Only at Elland Road could the unwanted departure of an under-23s player yet to start a Premier League game potentially lead to the signing of a 36-cap Japan international with Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg on his CV.
Only at Leeds could Minamino be touted as cover for Summerville.
But it is no secret that Bielsa sees the process rather than the name, which is to say that Summerville knows how Leeds play, how Bielsa coaches and how fit he has to be.
On those grounds, filling his modest shoes was not so simple, as back-to-front as it sounds.
Sticking tightly to their guns was the story of Leeds’ January, and more so than in the average window. Injuries, form, a trickle of public dissatisfaction; none of it persuaded the club or Bielsa to concede ground and veer away from the model.
As far back as the middle of the month, Bielsa was telling members of his staff that he had faith in the squad as it was.
As far back as the beginning of last week, Salzburg’s rejection of a second bid for Aaronson (below) ruled out the arrival of a midfielder.
Better to delay until the summer for Aaronson, Leeds felt, than spend the money on someone else.
Aaronson, in microcosm, is the model at Leeds: a 21-year-old who is several seasons short of his prime and offers good investment potential. Leeds go after targets of that ilk more often than not.
They tell themselves that if they want him badly, they should be patient in waiting for him and it makes no sense to scout a player for so long, and in fine detail, only to jump on something more impulsive.
In pursuing a brief list of targets, Leeds are thinking like elite clubs do, just without an elite squad to build on.
This is how it went with Manchester City and Harry Kane last summer: if a deal can’t be done for him specifically, keep the cash and don’t panic.
But City had the security of resources which are now driving them, Kane-less, to a fourth Premier League title in five years. Leeds, in contrast, have never been thinner.
Restrained recruitment last month was in no small way predicated on a certain confidence about avoiding relegation this season.
A points-per-game calculation has Leeds heading for a total of 38 which, in this of all seasons, should keep a team up by a reasonable margin.
The club and Bielsa are convinced that if their injury list ever clears up properly, they have what they need to see out the remaining 17 games.
It is a hard sell to a fanbase who are not so sure about survival, and the fact remains that another two windows have passed without anything changing in the centre of midfield but, in short, Leeds think they are OK.
Bielsa thinks he is OK.
Everyone will know before long.
There are several strands to the transfer policy at Leeds and several reasons why it is complex.
One is the fact that their budget puts them in the section of the market where a player such as Aaronson resides and much of the funding is required to come directly from shareholders.
That was how the deal for Dan James was paid for in August and it was how £20 million would have been spent on Aaronson had Salzburg accepted Leeds’ highest bid.
Another is the fact Leeds and Bielsa set very strict and narrow parameters for finding new talent; parameters based on fitness, pressing ability and attributes suiting a very defined style of play.
A third is Bielsa himself, a head coach for whom pragmatism can be the enemy of conviction.
At one stage of the January window, intermediaries contacted Leeds about potential loan deals for Tottenham’s England international Harry Winks and fellow midfielder Donny van de Beek of Manchester United.
Winks was never likely to suit because the club had said no to him in last summer’s window but the budget was there for it and both possibilities were put to Bielsa.
The verdict they reached was that neither player was an ideal fit.
What other coaches might see as ready-made solutions, Bielsa views differently.
Leeds are careful about twisting his arm and nobody at Elland Road is in the habit of telling him what to do or threatening his autonomy.
The signing of Diego Llorente was a rare occasion where Victor Orta insisted on Bielsa stretching his options but the day the Argentinian loses final say is the day this all ends.
Broadly, there is much to like about the model at Leeds.
There is much to like about Bielsa’s input and much to like about the way Leeds try to think beyond tomorrow.
There is much to like about the belief that academy recruitment can be the basis for a Premier League plan.
But they have tried to squeeze too much from the model this season and injuries have pushed it to extremes.
Under-23s are being relied upon rather than blooded in a conventional sense.
There is a gap between the group of young prospects and the older guard — the peak-years zone in which more numbers would seem rational and prudent.
There is the creeping sense that come the summer, and assuming survival is secured, a substantial push in the market will be unavoidable.
February is now a big month for Leeds.
Press on towards 30 points from their current 22 and the immediacy of the angst about the window and the expenditure of teams around them in the table fades away.
Maintain a decent gap to the bottom three and confidence in the season holding firm is vindicated.
Finish it off and reassess, which is all anyone can aim for.
In partnership, Leeds and Bielsa have never come up short before and neither has their philosophy but everything is fallible and nothing in football is bulletproof.
To butcher one of Bielsa’s more famous quotes:
if philosophies weren’t human, they would never fail.
whats maddening about it 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
J'm glad we didn't go for Van De beek or Winks,we have to trust the manager and Directors and I am sure we will see some good signings in the summer.
Since AR and Bielsa arrived the club has being going in the right direction, so I trust thier judgement.
Reports here over a week ago said HSV Hamburg were hot for Summerville, but couln't agree to his wages!..
So how much is he on?..
Maddening, how maddening would it be if Bates or Cellino were still here?..
Better where we are now then the 3rd div with even less money it should be said!..
If we go down, we'll look very very silly. I think we'll stay uo, but there was no need to chance it. God help us if Raph got injured in February.
Shaun, imagine the landscape if Meslier or Dallas
get injured? Holy hell.
The landscape would be completely different if Cellino was still here!..
"but there was no need to chance it"
Chance what?....paying a fee and bringing in over paid players that will not guarantee we'll do any better?..
As for looking very silly, going down or staying up, seeing posts from both sides around here some will look silly, so the way any see it they'd best hope its the others that look silly!..
I'm one for thinking we're good enough and we'll stay up so I know who I'll be looking out for as silly!..
But its a strange feeling thinking some are hoping we go down just to say I told you so!..
Not sure any Leeds United fan on here's hoping we
go down. It's more the fear of going down that's fueling all the chatter and angst.
The same as paying for new players and hoping they hit the ground running but will not guarantee anything!..
I think Bielsa knows which players are returning when and there is no reason why, when they're all back, we cant get back to how we were last season!..
As I said on another thread let's hope come the end of the season we all look back and wonder what all the fuss was about. I am trying to be at peace with it now and back the lads and Bielsa to come up with the goods. He's proved me wrong before and hope he does so again.
I think Phil Hay explains everything very clearly.
No point in forcing players onto Bielsa as they won't fit into his team and will only serve to upset him if it's against his wishes.
With a normal manager, normal way of playing, it might make sense to waste millions on the gamble that a particular player could improve the team, but Bielsa knows which players could do that.
Ultimately makes player acquisition a bit less of a gamble, but the transfers only happen when the right player is available. There were none in this window within our budget.
Boiling it down to absolute simplicity in the remaining games ignoring all the noise at the moment do we have the capabilities within the club players and coaching to get the required points total to stay up?
Whether I agree with our approach to the window I believe the answer to the above is yes and am backing them to go out and prove it now.
Rob, I think we do, but unfortunately it's down to how the other clubs in the zone are doing too. If they have invested and it pays off, we could be in trouble. The Barcodes, for example, have really gone for it.
The other results have so far been going our way to some extent, so that when we lose, they lose too. However, all of the bottom clubs have been making changes either in management or players.
Desperate gambles or smart strategies? We'll see how it works out. I would have liked to see a CM recruited but January is a terrible time to buy, as everyone knows. It's got to be better over the long term that we wait for the summer.
comment by Jaz63 (U8369)
posted 24 minutes ago
Rob, I think we do, but unfortunately it's down to how the other clubs in the zone are doing too. If they have invested and it pays off, we could be in trouble. The Barcodes, for example, have really gone for it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How are Newcastle being allowed to spend so much money when other teams are restricted by FFP rules?
Not sure exactly Lorra? But, I know they've been
accused of under investment during Ashley's run.
Maybe over the last 3 year period ,that lack of
spending meant they could throw it around this
window? Speculation on my part.
My concern is not this season - we have enough to get the points to stay up comfortably in my opinion, and we have shown that in the last 4 or 5 matches.
Our issues start this summer, when we lose Raph and Phillips. I sincerely hope we bring in some real cracking players early, and these two decide we may just have a real chance - and they choose to stay. Long shot, but here's to hoping
I know there ain't many one team players about these days, but Phillips has shown through thick and thin what this club means to him!..
And he knows what he means to the fans!..
Greed decides where most go, but I don't think he's in it for the greed!..
Raph more then likely but if so I'm sure we'll get enough for him to bring in a replacement, but it might turn out he's happy enough to stay if things like Long says go right between now and the next window!..
We can rationalise it all we want.
Meanwhile, Burnley spanked the Toon for 25 big ones and forked out half the earnings on Weghorst from Wolfsburg, who has already scored 12 in the Bundesliga this season.
Now that's what I call transfer business.
So why weren't we in on this striker? He sounds perfect for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_btg3-ntkz4
It's a good read
I love the lack of panic the club portrays and the togetherness between coach and DOF
Perhaps a post season spend is needed and to increase the size of the squad. We've back back 2 seasons nearly, finishing 9th and currently 7 points off relegation with clubs like Palace and Brentford - much admired this season, within our grasps with games in hand. All this despite being without our core players, apparently suffering second season syndrome and being cr@p all year
A lot to be positive about for me
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Phil Hay's take on the window
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posted on 1/2/22
Only at Elland Road could the unwanted departure of an under-23s player yet to start a Premier League game potentially lead to the signing of a 36-cap Japan international with Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg on his CV.
Only at Leeds could Minamino be touted as cover for Summerville.
But it is no secret that Bielsa sees the process rather than the name, which is to say that Summerville knows how Leeds play, how Bielsa coaches and how fit he has to be.
On those grounds, filling his modest shoes was not so simple, as back-to-front as it sounds.
Sticking tightly to their guns was the story of Leeds’ January, and more so than in the average window. Injuries, form, a trickle of public dissatisfaction; none of it persuaded the club or Bielsa to concede ground and veer away from the model.
As far back as the middle of the month, Bielsa was telling members of his staff that he had faith in the squad as it was.
As far back as the beginning of last week, Salzburg’s rejection of a second bid for Aaronson (below) ruled out the arrival of a midfielder.
Better to delay until the summer for Aaronson, Leeds felt, than spend the money on someone else.
Aaronson, in microcosm, is the model at Leeds: a 21-year-old who is several seasons short of his prime and offers good investment potential. Leeds go after targets of that ilk more often than not.
They tell themselves that if they want him badly, they should be patient in waiting for him and it makes no sense to scout a player for so long, and in fine detail, only to jump on something more impulsive.
In pursuing a brief list of targets, Leeds are thinking like elite clubs do, just without an elite squad to build on.
This is how it went with Manchester City and Harry Kane last summer: if a deal can’t be done for him specifically, keep the cash and don’t panic.
But City had the security of resources which are now driving them, Kane-less, to a fourth Premier League title in five years. Leeds, in contrast, have never been thinner.
Restrained recruitment last month was in no small way predicated on a certain confidence about avoiding relegation this season.
A points-per-game calculation has Leeds heading for a total of 38 which, in this of all seasons, should keep a team up by a reasonable margin.
The club and Bielsa are convinced that if their injury list ever clears up properly, they have what they need to see out the remaining 17 games.
It is a hard sell to a fanbase who are not so sure about survival, and the fact remains that another two windows have passed without anything changing in the centre of midfield but, in short, Leeds think they are OK.
Bielsa thinks he is OK.
Everyone will know before long.
There are several strands to the transfer policy at Leeds and several reasons why it is complex.
One is the fact that their budget puts them in the section of the market where a player such as Aaronson resides and much of the funding is required to come directly from shareholders.
That was how the deal for Dan James was paid for in August and it was how £20 million would have been spent on Aaronson had Salzburg accepted Leeds’ highest bid.
Another is the fact Leeds and Bielsa set very strict and narrow parameters for finding new talent; parameters based on fitness, pressing ability and attributes suiting a very defined style of play.
A third is Bielsa himself, a head coach for whom pragmatism can be the enemy of conviction.
At one stage of the January window, intermediaries contacted Leeds about potential loan deals for Tottenham’s England international Harry Winks and fellow midfielder Donny van de Beek of Manchester United.
Winks was never likely to suit because the club had said no to him in last summer’s window but the budget was there for it and both possibilities were put to Bielsa.
The verdict they reached was that neither player was an ideal fit.
What other coaches might see as ready-made solutions, Bielsa views differently.
Leeds are careful about twisting his arm and nobody at Elland Road is in the habit of telling him what to do or threatening his autonomy.
The signing of Diego Llorente was a rare occasion where Victor Orta insisted on Bielsa stretching his options but the day the Argentinian loses final say is the day this all ends.
Broadly, there is much to like about the model at Leeds.
There is much to like about Bielsa’s input and much to like about the way Leeds try to think beyond tomorrow.
There is much to like about the belief that academy recruitment can be the basis for a Premier League plan.
But they have tried to squeeze too much from the model this season and injuries have pushed it to extremes.
Under-23s are being relied upon rather than blooded in a conventional sense.
There is a gap between the group of young prospects and the older guard — the peak-years zone in which more numbers would seem rational and prudent.
There is the creeping sense that come the summer, and assuming survival is secured, a substantial push in the market will be unavoidable.
February is now a big month for Leeds.
Press on towards 30 points from their current 22 and the immediacy of the angst about the window and the expenditure of teams around them in the table fades away.
Maintain a decent gap to the bottom three and confidence in the season holding firm is vindicated.
Finish it off and reassess, which is all anyone can aim for.
In partnership, Leeds and Bielsa have never come up short before and neither has their philosophy but everything is fallible and nothing in football is bulletproof.
To butcher one of Bielsa’s more famous quotes:
if philosophies weren’t human, they would never fail.
posted on 1/2/22
Maddening.
posted on 1/2/22
whats maddening about it 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
posted on 1/2/22
J'm glad we didn't go for Van De beek or Winks,we have to trust the manager and Directors and I am sure we will see some good signings in the summer.
Since AR and Bielsa arrived the club has being going in the right direction, so I trust thier judgement.
posted on 1/2/22
Reports here over a week ago said HSV Hamburg were hot for Summerville, but couln't agree to his wages!..
So how much is he on?..
Maddening, how maddening would it be if Bates or Cellino were still here?..
Better where we are now then the 3rd div with even less money it should be said!..
posted on 1/2/22
If we go down, we'll look very very silly. I think we'll stay uo, but there was no need to chance it. God help us if Raph got injured in February.
posted on 1/2/22
Shaun, imagine the landscape if Meslier or Dallas
get injured? Holy hell.
posted on 1/2/22
The landscape would be completely different if Cellino was still here!..
"but there was no need to chance it"
Chance what?....paying a fee and bringing in over paid players that will not guarantee we'll do any better?..
As for looking very silly, going down or staying up, seeing posts from both sides around here some will look silly, so the way any see it they'd best hope its the others that look silly!..
I'm one for thinking we're good enough and we'll stay up so I know who I'll be looking out for as silly!..
But its a strange feeling thinking some are hoping we go down just to say I told you so!..
posted on 1/2/22
Not sure any Leeds United fan on here's hoping we
go down. It's more the fear of going down that's fueling all the chatter and angst.
posted on 1/2/22
The same as paying for new players and hoping they hit the ground running but will not guarantee anything!..
I think Bielsa knows which players are returning when and there is no reason why, when they're all back, we cant get back to how we were last season!..
posted on 1/2/22
As I said on another thread let's hope come the end of the season we all look back and wonder what all the fuss was about. I am trying to be at peace with it now and back the lads and Bielsa to come up with the goods. He's proved me wrong before and hope he does so again.
posted on 1/2/22
I think Phil Hay explains everything very clearly.
No point in forcing players onto Bielsa as they won't fit into his team and will only serve to upset him if it's against his wishes.
With a normal manager, normal way of playing, it might make sense to waste millions on the gamble that a particular player could improve the team, but Bielsa knows which players could do that.
Ultimately makes player acquisition a bit less of a gamble, but the transfers only happen when the right player is available. There were none in this window within our budget.
posted on 1/2/22
Boiling it down to absolute simplicity in the remaining games ignoring all the noise at the moment do we have the capabilities within the club players and coaching to get the required points total to stay up?
Whether I agree with our approach to the window I believe the answer to the above is yes and am backing them to go out and prove it now.
posted on 1/2/22
Rob, I think we do, but unfortunately it's down to how the other clubs in the zone are doing too. If they have invested and it pays off, we could be in trouble. The Barcodes, for example, have really gone for it.
The other results have so far been going our way to some extent, so that when we lose, they lose too. However, all of the bottom clubs have been making changes either in management or players.
Desperate gambles or smart strategies? We'll see how it works out. I would have liked to see a CM recruited but January is a terrible time to buy, as everyone knows. It's got to be better over the long term that we wait for the summer.
posted on 1/2/22
comment by Jaz63 (U8369)
posted 24 minutes ago
Rob, I think we do, but unfortunately it's down to how the other clubs in the zone are doing too. If they have invested and it pays off, we could be in trouble. The Barcodes, for example, have really gone for it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How are Newcastle being allowed to spend so much money when other teams are restricted by FFP rules?
posted on 1/2/22
Not sure exactly Lorra? But, I know they've been
accused of under investment during Ashley's run.
Maybe over the last 3 year period ,that lack of
spending meant they could throw it around this
window? Speculation on my part.
posted on 1/2/22
My concern is not this season - we have enough to get the points to stay up comfortably in my opinion, and we have shown that in the last 4 or 5 matches.
Our issues start this summer, when we lose Raph and Phillips. I sincerely hope we bring in some real cracking players early, and these two decide we may just have a real chance - and they choose to stay. Long shot, but here's to hoping
posted on 1/2/22
I know there ain't many one team players about these days, but Phillips has shown through thick and thin what this club means to him!..
And he knows what he means to the fans!..
Greed decides where most go, but I don't think he's in it for the greed!..
Raph more then likely but if so I'm sure we'll get enough for him to bring in a replacement, but it might turn out he's happy enough to stay if things like Long says go right between now and the next window!..
posted on 1/2/22
We can rationalise it all we want.
Meanwhile, Burnley spanked the Toon for 25 big ones and forked out half the earnings on Weghorst from Wolfsburg, who has already scored 12 in the Bundesliga this season.
Now that's what I call transfer business.
So why weren't we in on this striker? He sounds perfect for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_btg3-ntkz4
posted on 2/2/22
It's a good read
I love the lack of panic the club portrays and the togetherness between coach and DOF
Perhaps a post season spend is needed and to increase the size of the squad. We've back back 2 seasons nearly, finishing 9th and currently 7 points off relegation with clubs like Palace and Brentford - much admired this season, within our grasps with games in hand. All this despite being without our core players, apparently suffering second season syndrome and being cr@p all year
A lot to be positive about for me
Page 1 of 1