Argentina 1998-2004 and Chile 2007-2011
From a statistical point of view it's hard to gauge how much fatigue from Bielsa's style of play was a factor when dealing with the international game, but it was clear in the 2002 World Cup that his Argentina side massively under-achieved in Japan and South Korea, given the standard of football they had been playing before. Many subscribed to the belief that a tired squad were not able to meet Bielsa's demands during the tournament.
Velez Sarsfield 1997-98
Bielsa's last piece of domestic silverware came in Argentina, when he led Velez Sarsfield to the Pirmera Division title during his single season in charge there.
And here, he turned the narrative of his teams tiring on its head.
The Argentine championship was then split into two competitions, the Apertura tournament which took place during the first half of the season and the second, the Clausura, which ran over the second half.
Sarsfield ended the Apertura in fourth place on 32 points, before a vastly improved showing in the Clasura, which saw them rack up 46 points to claim that prize - and the win the overall title, finishing four points clear of River Plate when the two halves of the season were stitched together.
So what does this tell us?
As is so often true in life, context is everything.
Certain Bielsa teams have indeed seen their form dip over the final third of the season, but others have stayed consistent and others have even improved.
The quality of squads, the number of matches and the format of the competition have all played a part in how Bielsa's sides have performed over the season as a whole, but in terms of proving definitively that Bielsa's teams fade away, the evidence is not consistently there.
While there have been campaigns where his side have dipped - notably Marseille in 2014-15 - there are others, such as his year at Sarsfield, where the opposite is true.
Leeds fans will be hoping that the experience Bielsa picked up during his time at Marseille will hold him in good stead for this campaign and he is able to avoid the pitfalls of a player burnout before the business end of the season.
Do Marcelo Bielsa teams always burn out? 2/
posted on 4/2/19
TL;DR
posted on 4/2/19
I don't think we have really played a high energy all action pressing game much this season. Not since the first few games anyway.
Sides quite quickly picked up on it and accepted they won't have much of the ball. They tend to allow us the ball and ensure that they retain shape both in and out of possession.
It is very rare that sides play out from the back and give us the opportunity to press.
Given the amount of possession we enjoy I would imagine that we are actually using less energy than when we had to chase shadows for 90 minutes under Heckinbottam.
Don't think burn out is the problem at all.
posted on 4/2/19
You could call it burn out, but you could also call it lack of quality showing through. Were Marsielle expected to be top? No, he over achieved massively to have them as the pace setter and their lack of quality showed. Same with Bilbao - they got to 2 cup finals and didn't have the quality to maintain that many games. If we flop, it's not burn out but a lack of quality.
posted on 4/2/19
You could call it burn out, but you could also call it lack of quality showing through.
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Exactly.
Look at the difference in quality between Alioski/Dallas and Clarke. Only so much Bielsa can do with a team of Dallas level players.
posted on 4/2/19
He's worked a miracle to get us this far but without support befitting of a club chasing automatic promotion in the transfer market there are limits to what can be achieved.
posted on 4/2/19
No
posted on 4/2/19
comment by Your Honour (U17603)
posted 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
TL;DR
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Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation?
Uh you 4 reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal?
posted on 4/2/19
comment by VOF - are we there yet? (U17124)
posted 2 hours, 53 minutes ago
2 posts - same subject.
You’ll be upsetting the Prem League posters 😂😂😂
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Oh dear, will have to lie low from Friday through the following Sunday.
posted on 4/2/19
Nice article. To be fair, this is the first bad run we've had this season so getting over the hump is the first priority. But if this article is correct, Balsa's teams don't necessarily drop off more than your average team. What is clear to a lot of us is that we don't have enough quality in the side; even if we do get promoted, AR and VO have been guilty of jeopardising Leeds' best chance of promotion in 15 years with a dismal showing in the transfer window.
posted on 4/2/19
comment by Lorralorimer (U18994)
posted 7 seconds ago
Nice article. To be fair, this is the first bad run we've had this season so getting over the hump is the first priority. But if this article is correct, Balsa's teams don't necessarily drop off more than your average team. What is clear to a lot of us is that we don't have enough quality in the side; even if we do get promoted, AR and VO have been guilty of jeopardising Leeds' best chance of promotion in 15 years with a dismal showing in the transfer window.
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Sorry, Bielsa not Balsa!