Marcelo Bielsa presided over a defeat to Frank Lampard’s Everton side on Saturday afternoon as Leeds United succumbed by a 3-0 scoreline. The Whites began sluggishly and Everton punished them with two first-half goals to set the tone of the Premier League fixture.
Why did the result get away from your side today?
It was a fair result, difficult to defend. The second half we defended better apart from at the end but we didn’t create anything so I thought the result was fair.
Why do you think your side struggled to retain possession in the first half in particular?
The position of Klich was an error on my part. The midfielder that was positioned in front of our three centre backs had to defend too much, he couldn’t do what he does best which is to make runs in attack. Sincerely I assigned a task to him that didn’t fit his characteristics. It was difficult for us to maintain and for us to recover the ball. If you recover the ball well it’s easier to retain.
Can I also ask about the substitution of Raphinha at the break – was that tactical?
Yes.
Did you feel he had been ineffective in the first half?
I preferred for James to take on the right-wing role and Tyler to be centre-forward.
Stuart Dallas – any word on the injury he sustained today?
Sincerely, I cant answer you here because I haven’t been able to hear the report yet.
What should you have done in the midfield if Klich was an error?
Put a player in that position who had a bigger capacity to recover. The best things Klich does he does in attack, make runs and he’s got good resources defensively but not to be the most defensive midfielder in the midfield. That’s the job he had to take on during the first half where he was forced to not to do the best things he does.
Problems for Roberts?
He could not attack because the team could not attack. Difficult for them to feed the forwards. Not Tyler’s problem, it was the construction of the offensive game. It’s not about whether Tyler played better or worse or Raphinha played better or worse, whether James plays in the centre or out wide, what side Harrison and James play, the function of the team in general was not the correct one. We finished poorly when we finished our attacks and whe we lost the ball we were disorganised.
Was the team surprised by the fact Everton went with a 4-4-2 – were you caught off-guard?
This is what we expect with them. They’ve got two centre forwards on their bench and Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin on the pitch, they would play. The characteristics of our defenders Llorente, Koch and Pascal, their characteristics are very compatible with their centre-forwards. Our defenders are used to playing against strikers close to our box and what didn’t allow the team to play well was the role that I picked for the players on the field.
Raphinha has played at such a high level this season – do you have an explanation for why he’s been so off-colour this week?
Players can play better or worse, it’s very difficult to stand out and to shine when you’re an attacker. There isn’t attackers who are at a high level continuously. The first half against Aston Villa, Raphinha made important contributions. A winger with a different characteristic could have added a different variable to the game.
