Leeds United were on the receiving end of their first heavy defeat since returning to the Premier League, falling to a 4-1 loss at home to Brendan Rodgers’ in-form Leicester City.
Since clinching promotion back to the top flight, Leeds have been in the limelight from minute-one, with their thriller at Anfield.
Despite losing to the reigning champions, our gung-ho attitude to take the game to Jürgen Klopp’s dominant side made many neutrals instantly fall in love with the style they were witnessing.
Sky Sports’ Liverpool-linked pundit Graeme Souness lauded that performance at Anfield as one where the Whites made a ‘real statement’ to the Premier League.
Six games later and Leeds find themselves in mid-table on 10 points, thanks to three wins against Fulham, Sheffield United and Aston Villa, along with a brilliant 1-1 draw against Manchester City.
Going from a mid-table Championship team to one competing in the top flight has come almost all down to the work of Marcelo Bielsa, and he’s rightly receiving praise for taking us there, and becoming one of the fittest teams in the division in the process.
Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola is a self-proclaimed disciple of Bielsa’s and promotion to the Premier League prompted the City chief to comment on how important his influence on football is, claiming “it will be incredible for him to be in the Premier League this season.”
While we’re seeing some scintillating football, the Premier League is a results-based business where three points takes precedent over a classy performance to a lot of pundits, something Bielsa has been on the record to state his disagreement with.
Despite this, his methods don’t seem to be striking the same chord with a number of pundits after Leeds’ shortcomings were exploited by a brilliant Leicester City side on Monday night. Swift counter-attacking and fluid movement in attack from the Foxes caused havoc for Leeds’ defence that were set on man-marking without the ball and dominating when in possession, neither doing them any favours.
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Speaking about Bielsa on talkSPORT, pundit Simon Jordan wasn’t buying the hype around the Argentine.
“We speak about Bielsa because of Leeds because Leeds are this huge football club that have been in the doldrums for 16 years, Bielsa’s come in and woken them all up,” Jordan stated.
“I’m not a Bielsa acolyte, I think he’s a great coach. I don’t bow at the temple of Bielsa like all of these other managers seem to do – Pep Guardiola or Mauricio Pochettino or whoever else it is that is currently eulogising this guy.
“I don’t see that result as a surprise last night. Why is it a surprise?
“Elland Road is not a fortress because there are no fans there, Leeds are a promoted side, Leicester are an established, bonafide, top-six-contending Premier League side, Brendan Rodgers is an elite manager. Why would that result be a surprise to people?
“Leeds ain’t that good.”