The Second Coming
There is a poster on my wall of Marcelo Bielsa holding the Championship trophy, surrounded by his adoring players. Of fourteen players visible, half are no longer at Elland Road. Pablo Hernandez, Leif Davis, Ben White, Barry Douglas, Gjanni Alioski, Ian Poveda and Helder Costa have all been cast aside, plus Berardi and Casilla who are out of shot. Perhaps this photo holds the answer to the questions about what has happened to Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United.
“ Of fourteen players visible, half are no longer at Elland Road. Pablo Hernandez, Leif Davis, Ben White, Barry Douglas, Gjanni Alioski, Ian Poveda and Helder Costa have all been cast aside”
The importance of the nine departees varies greatly, but nine is a significant number (especially when you are running a squad as tight as El Loco’s) and when you look at the team that finished the Wolves match there can be no denying that we are now watching Marcelo Bielsa’s second Leeds United team. Of the players that started his first match, only Liam Cooper was on the pitch to celebrate the last-gasp equaliser, and apart from Stuart Dallas the rest were either new additions or bit-part Championship youngsters who are now being given the chance to shine in the big league.
Carrow Road - Image taken by Matthew W
In order to make the next step, back into European football, Leeds were always going to have to do it this way. We may need 5 or 6 top-class players but it would take Newcastle wealth to be able to get them (even scum can’t), so we are reliant on Bielsa moulding Drameh into Ayling 2.0, Gelhardt into Messi, and Bate into the void that Kalvin Phillips might leave while we are in the process. Sorry to mention the unthinkable, but this is the reality and it’s unlikely to be plain sailing. At least we have the best manager in the business for such a task.
“ We may need 5 or 6 top-class players but it would take Newcastle wealth to be able to get them ”
Now is the time to hold my hands up, because labelling us as ‘a team in transition’ is the only way I can be positive when reflecting on yesterday’s game, despite us being victorious in a ‘must win’ match. For most of this season I have remained positive – we have been unfortunate at times, better than our old selves at times, and just being back in the ground was enough to keep me happy – but little by little my optimism has seeped away and at Carrow Road the shit very nearly hit the fan. It started with The Great Man himself, picking a line-up that sparked mental gymnastics in my head. Phillips in his England role? Harrison left-back? Three in defence? Four in defence? Rapha at No.10? Dallas in midfield? Shack in midfield? Struijk in midfield? Rodrigo in midfield? I wondered what on earth The Messiah was playing at and hoped it would turn into a masterclass. It was anything but. It turns out there was nobody in midfield, and it was our most out-of-form player who was asked to fill the boots of England’s No.9, which didn’t work the last time he played there, in January 2019’s FA Cup defeat at QPR.
We were playing against a Norwich team who looked as bad as their form suggested – winless in 19 Premier League games, with an aggregate score of 47-3 – but they still had the better of the first half, and more possession, which wasn’t as alarming as the lack of desire from the visitors. Leeds were slow to every second ball and losing their 50/50’s, it was nothing like the Bielsaball we know and love. Pascal Struijk had a decent game but everyone else struggled, even Raphinha, although the Brazilian is a perennial threat and opened the scoring with a bit of magic early in the second half. Within a minute we had gifted away a corner in shambolic style, from which the marking was almost as embarrassing as the hosts equalised. This was the moment I first started to fear relegation. Thankfully, lady luck spread butter on the gloves of Tim Kruhl and within two minutes Rodrigo was celebrating with a passion and intensity that he rarely shows in open play. At this point it seemed to be a case of, ‘who wants to go down more’, but Bielsa’s new team discovered some composure and returned to Yorkshire with three points in the bag, with the chance to catapult themselves up the table if they can discover their mojo and beat Leicester next Sunday. It is a big ask for a team who has only beaten the two worst teams I have ever seen at Premier League level, but even the ugliest of victories can do wonders for confidence.
“‘It wasn’t pretty, but who gives a shit?’”
‘It wasn’t pretty, but who gives a shit?’ No, these were not the words of Marcelo Bielsa. It was the tweet of captain Liam Cooper, and it brought a smile to my face almost as wide as when Raphinha toppled El Loco in his technical area. But it would be hypocritical of me to agree. When Leeds play well and lose I am the first to jump to their defence, and on Sunday they played very badly and won. They won’t get away with playing so badly again, not until Norwich come to Elland Road in March anyway.
Rocco Dean - Author of Marcelo Bielsa vs The Damned United (order on Amazon)