Leeds United lost 1-0 at Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has told Leeds Live that he will criticise himself after his substitutions didn’t really work against Charlton Athletic.
After throwing away two points late on at home to Derby County last week, Leeds were hoping to get back on track as they headed down to South London to take on Charlton.
Leeds 72% of the ball and almost seven times as many shots as Charlton did, but fell to a 1-0 defeat as Macauley Bonne scored the only goal of the game.
Leeds slip to fourth after that result, and with just three goals scored in the last four games, there are concerns about the cutting edge in this side right now.
Bielsa clearly wasn’t happy with the first half showing, as he took off both Ezgjan Alioski and Jamie Shackleton in favour of Eddie Nketiah and Adam Forshaw.
Bielsa switched to something of a 3-5-2, using Kalvin Phillips to screen Ben White and Liam Cooper, with Nketiah joining Patrick Bamford up top.
That changed when Tyler Roberts came on for Bamford, but Bielsa admitted that nothing really worked as Charlton boss Lee Bowyer was able to get more out of his side.
Bielsa felt Leeds could get more chances from crosses in the box with Bamford and Ketiah on the pitch, and even praised substitute Roberts as a standout performer for moving the ball well – but ultimately suggested he will criticise himself for not finding the right formula.
“The last 15 minutes of the first half we had a lot of possibilities, capacity to cross. I thought with Eddie and Bamford together maybe we could obtain more presence in the box,” said Bielsa. “In Forshaw’s situation I thought Dallas had a good impact in the last matches, in this first half a little less, but he played behind, more in the back. Shackleton in the last 15 minutes gave deep options in the right side, but I tried to get Dallas to do Shackleton’s job, Forshaw and Phillips in charge of playmaking too at the start.”
“White and Cooper were less protected, but defending with full function. In the last 30 minutes we lost the ball in the final 20 metres with 15 players inside the box, so in this situation it’s difficult to play clear. Tyler Roberts moved the ball well. We could finish the attack inside the box. That’s what I tried. I will criticise myself. Our players are better than their players. It’s not me giving less value to the opponent. It’s not me underestimating the opponent. We had more resources on the pitch, but couldn’t impose this difference. Bowyer could, with less resources. The difference of the resources was clear. It is also necessary for the manager to take resources into account,” hea dded.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
