After being absent for 16 years from england top flight, Leeds United under Marcelo Bielsa have a decent start in the Premier League 20220/21 campaign. Starting the season with defeat from Liverpool but getting back to back wins against Fulham and Sheffield United before a draw against Manchester City.
The new season for Needs United has filled with hope and doubt. The hope came with the attractive football from Bielsa but doubt following them for the quality of Leed United squad.
The arrival of Marcelo Bielsa has brought joy into the largest city in the county of West Yorkshire in Northern England. Bielsa has a stunning resume that promises the victorious times back to Leeds. From 2007–2011, Marcelo Bielsa was a key part of the Chile golden generation, with Alexis Sancez, Arturo Vidal, and Claudio Bravo as a back bone of the strong side. In the four years he managed Chile National Team, Bielsa had a great impact to develop Alexis Sanchez, especially with his endurance and his playing style. The same impact was also shown in Athletico Bilbao when El loco managed the team and had a significant influence on the development of young Ander Hererra.
Despite the Bielsa Track record, some still doubt the whites can stay in the Premier League, the big question came from the quality of the players. Some players have experience in premier league, such as Patric Bamford and Pablo Hernandez but they have not shown high quality in Premier League level. Before playing for Leeds United, Bamford never got a chance to become first choice in the top flight side, including his spel with Chelsea and Middelsbrough. He played four times and never put his name on the score sheet.
Difference from Bamford, Pablo Hernandez has decent performance in Swansea City but it was 6 years ago, after 2 seasons in liberty stadium he moved to middle east with Al-Arabi, now he played for Leeds in premier league at the age of 35 years old. Other players such as Robin Koch, Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper have no experience in the England top flight division despite having a great impact in the championship division last year.
Regardless of the pessimistic opinion on Leeds United this season, the first four games have shown that they have something to offer in the premier league, the Bielsa side with high pressing football are successfully able to compete with the big team. The match against Liverpool in Anfield and also Manchester City is strong evidence that the high intensity football bielsa has been neatly implemented by the players.
The endurance of the players to implement 90 minutes Bielsa high pressing football has proven that the revolution in Leeds has been success, at least until now. In both matches there is no Leeds players that has cramp despite the intensity level of the match. Even further, Leeds United under Bielsa succeeded to force Pep Guardiola to implement a more defensive strategy in the last 15 minutes of the game.
The Leeds United squad has shown a real improvement in every side of their game. In the last two seasons in the championship, Bielsa still had problems with the goalkeeper department, since the new recruitment, Kiko Casilla had several bad displays and even worse when he got suspended on the last eight championship games for racially abusing an opponent. The problem seems to be over now, with the excellent performances from Illan Meslier. In the match against Sheffield United, the performance of the young goalkeeper is satisfying with 2 important saves to keep his first ever clean sheet in Premier League. His performance has completed the tidy play in the back from the next game against Manchester City which resulted in 1 point for the whites.
Consistency will be the key for Leeds United to stay in the Premier League, if they play with the same quality and intensity for the rest of this season they are capable of creating history, not only for this club but also in the Premier League History.