Burnley 1-1 Leeds United: Demanding
Bielsa always says two challenges face Leeds in the Premier League. When up against richer and more accomplished opponents, Leeds have to force them to play worse. And when other teams try to force Leeds into playing worse, Leeds have to maintain their own game.
On a day when the fans were frustrated, the players were bruised, and everyone ended up feeling a bit let down without quite being able to define why, Marcelo Bielsa made it a teachable moment, because he always does. There's always something new to learn and or consider, although whether this always makes up for not getting three points from some miserable Lancashire town is another matter.
"The difference is that for us to play well we need our creative players to be on top of their game," he said after drawing in Burnley. "Their style of play means it doesn't demand that their players shine. This is something of value when you're describing a team."
If you didn't see the game, Burnley's passing stats will tell you a lot about their style of play. After three games, they're bottom of the league for attempted short and medium length passes, eighth for long balls. (Don't let those numbers completely deceive you: top two for attempted long balls are Liverpool and Leeds.) They're top of the league for high balls. Collectively their players have had the fewest touches of the ball in the Premier League. This is all in line with how last season went, when West Brom and Newcastle got involved in a couple of the categories.
The point is the imprecision. Percentage of passes completed is rock bottom, 67 per cent. Burnley aren't playing the ball foot to foot, or even foot to head. It's area to area, into the mixer where it doesn't matter if Chris Wood gets his head on the ball, as long as he stops a defender from doing it. The knockdown doesn't have to go to a teammate, just near enough for them to challenge. The players needn't concern themselves with creating overloads out wide, they just need enough space to swing a cross. All this puts the other team under pressure, and relieves the pressure on Burnley, and best of all, they don't even need to play well to do it. Wood might not win a single header all day and it doesn't matter. All their crossing might be off-target but they can just keep trying. The implications of players having an off day are low, because they're only being asked to get near enough.
That's not so for Marcelo Bielsa's players, and he always says two challenges face them in the Premier League. When up against richer and more accomplished opponents, Leeds have to force them to play worse. And when other teams try to force Leeds into playing worse, Leeds have to maintain their own game. "For us to play well we need our creative players to be on top of their game," he said. If you're one of Burnley's creative players, well, first of all you don't exist. Second, if you're Ashley Barnes and think that's you, you can create nothing but still bump things along by trying to break Stuart Dallas' hip in mid-air. It's an oft-repeated joke from the GFH era at Leeds that they refused to buy Barnes because he had worse Football Manager stats than Luke Varney. Now he plays for Burnley in the Premier League, the joke is supposed to be on us. But, still, he had worse Football Manager stats than Luke Varney. That's not something Barnes could be proud of anywhere but Turf Moor.