Chelsea 3-1 Leeds United: Treasure
This weekend Leeds United did not beat Chelsea, or play very beautifully, but Leeds fans are happy anyway. Why? The answer could be complex but simply it's Bielsa. And to Bielsa, always resisting the cult of his personality, that was never the point.
Work has just begun on building two new hospitals in Leeds, that together will cost around £500m. That's £35m less than Chelsea spent buying the players in the squad that faced Leeds United in Saturday night's football match.
And there you have it: The Game. I was temporarily lulled into pre-match optimism by betting odds putting Leeds a long way from victory, far enough for me and my five pound bet to get involved. But although I'd mistaken economics for sport again, at least I enjoyed my delusion for a short while.
Calm clearances by Liam Cooper and Jackie Harrison gave Kalvin Phillips time on the left to think, and his pass behind Chelsea's defence exposed Kurt Zouma, who trundled after Pat Bamford like a defibrillator trolley being shoved up a hill. Edouard Mendy, the £22m goalie Chelsea bought to replace the £72m one that made too many mistakes, made a mistake, and Bamford took the ball around him and scored. 1-0 to Leeds United.
When £48m Timo Werner blocked a Chelsea effort on the line then whacked the ball off the crossbar I hoped that priceless miss would set the tone: Chelsea would keep attacking Leeds, as they had since kick-off, but Leeds would score the goals. It didn't turn out that way. What are the odds?
When Diego Llorente replaced the injured Robin Koch, an £18m defender was replacing a £12m one, and partnering one who cost £700,000. When Chelsea brought on Christian Pulisic because Hakim Ziyech was injured, £58m was taking over from £36m. The combined cost of Chelsea's bench would have bought Leeds United's squad twice, and it showed.
Not only in ability. Llorente took to the pitch as if he'd just stepped out of a campsite shower, no hint of product in his fluffy brown hair. He was going up against Olivier Giroud, a cartoon cavalier forcing his way back into Chelsea's team with the weight of four midweek goals and, if that hadn't worked, four pounds of pomade. When Ziyech fooled Alioski and Harrison, creating space for Reece James to cross, there was no doubt the pompadour would score. He does. He's a very, very good striker, and when all this is over, he'll have the World Cup winner's medal that says so.
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