Marcelo Bielsa admits owners will have doubts after Liverpool worsen woes - YEP 23/2/22
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa admitted he's questioning himself after a 6-0 drubbing by Liverpool but doesn't believe a change in style will fix the Whites' issues.
By Graham Smyth
Leeds are winless in five and have lost their last three
games, conceding 13 to Everton, Manchester United and the Reds. Their Anfield
defeat and Burnley's win over Spurs leaves just a three point gap between the
Whites and the 18th-placed Clarets, who have two games in hand.
Bielsa concedes that Leeds' form will give the club's
ownership doubts over what he's doing.
"It's not just this game, it’s in general - we have
been struggling to sustain what we want to do for the duration of the
game," he said.
"I don't know if the question you’re trying to ask is
if I think I should continue with the style of play that I've been using up until
now? How am I not going to question what I’m doing? Of course I question
myself. When you ask yourself why the things that are happening to us are
happening, the question is I don't think that the change of style is going to
change what’s happening to us.
"When a team is going through what we’re going through,
it’s only going to awaken doubts [but] I don't need [the owners] to give me
conclusions about the succession of results of the team that I manage."
When Bielsa watches his team he sees a group of players
still giving everything for the cause and taking the fight to the opposition
with intensity, but he's not currently able to turn that effort into more
competitive performances. His ability to go toe-to-toe with the division's best
teams, which was evident last season when they picked up impressive results
against top six outfits, has not carried through to the current campaign.
"The only response I can give is that I know that the
players give their maximum - you can see it in the intensity and all the data
that comes out of the game," he said.
"If a coach has at his disposal the effort the team can
give, it is very clear that my responsibility increases. And I can't redirect it
toward any side that’s not myself. And I'm giving you an argument that has
weight. The players, the dedication to what they do - the players in agreement
of what they do, they express it through their effort and their intensity and
that’s a value that up until now, the team conserves. What I achieved for a
long time through the base of effort and the willingness to play games on an
even keel, I’ve not been able to achieve it in this moment.