We all agree that Marcelo has done and is doing an amazing job with LUFC and we love the guy, but he cost us promotion last season. The pressure got to him, simple as that. His team set-up towards the end of the season, his reluctance to use fringe players in the last 3 meaningless league games, and his failure to sub Berardi against Derby and bring on Pontus, cost us the ticket to the promised land.
How could he have known what it would be like?
He transformed a bunch of journeymen into a team of winners. He gave us Bielsaball football. He embraced a new language, a new culture and the most fiercely competitive league in the world without compromising his values and beliefs.
And he said it himself, he failed.
We are in a good place right now, with the new players slotting in and beginning to shine. The insane pressure of being a Leeds manager hasn't hit us yet, but it will amp up with every point gained.
We all need to learn from last season but the buck stops with Marcelo. Can he get it right this time?
Hands up, Marcelo
posted on 23/8/19
"We we're top of the league the season before Bielsa. To say we had a hopeless team is wide of the mark."
Odd, I thought we finished what was it, 14?..
Or there about's!..
"but all his 'genius' got trumped by Wilde and Farke at the end of the day."
So that means if Bielsa was at one off their clubs he wouldn't have succeeded?..
"Its do or bust this time around as we are clearly ahead of the pack"
So lets hope our fans get their expected orgrasm eh?..
posted on 23/8/19
So lets hope our fans get their expected orgrasm eh?..
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Yup, hopefully later this evening ………. <smile>
posted on 23/8/19
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posted on 23/8/19
All that spying, all that fitness, all that kryptic jargon in interviews, all the meticulous prep yet Daniel 'finished 14th' Farke won the league and B list Wilder beat us too.
We've had the head start on all of our rivals this season, so yeah, its do or bust. What will your excuses be if he fails?
posted on 23/8/19
"We've had the head start on all of our rivals this season, so yeah, its do or bust. What will your excuses be if he fails?"
Not got a clue what that means with the head start, show me what head start!..
"All that spying, all that fitness, all that kryptic jargon in interviews, all the meticulous prep yet Daniel 'finished 14th' Farke won the league and B list Wilder beat us too."
And that to needs some work!..
Shaun, why is it one time you'll say something good about something and the next you come out with Bullcrap about the same thing?..
You say on one thread that Bielsa is brilliant, on another he's crap, the same with the team!..
Jonty says he has to use translate to read my posts, I wonder if he can work yours out!..
If he can, than I want the same translate as he has!..
Oh, and the if he fails, I'll wait again until the end of season and see if he does, because that ain't an answerable question at this moment in time!..
But I have a feeling some are wanting the answer now just to satisfy their winging!..
posted on 23/8/19
Yes it was a failure at the end, but Bielsa had no right to have taken that team to challenging for the league in his first season. We massively overachieved for his first year with the group of players we had.
Farke had a full season before with his team to develop his style of play. Wilder had already achieved promotion from League One with a lot his group and had a season before at Championship to adapt. Bielsa finished 3rd in his first season with an almost identical team to the one that finished 13th.
posted on 23/8/19
Absolutely ridiculous to be scrutinising Bielsa.
Guy makes a couple of bad decisions sure, but he’s the catalyst for this entire club at the moment.
If he walked we’d tumble back down to mid table. Stop being so pathetic.
If we signed 2 players in January, we’d be playing prem football now. It’s that simple.
posted on 23/8/19
A lot of you are making out this is a personal attack on Bielsa. It isn't. We are all agreed on how much he means to LUFC and what he has done for the club.
This post is meant to be provocative, because the one aspect of Bielsa's management that we are not seeing - or not seeing as much of - is his reflection of what happened last season. We don't know how he felt at the time, or what he learned from the experience. Has it affected his relationship with Radz and Orta, or with the players? Has he changed in his analysis of the game?
We have to remember that he has relatively little club management experience, and it's been a long time since he enjoyed success.
He is a very smart man, we know that, but what can he bring to his management this season that wasn't there last season? He has improved the players and the team - but is he now a better manager?
posted on 23/8/19
Bielsa’s brilliant but not perfect and you raise valid points about the lack of communication re those particular issues but that is perhaps down to journos not asking about them.
posted on 24/8/19
Blimey.
What a season we all enjoyed last year!
What a rollercoaster, exactly what football is! Nothing is nailed on until you are mathematically certain.
Football is about decision-making in the blink of an eye, it's about confidence and being in a good mind-space, it's about teamwork and covering for your mates when things start getting tough, it's about digging in. But overall, it's about enjoyment.
Our guys had stopped enjoying it and started thinking about how bad it would look if they failed - and as a consequence they looked vulnerable and they failed because the opposition all had desire and hunger to the prospect of enjoyment.
But most of that doesn't matter, other than learning that you need to maintain the enjoyment, hunger and desire, not fall foul to the psychological traps of potentially failing.
My sole concern is that we lose Bielsa at the end of this season. He has shown he can make superb players out of those who thought mediocre second-division status was all they could aspire to.