Marcelo Bielsa said that it is ‘very difficult’ to quell the influence of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek after Leeds United’s 2-0 Premier League defeat to West Ham on Monday, while speaking to Leeds Live.
In stark contrast to a thrilling, free-flowing Leeds team, there is nothing particularly fancy about this Hammers side.
David Moyes’ team do not dominate possession, they do not drive the opposition into the ground with breakneck tika taka or a ferocious hard press. But a perfect blend of defensive organisation and a threat on the counter, complete with a real team ethic, means West Ham are about as efficient and as ruthless as they come.
On Monday night, a Jesse Lingard penalty and a Craig Dawson header kept the Londoners within touching distance of the Champions League places.
And, once again, it was arguably the division’s most effective midfield partnership who set the tone, snapping into tackles, starting counters and keeping Leeds at arms’ length.
“Very difficult to sustain the challenge, the dispute with Soucek and Rice the whole game,” Bielsa said at full-time after switching around his midfield in an attempt to disrupt West Ham’s tough-tackling duo.
“I thought a way to compensate this quality was to distribute the minutes of (my players).
“(Stuart) Dallas replaced (Matheusz) Klich in midfield and (Gianni) Alioski for Dallas at left-back (at half-time). Dallas in midfield has combativeness the game needed. This was needed in the game.”
A fifth defeat in seven games means Leeds are suddenly just nine points above the relegation zone.
Fortunately, it seems neither Newcastle United or Brighton are going to pick up the points required to drag the Whites into the mire.
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