Sometimes you just have to put both hands in the air and admit that you were wrong.
A few months ago, we predicted that Leeds could be on the verge of a catastrophic collapse after being hailed for their highly octane, aggressive, energetic style of play during the first half of their maiden campaign back in the Premier League.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side was fantastic in Manchester City | Pool / Getty Images
To give some perspective; Marcelo Bielsa’s side had recently been knocked out by League Two side Crawley Town in the FA Cup, a result between two Premier League defeats in which the Whites failed to score.
Of course, there should hardly be any reason to suggest that a team is in great need of a result to lose three games on the bounce or they can dramatically slide down the table – even if one of the mentioned results was on one side three divisions below them in football pyramid – but there was more content in the prediction than just the black and white in their latest results.
Bielsa is known for being a tough task manager and requires constant energy and driving from his sides – even during training sessions.
This ethos has seen him sometimes loosen up, with some of his former sides competing out of the blocks before breaking down at the end of the campaign when fatigue begins to become a factor.
Stuart Dallas!
With only 10 men, it looks like Leeds has won in the Etihad!
Incredible scenes. pic.twitter.com/LI24QSgt7u
– Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 10, 2021
Leeds had made a mistake in this exact problem during the Argentine tactician’s first season at Elland Road. After looking set to advance from the 2018/19 championship, the Whites continued to win none of their last four games in the regular season and then missed out on a place in the top two, before losing a leading semi-final in the first leg to Derby in the playoffs.
So it’s not like statements were just taken out of thin air then. However, this is the part where we hold hands.
After predicting “Bielsa burnout” could put back all the hard work they had done during the first half of the season, their show at the Premier League champions who chose Manchester City on Saturday afternoon was more akin to a team that just shit a can of Popeye’s spinach than one that creeps towards the end of the season.
After taking an early lead through Stuart Dallas, Bielsa’s side was reduced to ten men shortly after following Liam Cooper’s dangerous challenge on Raheem Sterling.
? Heart! Wish! Inoculate! You can not keep this # LUFC page down! pic.twitter.com/EfZyj3lBKk
– Leeds United (@LUFC) April 10, 2021
Of course, the red card could just as easily have been a matador coat for the city team, because as soon as Cooper left the pitch, it was just a constant attack on the city pressure.
Pep Guardiola’s men pulled the two banks of Leeds players around the field like a ragdoll, changing games and keeping the ball moving for the rest of the competition – something that would undoubtedly have been tiring both physically and mentally for the visitors.
Attempts as they should, Leeds’ stubborn resistance was eventually broken because a single quality piece from Bernardo Silva gave Ferran Torres the chance to confidentially send out the equalizer.
With 15 minutes left, it was just a case of Man City taking a point or three from the clash, there was no chance that Leeds would even have the energy – without thinking about quality – to collect their own last attack.
That was what we thought anyway.
Stuart Dallas produced an unlikely stay to secure Leeds’ three points MICHAEL REGAN / Getty Images
With only two minutes left to play, Dallas somehow gathered the energy to burst into the City Half and left John Stones in his wake as one of the world’s strongest competitors trying to pull a truck behind him, before starving past Ederson to give his side. an unlikely win.
They may well have been completely emptied, but the entire Leeds team even had to run along the field and celebrate as a group when they moved to two points in the Champions League and chased Everton.
With three consecutive 2-1 wins under their belt, the Whites are truly in a call for a place in Europe next season and in their current form you would not oppose them.
Bielsa burnout, huh? Maybe not.
