Have to give some credit to Bielsa. As I was watching the game yesterday, I noticed how

they were anticipating every pass we made, especially in the defensive and midfield areas. The Leeds players were already moving toward where the pass was going to go before it was played, which meant that we had to keep our one touch passing game at high tempo to beat it. Much of the time we succeeded but it did force us into errors at times and when we did slow it down (e.g. Stiepermann and Buendia at times), we got robbed.

That doesn't come from spying on a training session. That is from watching many, many game films and breaking down our system. He knows Farke's system relies on practicing decisions over and over again so they are automatic in the game, which makes it possible to predict it. But for them to anticipate so often, it means they've also drilled it over and over again in their own practices.

Have to admire both Bielsa's preparation level, but also our ability to keep our passing game at high tempo which was the only way we could beat their preparation. Was the main reason why were weren't able to hold the ball and kill the game at 2-0. Bit of a chess match!

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Feb 3, 13:21:41