For me probably the best thing thats coming out about our promotion and new signings when they happen, is the very important “Succession Management” that the club have agreed with Bielsa. Radz has said Bielsa has worked wonders and He's also changed the atmosphere into a place of hard work and commitment, and a place of learning that produces end product. A new Bielsa contract has been agreed and the club have also done it as a 12-month deal, they didnt want to push Bielsa for 2 good reasons. Firstly he's 65 and may not want to work forever and secondly they appreciate that he's far away from home and his wife is not always in Leeds but back in Argentina. He has kids back home and the rest of his family and appreciate it can be hard especially this year in lockdown. So the club have planned his successor and done it in conjunction with Bielsa himself. They want to ensure that what has been built will be added to and not torn down. Academy coaching must follow the Bielsa process but with the new coaches input and tweaks to suit whatever the new coach needs. Bielsa and Orta have drawn up a comprehensive list of names. The list was then discussed with the Board and the reasons behind each one. Radz actually said Bielsa and Orta taught him more about football during this process than he thought possible. He calls Bielsa a genius savant and feels blessed to have known him. So we can only imagine The names listed and its not to say Bielsa will leave at the end of this coming season, but if he does we have a plan and brilliant base to build upon. I would bet that Simeoni, Heinze, Pochetino to name but 3 will be on that list
Not Simeone, totally different football philosophy (he is more mouhrino). Pochettino is mini Bielsa if he’s not working elsewhere in a year’s time.
No mate Simeone is a student of Bielsa but he does it different, he mainly works from back to front whilst Bielsa goes attack banzai. Bielsa said recently he admired Simeone more than any coach because of the way hes adapted a process to fit his own beliefs and tactics. Simeone is a very astute coach brought up on Bielsaball and adapted it
A quote from the man Diego Simeone “I have the influence of several coaches: Bielsa, Eriksson, Basile, they have all left a mark. Bielsa taught me the most.” Students Pep Pochetino Eduardo Martino Gabriele Heinze Diego Simeone Eduardo Berizzo
I guess there are coaches he admires who are not disciples, as it should be. The guy at Seville for a start..l
Just been looking at transfers completed so far in the Premier League and is flat and scary for clubs so far. Here is a summary so far: 32 transfers in completed 90 players released 8 players sold 20 players loaned out that clearly shows clubs are going to struggle and if 90 players have been released so far at the top level just how many players are going to be on the dole throughout football with no crowds or revenues? Leeds have 5 of those 32 players in but we already had 3 and the other 2 are kids. So I reckon its not easy getting any deals done in this climate and think Orta should carry on trying to capitalise on clubs in trouble and picking up their crown jewels at half price
But... How many of those clubs are desperate for new players? The majority of them will already have loans returning better than they left and academy players breaking through. Look at Brighton with Ben White, he’s like a new signing for them. Our best defender last season guaranteed a starting place if he comes back compared to fighting for one at Brighton. We are seriously under strength for an assault at the PL. Take our current starting 11 how many would be snapped up by another PL team and make it into the starting 11? 2 or 3 maybe? I’m thinking Klich, Phillips and struggling for a third. Paul Merson is bit of a dick I know but he said unless we get a top striker we’re going back down. Fulham are better prepared in the PL than us as they have a striker who will nick goals and earn points. He doesn’t believe our squad is good enough to play the same football in the PL. I know this is very negative but I agree with him. I’m praying we pull off at least three top drawer signings and I’m truly hoping Bielsa likes them and won’t leave them on the bench for 8 weeks. If Bamford starts up front, Dallas at LB and we’re relying on 90 minutes from Pablo or Roberts playing against Liverpool I’m honestly expecting a “Welcome to the premier league” drubbing
Sadly I think you are right. As much as I want this team to flourish look at the first game of last season when Norwich got taken apart by Liverpool. I would be quite happy for a decent performance and maybe narrow defeat. Anything more than that would be a bonus in my eyes. This isn't being negative as such but just a bit of realism. CB, DM and goalscorer has to be sorted as a minimum very quickly.
Ristac not disagreeing just saying how tough its going to be to get some top players in. Clubs in financial trouble are best but the vultures will be there from other clubs. Everyone knows we need players so everyone just puts the prices up, not just in the UK but everywhere.
The lack of transfers generally illustrates this. As much as we want decent players it will be hard work to get the right ones. If Ben White has to stay at bha on the bench it will be a travesty.
Good Morning to Matt and Doc from a dull Bardsey Who do you expect us to sign Doc I am thinking Kent Koch and 2 strikes and I would like EZE
Morning all. I think you underestimate the Leeds team.Football is a team game it does not matter how many of our players would get in another team. A good team will beat a team of talented individuals every time. That is not to say signing class will not improve the team, but its a question of them fitting in.
norman every time we enquire about a player there are a bunch of other clubs from the Prem who sniff around the same player and all that does is inflate the price. Scarily though I think it already shows the clubs who will be fighting to stay up at the end of the season Newcastle, Southampton, BHA, Palace, Villa and even Everton. Its like these clubs are using our scouting reports and contacts to help them survive. It does however demonstrate the shops we can visit because we cannot afford to shop where the top 6 go yet
I think the short break/Covid situation is a disadvantage for the promoted teams. As Ristac says, we’re the ones who need reinforcements in a hurry. We need goals in the team, we won’t dominate possession week in week out, we won’t create the same number of chances. So we absolutely need to take a much better percentage of the ones we do make. So either Harrison bamford and costa need to improve their finishing which let’s be honest is pretty unlikely at a higher level... or we need some reinforcements in. presuming we get a quality replacement for white we won’t be whipping boys like norwich. They had a freak season to get promoted where pukki couldn’t miss but they were poor defensively even in the champ. if we can’t turn our good performances into wins though we’ll be in a dog fight.
Morning Mike. The club are very very good at keeping things under wraps, but this time there are some top journos around Europe who have their own contacts in some clubs and get to hear stuff. Robin Koch is the likeliest to happen and could be done early next week as even Phil Hay says intense negotiations this weekend as Koch is preferred Bielsa 2nd choice. Dont underestimate Radz because I think he is in charge of Italian face to face meetings, whilst Orta is in Germany. Radz name has been mentioned by 2 top journos in Italy with mention of AC Milans Laeo and also he mentioned Rodrigo. Rodrigo gets more and more real daily, but we also had this last week with Calabri. I get the feeling that the players we are going after are all top top players. I think Koch is top draw and hope we can pull that off. I think we are deffo going after at least 1 striker and 1 midfielder. Dont be surprised about a top keeper as Romero is deffo leaving scum. In the words of Kinnear the players we go for are mouthwatering?
Doc, every single player knows exactly what teams are potentially interested in them. There are only so many leagues, so many players. A lot of it is agent guff, because a scout passed a compliment or to engineer a new deal. But Ultimately, ‘Watching’ and ‘seriously interested’ are different things. Clubs know this, they understand that enquiring about availability is not making an offer. We might have 5 choices for each position, we’re going after them in priority unless a change of circumstance dictates. If a club decides to sell, they go back to see who’s interest is firm, so this playing clubs off against each other is part of the game and adds to the time taken to get a deal done. It’s no harder for us than anyone else. The issue this year is just a short break which increases the urgency. I’m not sure how these other clubs using our scouting reports though? Maybe we should use Brentford’s.
Morning Ristac No you're right, we haven't many players the top six would want, but the ethos at Leeds is the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, or T.E.A.M. (Together Everyone Achieves More) It seems to be working. Rather have Liam Cooper than £85m Harry 'Billy Big Bollocks' Maguire in the side, banged up for fighting and accused of trying to bribe the police with some loose change out of his £190,000 PW the arrogant twat. At least our lads (including Ben White) behaved themselves when having a few beers. I'd be quite happy to face Liverpool with last season's team, even without White tbh. Think Struijk would do well alongside Cooper. We can't be held to ransom by clubs like Brighton. I'd rather we walk away and stick with what we've got.
Have they taken Maguire to Cyprus then?. Would have been cheaper to take him to Athens from Mykonos where he actually is.
