09 Jul 2019 08:30:19
The worry is that quality players with egos to match find it difficult to conform with Bielsa's ethos and demands. Consequently you are all too frequently left with lesser players who are relieved to be involved with a decent team. Bielsa gets them to 'punch above their weight' demonstrating his coaching abilities but getting across the finishing line at the end of the season in pole position often eludes him. Quality coach? Yes. Regular winner in terms of trophies etc? Not really. Pre season is well under way. At this late stage we still need a goal keeper, two centre halves (Never rated Cooper) ; a midfielder (to replace Phillips - not Woods) , a striker - to replace Roofe if he goes and Bamford if he stays. ) My final concern about our transfer record. We seem to recruit players whose club want to see the back of eg Bridcutt, Forshaw, Bamford, Costa (? ) , Douglas; De Bok; Anita etc etc. We sell players who we would like to keep eg. Wood, Clarke; Jannson ;Taylor, Byron; Lewis Cooke; Green - possibly Phillips and Roofe.
09 Jul 2019 08:45:44
Hess, I am with you on that point. Biesla reminds me of Howard Wilkinson. He built teams, not collections of brilliant individuals
I loved Wilkinson's way, but then I love the ethics of team sport. No one bigger than the team. It's why I prefer watching Barcelona to Real Madrid. Not saying Madrid aren't a great team, just not my preference
I have no idea if our chairman has or hasn't got much money. I am guessing he has more than the Bolton guy did. For me, I am enjoying seeing how Biesla is working with what he's got. Last year he notably improved Cooper, Phillips, Klich Roofe and Alioski when he dropped to left back. Who are going to benefit this year. I would love it to be Struik, Harrison and Bamford.
09 Jul 2019 09:18:15
spot on Axe! I love watching What Bielsa does with the players, I can’t wait until tomorrow night to see what clues we might get about personnel and positions.
Hessian, everyone including the Leeds board knew all about Bielsas style and reputation when he was appointed. None of it is a surprise, he seems to do what it says on the tin. Bielsa 2 was never going to be easy and I suspect he made it clear how he was going to do it, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. I seem to remember someone saying it was going to be a difficult summer! He has to have people on board who believe in what he is doing or they will undermine the captain and the whole team.
Bring on the football!
09 Jul 2019 09:20:55
Yet we finished in our highest league position since we were a Prem league team last season?
We had our highest average attendance since we were a premier league team last season too.
Something looks like it is going OK to me.
But I could be wrong.
ALAW.
09 Jul 2019 09:45:02
Leeds can’t afford the so called quality players, so recruit players who they can hopefully improve, depending on the players willingness to improve it sometimes comes off . I believe the 1st thing Bielsa is interested in is the players attitude, if he thinks they want to and are willing to put in the effort they have half a chance . Not all ie Pontus, Saiz don’t . As for players we buy that teams we want rid of , if they didn’t want rid we wouldn’t be able to get as we are not cash rich that we could force there hand, but recruiting players that he thinks he can work with is number 1 priority. Selling players we want to keep, due to our finically status we sometimes have to get rid of players the supporters may want to keep, the manager may not want to keep and he and the owner have final say, the loss of Pontus to me is no great loss, on numerous occasions last season he went off like he badly injured only to return a couple days later, one game he apparently was so badly injured he couldn’t continue, went in goal, then miraculous recovered to go up for a corner in them last minute . His position was sometimes questionable ie Wigan’s 2nd goal, when they were down to 10 men . So although he put in some great performances in my opinion his attitude was way off . MOT.
09 Jul 2019 13:10:49
I get that it is important to manage the egos to allow the team dynamic to thrive but I struggle with the concept that a good attitude is a substitute for ability. It is not a coincidence that winners are not always a paragon of virtue.
09 Jul 2019 14:31:05
You need attitude and ability, these days most coaches will accept slightly less ability if the attitude is there. Remember the David Beckham stories about being last on the training pitch practicing free kicks and he did quite well.
Lots of people in all walks of life have the ability but often not the application to make the most of it.