Leeds United have found the going tough this season so far, and there’s a big reason for this. It’s not just the fact that key players have been lost to injuries, it’s about the wing-backs misfiring. Bielsa Ball is built on one key ingredient – PACE!! To be effective, Leeds have to attack with lightning speed, get the ball forward quickly and into space assisted by rapid support runners. The key element to all this are the wing-backs. Ayling and Alioski were superb at finding space, receiving the ball and then being positive with it. Typically they would find a pass inside to Phillips/Klich, move immediately to be available for a return ball again and with this pull an opponent out to them, leaving space for the wingers to get into. They would also look to pass down the line to a winger who could then pop a ball inside to Klich, allowing them to spin in behind the defence or drift across the middle and link play from there. Ayling/Alioski were also good at moving inside with the ball when the space started to open up as opponents grappled with the constant movement, forcing defenders to step out of position leaving space for Bamford/Klich/wingers to exploit. All of this movement and triangles happened at speed, with Leeds moving forward and working the opposition effectively. Players would rotate positions at will, losing markers and pulling full-backs inside allowing space for overlaps. The key to all of this? How the wing-backs got the ball rolling. This season, with no Alioski and Ayling missing for most of the games thus far, the wing-back roles have become a bit of an issue. Firpo was always going to take time to settle and find his feet, and just as he started to show his talent he’s injured. Shackleton, though, has been the big disappointment for me. He always looked like a front foot player with pace as well, but his approach thus far has been very tentative. I will focus on Shack for now as he has had a good run on the right-hand side, and many were calling for him to be given a chance. It also helps to highlight the biggest problem Leeds need to fix. Shack has been very cautious, looking to pass back to the CBs or KP most times. He also seems to stop a lot when the ball is played out to him from defence, then turn and pass back. This means that everything slows down, and the CBs need to try and build again. It allows the opposition to reset and get behind the ball, resulting in out balls going astray and killing any attacking intentions. Very seldom does Shack take the ball and drive forward, down the line or infield, even when the space is there. His passive approach causes everything to slow down, space to disappear and gives opponents the chance to get close to Leeds players and break up attacks, often higher up in dangerous areas. That’s where the nerve-shredding counters against Leeds come from. Shack also seldom gets forward in support of Raph, getting beyond him on the overlap to pull defenders out or to get to the byline and get a cross in. Ayling is a master at this, Alioski was fearless getting forward. The left side hasn’t been much better either, with Dallas tending to drift inside more, and also not getting beyond Harrison/James to help with attacks. Firpo started to do this more effectively, even getting deep into the opposition penalty area, so it’s still a key component of the way Bielsa wants to play. With Shack it looks like a confidence thing, sitting back more and making passive passes. He has the ability, we know this. Firpo will be back and he has the quality to be very effective down the left. Drameh is looking like an excellent prospect, and in the U23s he has been very attack minded, bombing forward and getting to the byline. He has combined well with Summerville, and if Ayling is still a few games away he may just leapfrog Shack and get the gig down the right. Leeds’ biggest problem has been how slow their attacking play has been, and it’s hurting them. Fast counters, four pass build-ups to attempts on goal and turning defenders this way and that is Bielsa Ball at it’s beautiful best. When Leeds get into space quickly and then break from all areas it’s very effective, but it starts mostly with the wing-backs pulling wide and being positive. It makes opponents struggle to set their defensive lines, and runners start to find space and torment defenders. Hopefully this is fixed, but it seems to be more about confidence than quality. As the wins come, Bielsa Ball will start to show itself again as confidence replaces fear of mistakes. Oh, and Phil Hay, you can fk off with your “underestimated the quality of the players” rubbish.
Great post Billy and also very true. Look at what Tuchel said at the weekend about the goals his wing backs are smashing in. James scored another 2 and Chilwell also scoring goals. Look at Liverpool, Man City and you see how effective it can be. Bielsaball relies on the relationship between the LWB and LW and Firpo just starting to get it, but Shaks is too scared to bomb on and I dont think Raphinha trusts him. Drameh is the real deal and what he and Summerville do down the right is scary to see dor the 23s. Scum have a decent LWB who creates goals and has scored a couple ghis season but they have Aidy White at RWB who runs into a cul de sac and cant cross a ball. Any club using a version of Bielsaball has fast baller wing backs who can score and create. We miss Ayling badly
i agree with the premise that bielsaball relies heavily on wingbacks... but actually it relies heavily on 1-11 doing their bit and when one bit of the machine doesn't function it impacts the whole team. Jamie Shak is a midfielder who bielsa is trying to convert to a fullback so i won't blame him if he hasn't thoroughly got the gig yet. Whenever dallas played left back in the last few years we were better defensively but less of an attacking threat than when alioski played left back because gianni... well he never really played left back when he was picked there did he?. What he always did well and Ayling too, was create the overloads billy rightly points out. Ayling has been a great player for us, but let's not forget he was sh*t this season before he got crocked. So whilst i think Billy is right to point it out, I think there's more to it than just the full backs not bombing forward... i'm sure they would do if they were instructed to do so, we've struggled to get the balance right in midfield to have the players to build play and play and the triangles off for the wide men. Often when you see a player hold onto the ball and pass backwards it's because the outlet isn't there. Maybe its as much the understanding between the players of the set plays. Hopefully, if he continues, drameh will show that desire to get forward we see in the 23s - but we haven't seen it yet. Firpo was showing signs of getting up to pace so again hopefully that helps on the left. I'm confident MB will sort it... hopefully soon. This is a very an important month, because the fixture list is nasty in December
I'm gonna stop posting on this board. Just read milkys posts as he says exactly what I think but he writes it down better.
How many times did Bielsa haul off Alioski and replace him with Dallas? Eight times he played 45 minutes or less. He only started one game in February the rest he was on the bench. Granted he came good the last 4 games of the season, probably his best in a Leeds shirt. Pace too, Alioski nor Ayling were blessed with great pace, they weren’t slouches but both often struggled to get back when we were countered. I agree with Milky it’s 1-11 of equal importance (we’ve often said all the small cogs making the big one turn), sorry a great theory Billy but I can’t believe this seasons poor start is down to just Wing-Backs. I look at how out of form Harrison and Klich are, I look at James trying to be accommodated centrally, I look at Rodrigo also trying to be accommodated, I look at our lack of goals, poor decision making in the final third, I look at teams now pressing our back 4 and again agreeing with Milky many were calling for Ayling to be dropped, some questioning if he no longer has the legs. I also question the man to man marking against the Liverpool’s and Man United of the league and how they cleverly pull us out of shape. Most importantly I question our urgency preseason to sign another winger over a CM
J Just picked this brilliant post up, Billy. This is IMO, the major drawback with the recent injuries/departures, aside from Kalvin whose always a major loss whenever he’s missing. Obviously we have taken steps to replace Alioski and that will hopefully mean the left hand side become more productive once Firpo is back ( and up to speed). The right I think is more of a dilemma, because as much as we miss him, I think Ayling has been poor all season. It’s good to see Drameh get a showing, and in a couple of seasons, when he’s physically stronger I think he got terrific potential. Anyway great post, hopefully 3 points today and all is well in the world. MOT.
Leeds so much better yesterday against a very good Leicester team ... Forshaw MoM as he dominated the midfield area, making it hard for Leicester to play through Leeds however, the pace in Leeds' attacking play was helped immensely by Struijk and Dallas getting forward at every opportunity to support the wide men and create overloads ... this meant Leicester had to think defensively first, and with the hard pressing James and Rodrigo giving their CBs/DM very little time, they resorted to quite a bit of hoofball just to release the pressure Struijk in particular was a revelation, quite happy to get high up the pitch, often right up to the Leicester box to create one-twos and bring Rodrigo onto the ball in attacking areas ... what a difference it made, allowing Leeds the chance to build at pace with the Wing-Backs looking to get the ball forward more rather than turn and knock a safe pass back to a CB ... it also created more room for KP to pivot in as Leicester rushed back into their own half, the bejesus frightened out of them by Leeds' attacking intensity I had a look at the Citeh win at Scum, and it's no secret that Pep plays Bielsa Ball, but with world class players across his team ... the key to their dominance were their Wing-Backs, both pushing high up and getting to byline ... the runners infield caused the Scum defence serious problems, leaving them in no-man's land so often the players with the most touches in that match were, unsurprisingly, the Citeh Wing-Backs ... Cancelo had 125 touches, and Walker had 121 touches, and very few of those were passes back to a CB Bielsa Ball needs those Wing-Backs pushing forward with intent, even if it's just to pull a panicked defender out of position so that another runner can get space to attack ... Leeds were very effective, and Leicester genuinely struggled to cope at times as White shirts came flying at them from all angles ... the wins will come
