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Bielsa's Leeds: The Players Who Bought Into the Madness
Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United became famous for the manager. But Bielsa alone didn't run, press, pass and tackle for 46 Championship games. The players had to believe. And they did.
Overview
Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United became famous for the manager.
But Bielsa alone didn't run, press, pass and tackle for 46 Championship games.
The players had to believe.
And they did.
A completely different way of playing
Bielsa's football was demanding.
Leeds pressed aggressively, attacked with numbers, defended large spaces and regularly required players to cover extraordinary distances.
Premier League analysis of the 2019-20 promotion season shows Leeds using a 4-1-4-1 formation in 36 of 46 league matches, with Kalvin Phillips anchoring the midfield.
The believers
Kalvin Phillips became the organiser at the base.
Mateusz Klich ran relentlessly.
Pablo Hernández supplied imagination.
Jack Harrison and Helder Costa gave width.
Patrick Bamford led the line.
Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas seemed capable of appearing almost anywhere.
Liam Cooper provided leadership.
And behind them all was a team drilled to exhaustion.
The system only worked because of the players
Bielsa gets enormous credit for Leeds' transformation.
He deserves it.
But tactics only work when footballers execute them.
Leeds' possession and pressing numbers were among the Championship's best in 2019-20, while the side averaged around 60 per cent possession.
The players accepted the demands.
They ran.
They pressed.
They covered.
And then they did it again and again.
Pablo's moment
There were also moments when individual quality broke through the system.
Hernández's late winner at Swansea in July 2020 is perhaps the perfect example.
After 88 minutes of pressure and tension, Pablo produced the piece of magic that gave Leeds the victory.
The promotion
The reward came in July 2020.
Leeds were promoted to the Premier League after a 16-year absence, having finished third the previous season and then winning the Championship in Bielsa's second campaign.
Why the players matter
It is tempting to tell the Bielsa story as a story about one man.
It wasn't.
It was a relationship between a demanding coach and a group of players willing to trust the process.
Some of them were established professionals.
Some were academy graduates.
Some were signed for the project.
All had to buy into it.
Why Bielsa's players matter
The “madness” was real.
But so was the football.
Bielsa gave Leeds the blueprint.
The players turned it into reality.
And when Leeds finally walked back into the Premier League, they had done it together.