Part one of (hopefully) 3 done, but there is plenty of hard work ahead. On Saturday, Marcelo Bielsa gave a bit of a coaching masterclass in a performance that was a throwback to some of the early season from. Derby couldn’t cope with the Leeds press and the tweaks on formation as Bielsa used all his experience to find a way to stop Derby’s youthful enthusiasm. He really is close to a genius. Whilst, to the casual observer we play the same style game after game, it is the attention to detail and slight amendments per game that set Bielsa apart. Against Villa, he used Phillips to nullify the threat of Grealish, almost man marking him out of the game – against Derby he employed Forshaw (then the very impressive Shakleton) in a very effective dual role to support Phillips or Klich, depending where the ball was. Equally impressive were the full backs – the more Dallas and Ayling pressed on, the more wary the Derby full backs were to venture forward.
However, if this last week has shown us anything (and it couldn’t have come at a better time for us), it’s that anything is possible. Bielsa will be using the recent Champions League results to show that there is still everything to play for. The loss against Wigan a few weeks ago which effectively finished our automatic play off hopes, will also be burned into the brains of the players – don’t take anything for granted.
So, onto Wednesday, and Leeds could find themselves without 5 first team players (Alioski, Pontus, Roberts, Forshaw and Douglas), but will welcome back Bamford to the bench. I would expect Derby to take a chance – whatever Lampard has tried so far has failed, so he could well go for something completely different – either 5 at the back or possibly 2 up front. In our position, a lot of teams wouldn’t know whether to stick or twist – hold on to what we’ve got or go and kill the game – Bielsa only knows one way and if Derby pile forward and don’t get it right, and we are at the top of our form, it will play right into our hands…
Be prepared for an amazing atmosphere and hopefully a win to take us to Wembley..
However, if this last week has shown us anything (and it couldn’t have come at a better time for us), it’s that anything is possible. Bielsa will be using the recent Champions League results to show that there is still everything to play for. The loss against Wigan a few weeks ago which effectively finished our automatic play off hopes, will also be burned into the brains of the players – don’t take anything for granted.
So, onto Wednesday, and Leeds could find themselves without 5 first team players (Alioski, Pontus, Roberts, Forshaw and Douglas), but will welcome back Bamford to the bench. I would expect Derby to take a chance – whatever Lampard has tried so far has failed, so he could well go for something completely different – either 5 at the back or possibly 2 up front. In our position, a lot of teams wouldn’t know whether to stick or twist – hold on to what we’ve got or go and kill the game – Bielsa only knows one way and if Derby pile forward and don’t get it right, and we are at the top of our form, it will play right into our hands…
Be prepared for an amazing atmosphere and hopefully a win to take us to Wembley..
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