Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa was again facing the media as we built up to tonight’s Yorkshire derby clash with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough and the gaffer struck exactly the right chord for fans in his choice of words as he answered the magnitude of questions.
With defeat to Birmingham City fresh in the memory that obviously was a well-trodden subject by the journalists in attendance and Bielsa certainly curried himself more favour as he again shouldered the blame for the loss based on the decisions he made, instead of blaming players, the referee, or even bemoaning luck as many others often do.
One comment, in particular, went over well with fans following on social media.
Bielsa: "After the game we lost, we asked some questions together. We built our conclusions. We've had two training sessions where each player can express himself and the conclusions are positive ones. I have a lot of hope for the game on Friday." #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) September 26, 2018
Just reading comments like this makes me confident on Friday. Wednesday are at home so pressure is on for them to come out at us rather than park the bus, making it easier to exploit
— Dean Barclay ® (@dean19191) September 26, 2018
This is exactly the sort of stuff a manager should do, the man is a god.
— King Bradley (@BradleyFarnill) September 26, 2018
Like the sound of that????
— Pete's Leeds???? ????????????362 miles of ITK ???????? (@BadgeSmiley) September 26, 2018
Wouldn't see Mourinho doing this
— Jack Tugwell (@JackTugwell) September 26, 2018
Be nice if he'd keep his cards close to his chest sometimes ????
— Bremner (@minty4411) September 26, 2018
Not even alioski ????
— Damien Sheperson (@ShepJenko) September 26, 2018
Bielsa is KPs 4th biggest fan @ellandread @HarteandSoul
— Rainy (@JtotheRain) September 26, 2018
To be honest, you can check out Phil Hay’s Twitter feed, almost everything the gaffer said was well received by fans as were the comments he made about asking for structural changes at the training ground as he encourages the club to step up and be even more professional in their treatment of players to ensure we get the very best from them in matches.
Individual sleeping areas may seem like overkill and pampering but a number of clubs now go to those efforts to ensure peak conditioning.