Home Latest News Bielsa names his starting eleven, days before West Ham clash

Bielsa names his starting eleven, days before West Ham clash

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Leeds United suffered a 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge against title favourites Chelsea on Saturday which was a disappointing game as Leeds scored the first goal in the 4th minute through their in-form striker Patrick Bamford who has now scored 8 goals in 11 matches for the Whites who is now level with Harry Kane for goals scored this season in the Premier League.

At the weekend Leeds will host West Ham United at Elland Road. Although no fans will be allowed inside Elland Road as it still remains in Tier- 3.

West Ham United sit on 8th position while Leeds United are held on 14th position just above Arsenal having a point difference between them.

When & Where?

Date & Time: December 11th 2020, 20:00 BST
Location: Elland Road
Referee: Michael Oliver

The Leeds Head coach Marcelo Bielsa spoke about Robin Koch’s injury who was forced to withdraw in the 9th minute of the game. He said, “The surgery went well and the length of his absence depends on the evolution, but he is likely to be out around three months. Of course it’s a shame to miss him for such a long period of time, but during a season this is normal for injuries to happen to a team.”

The Ex- Real Sociedad player Diego Llorente who replaced Robin Koch has also been declared unfit for the upcoming games as the coach suggested that, “Diego Llorente won’t be available as he has a muscular problem, so it will take him a while to recover.

In a podcast Patrick Bamford revealed he used to get clips from the staff of the defenders he would be playing against, but this time around when he asked his coach on which striker he would recommend to follow with Marcelo Bielsa suggesting Erling Haaland as a ruthless attacker and his ability to get in behind defenders. Although Erling Haaland is 7 years younger to Bamford, the coach still feels Bamford can learn a lot by watching clips of the Golden Boy Haaland. While speaking in his press conference Bielsa said, “For me this is a virtue that is difficult to acquire and it’s something that Patrick is progressively improving in this aspect. I thought that if he observed what Haaland does, it would be useful for him. Imitation and copying is the key element of the improvement of a player.”

When asked by the media about the last few games that his team played he said, “First of all we played against Chelsea after we played against Arsenal and Everton, which were both positive games for us. When a team does well it increases the responsibility on them.”

One of the strangest things that happened during the press conference was when the media asked if he would keep West Ham guessing about his team lineup. The next moment Bielsa has named his whole Starting 11 for the weekend against West Ham United. He revealed that , “The starting XI will be; Meslier, Dallas, Ayling, Cooper, Alioski, Phillips, Klich, Rodrigo, Harrison, Raphinha, Bamford.”

Marcelo was asked about his opposition and their coach David Moyes he described them as very difficult opponents and also said that David Moyes who very experienced at the Premier League level. “For example West Ham don’t have in their XI Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini and Michail Anlevel. They loaned out Felipe Anderson, this gives you the idea they’re a team that has a good offensive potential.”

Further on he says that, “They have a structure of seven defensive players which is also very solid. They also have a clear view of when they need to attack, defend, and when they need to play, which are all aspects of a good coach.”

The match against West Ham and Leeds should be very enthralling as both the teams have been playing really good football despite the recent losses. Leeds will try to press West Ham’s back five to rip through their defence while West Ham will make sure they will not get caught by Leeds tactics but rather counter attack Leeds with the pace and attacking quality in their squad.

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