Hull City 0-1 Leeds United: Repetitive Merit
The goal was either a vision sent from The Almighty of how our consistent prayers will be answered, or very similar to the goal against Sheffield Wednesday, depending on how deep you want to look.
At Leeds over recent years we’ve beat our heads against the trope that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is a form of insanity. Well, I guess that’s why they call Marcelo Bielsa 'El Loco'.
An unchanged lineup, again; a stubborn opponent, again; high numbers of chances and attacking-third passes, again; high numbers of fluffed chances and missed attacking-third passes, again; and one goal, scored from outside the box, again.
Bielsa’s particular monomania is not exactly about expecting different results from doing the same thing over and over. He expects the same results. He expects his team’s commitment to its style to overwhelm the opponent. He expects by doing that to create lots of chances to score. He expects that every third chance will be scored. And he expects to win.
It’s not so much insanity as religious faith — go to church and pray every Sunday, and everything will turn out alright. But when you’ve invented that religion yourself, are hailed by your disciples as a visionary, and are essentially insisting that the eleven heathens you’ve found after arriving on your latest mission pray to you in every game, well, that does start to seem a bit mad. You can see why some people deride Bielsa’s influence on world football as a cult.
But you can also see, in the games, why it’s so alluring. To appreciate Leeds United at the moment you have to ignore the finishing and work backwards, through the build up play, that is frequently exhilarating. It’s tempting to curse Ezgjan Alioski for, well, for breathing sometimes, but specifically here for missing the far corner with a low angled shot from close range, that he could / should have buried; but the incisive pass from Kalvin Phillips, and the clever flick from Tyler Roberts that put Alioski there, should be celebrated, as should the umpteen passes before Phillips played the through ball.
Another time, after another intense building project, Saiz played through for Alioski direct and he cracked a low cross to the back post that Barry Douglas could / should have snapped into the net, only he was a yard or so ahead of the ball, and couldn’t control his shot. Ignore the finish, enjoy the creation, and wait for the rules of football to change and award goals for artistic merit — not so unlikely, after Cardiff and Burnley scandalised the Premier League last Sunday.
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