Goals from Raphinha and Jack Harrison either side of a Miguel Almiron strike sealed Leeds United’s first win of 2021 as they left St James’ Park with all three points against Newcastle United. The victory snapped a three-match losing streak for Marcelo Bielsa’s side who were made to work for the victory. Here is every question and answer in full from the Leeds United head coach’s post-match press conference.
Congratulations on the victory, Marcelo. It may not have been the perfect performance, but do you feel you corrected the things that needed correcting over the last few weeks?
Marcelo Bielsa said “There were moments where we played well. There were moments when we didn’t play badly and there were moments where we did play badly. In the moments where we played well we managed to establish some differences. In the moments that we didn’t play well the game was neutral. And in the 20 minutes where we played badly, which was after the Harrison goal we put the result in danger. But probably the result was deserved but those 20 minutes put Newcastle in a position where they could have drawn the game.”
How pleased were you with the way you managed the game in terms of your substitutions? Do you think they had a real effect on the game tonight?
Marcelo Bielsa said “They came on in the game in a very difficult moment. After the Harrison goal, we lost the ball. We only managed to recover the ball in the last five minutes of the game. The general line played well. Tyler Roberts and Klich were forced to defend more than they could attack. What they bring to the team is more creative rather than defensive. Of that half an hour that they played, 20 minutes of that we had to defend a lot.”
You scored two great goals and created many chances, but at the other end how pleased are you with the improvement in defending set-pieces and also from your goalkeeper tonight?
Marcelo Bielsa said “You know that there wasn’t an improvement on this. Because they don’t score doesn’t mean we are defending them better.”
But did you not think there were occasions where you did defend a bit better? There was a block or there was a header?
Marcelo Bielsa said “In the 20 minutes that the opponent dominated in those 20 minutes they had three opportunities from corner kicks. I understand that there is an ablution in this subject. But I understand that there will be a solution to this problem when we don’t concede chances via this manner In that sense it’s difficult for me to say exactly what I think. And though we did defend some set-pieces better, there were some situations where we could have done better. In the first half where they had some chances from set-pieces, they were always under pressure so we could force them to miss the target. But in the second half there were chances in our goal due to this.”
Diego Llorente – what can you tell us about his injury?
Marcelo Bielsa said “He has a similar problem to the one he had before. It’s a problem for him, for us, for all of us. In this moment, what worries me is Diego’s state of mind, given the succession of injuries he has had. It’s natural that he’s sad because of this now and we share that sadness.”
Mateusz Klich has been almost ever-present for you. How big a decision was it to leave him out today?
Marcelo Bielsa said “It’s a situation which is to do with the job I do. Of course, he’s given a lot to Leeds while I’ve been here and yes it was a difficult decision but it’s normal for there to be constant changes.”
You had a long chat with Steve Bruce following the game. Do you feel that Newcastle deserved something from this game?
Marcelo Bielsa said “I’ve already stated that they had 20 minutes in which they could have drawn the game.”
Marcelo Bielsa said “It wasn’t chance after chance. On the whole, we created more chances than they did throughout the game. But it is true that in the final 20 minutes they managed to create some chances via corners. There was a moment in the game where Phillips had to defend lower down the pitch than he had been doing so. Klich also had to defend more deep, Tyler and Rodrigo as well. And we stopped counting on Stuart Dallas in the midfield as he started playing as a left-back. The moment where we most had to defend we couldn’t do it with Phillips and Dallas in the centre of the pitch. And Rodrigo, Tyler and Klich had many offensive functions. They are players who are primarily more creative. The changes had run out and I didn’t find a way to make the midfield stronger. From the two changes in the second half, the entrance of Tyler and Klich were to try and win the game but very quickly we had to defend more than we had been having to do so and you could notice this.”
Stuart Dallas seemed to be limping in the second half. He finished the match quite well but have you had any reports from the medical team on Stuart? Is he ok?
Marcelo Bielsa said “I couldn’t tell you how he is at the moment as I haven’t been informed of anything just yet.”
How important for the confidence of your players to end the run of defeats wit a win tonight?
Marcelo Bielsa said “It was very important for us to win. The majority of teams go on runs similar to the ones that we have had and they are also longer and more difficult, so the quicker you get out of these runs the better.”
There appears to be video of Rodrigo spitting at Fabian Schar, or that is what Schar is claiming. Do you know anything about that?
Marcelo Bielsa said “No, I don’t know anything about this.”
