Brighton v Leeds United: Principles v need for results for Marcelo Bielsa

As football fans we do not ask for much: Just managers who pick exciting new, young players who are proven performers; owners who spend more than they have without putting the long-term financial future at risk; and long-term thinking which prioritises winning at the weekend. And the next weekend, and the weekend after that.

(Note the use of the word “we”. Almost all of us in the media are fans too and this is not an attempt to pretend it is just something other people do.)

Marcelo Bielsa is trying to strike the impossible balance and because Leeds United are not winning every week, he is getting it wrong. Always ruthless in his self-evaluatation, it was he who suggested he is not giving value for his extremely generous wages this week. Leeds go into this evening’s televised game at Brighton and Hove Albion 17th in the Premier League and again without the injured Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling and Robin Koch. Jamie Shackleton is fit but perhaps not match fit.

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Raphinha and Rodrigo are back, but another defeat will raise more questions about whether Bielsa needs signings in January.

Adaptable: Kalvin Phillips successfully marshalled Harry Kane, background, from central defence last week, (Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)Adaptable: Kalvin Phillips successfully marshalled Harry Kane, background, from central defence last week, (Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Adaptable: Kalvin Phillips successfully marshalled Harry Kane, background, from central defence last week, (Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Last Sunday’s bench contained only two players – Junior Firpo and Tyler Roberts – over the age of 20. As a goalkeeper, Kristoffer Klaesson would be used only in specific circumstances. The other six potential game-changers were under 21 and had only Charlie Cresswell’s solitary Premier League start between them.

There is another side to it, about not blocking the path to exciting talent such as 19-year-old Joe Gelhardt, whose first Premier League start was on Sunday, weeks after calls for it took hold.

It is a question of balance and Bielsa seems reasonably happy with his, though he insists he is not the “fundamentalist” he is often portrayed as.

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“We would have to evaluate if the team really needed signings and if the design of the group was badly calculated in view of the injuries,” he argues. “When you add players it decreases the possibilities [for young players] to come into the first team. There are less minutes for the players.

Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa (
Picture: Tony Johnson)Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa (
Picture: Tony Johnson)
Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa ( Picture: Tony Johnson)

“Shackleton has been the alternative to Ayling and when he played, it has been valued.

“Pascal [Struijk] has been the alternative when Firpo and [Stuart] Dallas have not been available at left-back and, in the last two games, he has shown he deserved that trust. When [Diego] Llorente has been missing, Cresswell and Ayling have given positive responses.

“When I make these observations I always measure what the public thought, what you guys [in the media] thought of their performances, the same when [Liam] Cooper has been missing and Pascal had to play.

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“In the last games, [Adam] Forshaw and Pascal have been the alternatives when [Kalvin] Phillips hasn’t been there and have been satisfactory. Forshaw and Dallas have replaced [Mateusz] Klich in a good way, the patience Rodrigo needed has borne fruit and we found an offensive midfielder that is solid.

Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur battles for possession with Adam Forshaw of Leeds United. (Picture: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur battles for possession with Adam Forshaw of Leeds United. (Picture: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur battles for possession with Adam Forshaw of Leeds United. (Picture: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“In the absence of Bamford, [Dan] James has continuously given better performances in that position and not to have brought in more players has allowed Gelhardt to express himself.

“The absences of Raphinha and [Jack] Harrison have been covered by [Crysencio] Summerville and James, always with the acceptance of the public and the media. I try to see if we really have to adhere to these demands for signings or whether to have patience because it allows James to consolidate, Gelhardt to find space, Summerville can have the same process as Gelhardt, it allows Forshaw a constant presence in the team again, allows for Rodrigo as a nine or a 10 to show his qualities, Ayling to play well as a centre-back and Dallas as a left-back, capitalises on Pascal as an important player, and Shackleton.”

Even established players are required to test themselves in different ways.

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Sunday was Phillips’s first outing at centre-back but his performance against Harry Kane opened some eyes. It is unlikely to become a regular tactic, but could be used again versus “false nines”. Leeds are at Manchester City in a couple of weeks.

“At Leeds, his natural position will be a defensive midfielder, that is where you most see Kalvin’s qualities and I will attempt to ensure he plays the majority of his minutes in that position,” promises Bielsa.

“He was our best player in the moments that corresponded with him playing alongside Cooper and Llorente, following Kane when he dropped deep. We talked about that [and] thought he was the best to adapt when Kane drops and plays the diagonal [pass] from the left to centre.”

Bielsa is seen as so committed to his principles he has only one way of operating. He insists not.

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“I am not the owner of the truth, nor am I immovable in my point of view,” he stresses. “But there are messages I need to know how to interpret and, for that reason, I evaluate the decisions I make. When a young player [Illan Meslier] came as an alternative to [Kiko] Casilla, who came from Real Madrid, it was questioned. If we had more players, Shackleton, Pascal, Cresswell, Forshaw coming back, Summerville, Gelhardt, these options that have consolidated the group, wouldn’t have been produced. And no club can incorporate players without limits. This club has bought Rodrigo, James, Raphinha, Llorente, Firpo, Koch – I feel completely I have been given the resources.

“I don’t have positions that are fundamentalist but I am obliged to analyse the messages I receive.”

When it comes to the balance there is no right or wrong, yet the league table passes a black-and-white verdict. Principles are important to Bielsa, but results will always come first to those who judge him.

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