Leeds United relegated from the Premier League: Recognising what they want to be key to Whites rebuild - Stuart Rayner

"There's some huge decisions to make for the football club. First of all it's to understand who we want to be and where we want to go, and then realising who fits that."

That was Tottenham Hotspur's interim manager Ryan Mason talking after they missed European qualification for the first time in 14 years.

It could just as easily have been Leeds United's after relegation from the Premier League.

Two years ago they were on a crest of a wave. Everyone knew what they were and many neutrals admired it.

Marcelo Bielsa's team were exciting risk-takers. They played directly at speed, but by passing the ball, not lumping it. They had an intense fitness even the best could struggle with. They won at Manchester City with a man sent off in the first half.

They marked man-to-man and sometimes it exposed them but the vast majority of fans accepted it as the price on the ticket, and a ninth-placed finish in their Premier League season showed why.

Eventually, even if most fans could not admit it, Bielsa's methods took their toll on a squad he kept small. When Liverpool, Manchester United and Spurs hammered them in six days in February 2022, something had to change and Bielsa was too stubborn for it to be his methods.

But bad decisions meant too much of the magic formula was lost when all it needed was tweaking.

The only discernible feature of Bielsaball as Leeds limped out of the Premier League with a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham was the one that needed changing: defensive ineptitude.

Luke Ayling's comment at West Ham United that their physical intensity deserted them this season was the loudest alarm bell on the road to relegation. Sam Allardyce was probably right to put it down to mental, not physical fitness.

It was easy on Sunday to know who to blame, even if you were deaf to the fans pointing it out. The clues were in the director's box. Or not.

An ownership split between Yorkshire (via Italy) and San Francisco made for clunky decision-making.

On January deadline day Jack Harrison was sent to Leicester to discuss a transfer whilst coach Jesse Marsch, director of football Victor Orta, chief executive Angus Kinnear and chairman Andrea Radrizzani waited for directors to get out of bed.

Only Kinnear was representing the club on Sunday, his programme notes AWOL again. Marsch and Orta had gone, Radrizzani seemed more interested in Sampdoria and the 49ers were presumably at home.

Orta picked Marsch to replace Bielsa because of his intense football but he did it very differently, narrow football bypassing midfield, not using as much of the field as possible.

It worked in America and Austria but not at elite level in Germany.

Furnished with signings he knew well, Marsch's methods looked to be working when Chelsea were beaten 3-0 in August. It was a sign of things to come, but only for the Blues.

October's 2-1 win at Liverpool – badly-timed because it stopped them changing manager during the World Cup break – was a positive blip, but Leeds's season had peaked in its opening weeks.

Often Marsch's teams outplayed opponents only to fail to take advantage through a lack of quality at one end, then shoot themselves in the foot at the other. It pointed to a coach unable to sufficiently improve a low-quality squad.

Leeds searched hard for a replacement who could provide heavy metal football for a fanbase ideal to fuel it but ultimately they were too ambitious. Nobody said yes.

Eventually they had to abandon their principles and go for Javi Gracia as a very backfoot stand-in. Sometimes it has to be done, but the end must justify the means.

What looked to be Gracia organising the squad turned out to be no more than a new manager bounce which fell flat on the day which defined Leeds's season.

Their confidence sprung a leak when after 45 minutes of outplaying Crystal Palace their set-piece flakiness allowed an equaliser. Leeds went to pot, Palace won 5-1.

Two points from 27 damned United to relegation.

On top of the coach, director of football, chief executive, chairman and 49ers, the most influential decision-maker seemed to be away fans, Leeds sacking Marsch, then Gracia when they turned at Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.

Throwing the dice for Allardyce seemed reasonable but four games did not, it took until game seven for Neil Warnock to get to grips with Huddersfield Town.

After consecutive relegations, Fireman Sam is no longer fireproof. He has not ruled out staying but now Leeds need a Bob the Builder.

Elland Road can be such a weapon with something to feed off as Bielsa recognised. So did Marsch, he was just unable to do it.

Bielsa showed Leeds what they need to be and whilst trying to recreate what he had will be no more successful than looking for another Don Revie, the Whites need to get back to knowing what they are and living it.