Marcelo Bielsa has told BBC Sport that Leeds United did not do ‘anything’ well in their 7-0 defeat, but Manchester City also did not surprise him in any way during Tuesday’s meeting.
The Citizens produced a dominant display at the Etihad Stadium to record their biggest win of the term so far. Pep Guardiola’s side may have even felt more goals were possible than their seven, after consistently finding ways to break through the visitors’ defensive line.
Phil Foden set the tone early on by breaking the deadlock after eight-minutes before Jack Grealish beat Illan Meslier. Kevin de Bruyne (two), Riyad Mahrez, John Stones and Nathan Ake then added to the scoresheet, to drop Leeds to 16th in the Premier League standings.
Leeds were left to feel the brunt of their injury problems to a dominant Manchester City side. Bielsa was without Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper, Pascal Struijk, Robin Koch and Rodrigo away to the league leaders.
Man City did not surprise Leeds boss Bielsa
Bielsa expected Manchester City to produce a fierce display, yet the scale of Leeds’s defeat came as a surprise. The Whites boss projected how Guardiola would have the Citizens play, but was left questioning the performance of his players and how they applied his tactics.
“No way, I didn’t think the differences would be the ones we saw,” Bielsa said. “They didn’t surprise me. What I’m saying is that we didn’t do anything well – we didn’t defend well, we didn’t manage the ball – there is nothing [positive] to take away from the game.
“When a team, the individual and collective, have nothing worth valuing, it is not the problem of the individuals but the conduction. Coming into this game, we knew what we had to prevent the opponent from doing.
“Nothing unexpected happened, nothing surprising. We came to do what we expected and we weren’t able to do it. This is clearly a problem with the conduction.”
Leeds defensive record will cause concern
Leeds’ loss to Manchester City leaves the Elland Road outfit five-points from the relegation zone. But 18th-placed Burnley have played two fewer fixtures, with their meeting with Tottenham postponed while hosting Watford on Wednesday.
A Hornets win at Turf Moor will also drop the injury-ravished Whites to 17th-place on goal difference. Only Norwich (-26) and Newcastle (-17) have a worse goal difference than Leeds (-15). Both sides have conceded 34 goals to the Whites’ 32, which will concern Bielsa.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
