Is Marcelo Bielsa still the man for Leeds?
Whilst it is widely known that Marcelo Bielsa has an in-depth tactical awareness that no other manager in the Championship can compete with, one question remains; has he sold himself short by not assembling a squad which has the depth to challenge for the whole season?
The 4-1 loss to West Brom has been coming for some while. Even though Leeds started the season well and have been picking up points, the performances have slowly been getting worse.
It started with the injury to Barry Douglas, who has been the key to Leeds’ best performances. As he made his comeback, Luke Ayling then managed to find himself suspended, resulting in Stuart Dallas playing right back.
If a team is going to get promoted, they need squad depth and unfortunately, Dallas has not been good enough. It seems in the last year that he has forgotten how to cross the ball effectively.
Kemar Roofe has not quite rediscovered his best form since returning from injury and with Patrick Bamford injured and Tyler Roberts still adapting to senior football in the Championship, it’s fair to wonder if Leeds have enough squad depth.
The next concern is Bailey Peacock-Farrell. Whilst he is still young and has a lot of time to improve, it is time for a change. A goalkeeper should command his defence, make important saves, not worry the defence and the supporters. Bielsa should have recognised this before the 4-1 thrashing by West Brom, especially considering Leeds have only kept two clean sheets against the opposition in the top half of the table, and lets be honest, that wouldn’t happen against Daniel Farke’s Norwich now. This begs the question, do Bielsa’s tactics work against those who will be at the top end of the table at the end of the season?
The Championship is a league where every team and manager needs to adapt. Whilst I, and every fan, admires Bielsa’s beliefs and philosophy, sometimes his tactics need to be adapted to suit the needs of the game.
Hopefully, Leeds can make it to Christmas still challenging for automatic promotion. However, if they are to be there at the end of the season, the manager needs to adapt his tactics and strengthen his squad in January