Is there more pressure on Leeds United this season as a result of Marcelo Bielsa’s stunt.
Marcelo Bielsa earned plenty of praise from Leeds United fans for what he did on Wednesday.
In response to ‘spygate’, the eccentric Argentine called a press conference to give a 70-minute Power Point presentation to the media.
In it, Bielsa, whose Leeds side sit top of the Championship, demonstrated a deep knowledge of the teams that he comes up against and suggested that he therefore does not need to rely on spy tactics to get an advantage.
It was quite a spectacle, but has the former Athletic Bilbao coach inadvertently put more pressure on his United team this season?
Setting the pace in the Championship comes with its own pressures, but the spotlight burns brighter on Bielsa’s players now and it remains to be seen if the playing staff can handle it.
Expectation will go up and the playing staff might just feel an extra burden on their shoulders.
After all, the pressure on Leeds players to beat Stoke is higher after Bielsa revealed that he has studied Luton Town games this season under new Potters boss Nathan Jones.
Ultimately the buck stops with the head coach in these matters. If Leeds lose a game then Bielsa is accountable and he will be the first to say that, but you do wonder if the players might now feel it is their fault when results don’t go to plan and that is where big problems can arise.
According to The Daily Mail, the players ‘loved’ their boss’s stunt, but results will be the real test of that claim.
Top of the Championship with four months to go, United need to be flying under the radar but Bielsa has made it very difficult to do that.
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