Many Leeds United supporters have been discussing if Marcelo Bielsa’s tactic to name his starting line-up days before games is a display of arrogance or signs of his genius at work.
The Argentine’s openness to name his eleven days ahead of matches caused much debate during his inaugural season at the Elland Road helm, and has carried over into the new term after his comments ahead of our trip to Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
Speaking at his pre-game press conference, the boss noted through his translator: “Now, we cannot say the team two days before the game because one supporter told him two days ago that he is giving too much advantage to the opponents, knowing the team.
“But between you and me, it’s going to be the same team [that faced Nottingham Forest].”
That means we are due to once again see Kiko Casilla lining up between the sticks on Saturday afternoon, with a backline of Stuart Dallas, Ben White, Liam Cooper and Barry Douglas starting in behind Kalvin Phillips, Pablo Hernandez, Adam Forshaw, Mateusz Klich, and Jack Harrison with Patrick Bamford leading the attack.
But fans are still debating if Bielsa naming our starting line-up is the right thing to do, as it gives the opposition extra time to perfect their game plan, knowing exactly who they will be coming up against and taking out the second-guessing over who the boss may rotate in and out of the team.
On the other hand, there is an argument that his openness is a show of arrogance, as he is effectively telling the opposition to do all they can to beat these eleven players, as he is confident that no matter what, it will be United standing victorious at the full-time whistle.
Here’s what these Leeds fans have shared…
That’s how confident he is must rub off on the players
— Castor Troy (@Lister2011) August 15, 2019
No, no, no why give the opposition any info? Marcelo went to great lengths to get info, why give it away. It can’t be of any benefit to us at all
— loop (@Loop147Loop) August 15, 2019
Have to admit I quite like the big reveal an hour before kick off
— Matt (@mattolufc) August 15, 2019
We’ll never know if it makes a difference but I’d rather he didn’t do it
— Escape to Prague (@escapetoprague) August 15, 2019
Love MB but this is stupid and arrogant. He should stop doing it.
— Terry Coburn (@TerryCoburn) August 15, 2019
It May be a coincidence but our downturn in form last year happened around the time he started doing this ????
— Frontier Psychiatrist (@insertj0kehere) August 15, 2019
I really don’t get the argument tho mate. What advantage do teams get? We play the same way every week we play same formation every week. So how does naming a starting line up give them advantage ????????♂️????????
— Lee Maspero (@Leemo_LUFC) August 16, 2019
Who ever asks him for team news needs to stop
— Liam Leeds (@LJKLufc) August 15, 2019
They did it comfortably when he got the habit of telling early
— Aaron (@Iufcaaron) August 15, 2019
Our problem was not taking our chances. Not creating them.
— A Girl Has No Name (@thanksforask1ng) August 15, 2019
I just don’t get it. Football is a game of such fine margins. Why unnecessarily show your hand?!
— Danny Bostock ???????? (@11Bostock) August 15, 2019