Leeds United: Winless Whites not lacking in confidence, says Marcelo Bielsa

So far the Whites’ only victories this season have come in the League Cup, and two of their three defeats have been heavy.

Those who take notice of the league table at this early stage will find Leeds United in the relegation zone.

But Bielsa disputes the suggestion his team are defending worse, as the goals against column (14 in six games) would suggest if taken in isolation.

“The players have not lost confidence,” said Bielsa.

“What we do in every case is to perceive the errors and try and correct them.”

He is not unduly concerned about his team’s defending after last week’s 2-1 loss to West Ham United.

“We had more possession and the back four and (Kalvin) Phillips had the ball a lot more than the same department of the opposition,” he pointed out.

“West Ham’s back line touched the ball less but their forwards were able to touch the ball more than ours.

“In the last 25 minutes we were not able to continue doing what we had done in the first 60 minutes.

“After they drew level, we lost that capacity so Leeds is now described once again as a team that takes too many risks and who this season defend poorly.

“But if you analyse how the opponent created their chances, there is only one counter-attack, we didn’t lose the ball once in our own half where it caused us danger. There were a lot of shots from distance.

“We had more elements to defend than they did to attack so we were not imprudent but it was difficult for us to neutralise their individual qualities. That doesn’t mean we defended well, but we didn’t defend poorly due to the reasons mentioned – that we exchange an attack for an attack.”