet said. “Probably everyone who works at that club loves it. But it was special for me, my son was born then, that’s always part of the image.
“I realised how big that club is when I was there - I realised as well how big this club is when I came in here.
“The city has nothing else other than Leeds United when it comes to other clubs and everybody backs it.