Leeds United are officially in trouble.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side have just been demolished 6-0 by Liverpool at Anfield.
Going to Liverpool and coming away with anything is difficult but, with the Argentine coach setting up his team to go toe-to-toe against one of the best teams in the world, well it’s questionable management.
The Elland Road club shipped 11 Premier League goals in their previous four fixtures before coming to Anfield and now they appear to be in a relegation battle, with the club only three points above the bottom three after Burnley – who have two games in hand – winning tonight.
And former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys has suggested that if Bielsa was an English coach then he’d be under far more pressure in West Yorkshire.
Is Bielsa getting sacked?
Unfortunately for Keys, nope.
That’s because there is actually context to Leeds’ form and it centres around the fact that two of their best and most influential players are injured.
Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips are massively important figures for the 66-year-old manager and any coach would struggle without influences like that.
You could argue that Bielsa, with the knowledge that he’s missing such big players, should tailor his tactics and be a little more conservative, rather than a gung-ho approach no matter the weather.
However, the South American clearly has his principles and philosophy, the same methods which helped United finish ninth in the Premier League standings last season on their long-awaited return to the big time.
Bielsa’s nationality is redundant; it’s the fact that he has worked miracles throughout his three-and-a-half year spell in Yorkshire and now missing some massively-important players.
Ultimately, that’s why Leeds will not sack him.
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