Leeds United will take on Liverpool on Monday evening, in their latest Premier League fixture.
Prior to the match, head coach Marcelo Bielsa discussed plenty of topics with the media. Here are five key points from the questions asked to him.
On memories from the first game of the season…
“It was a game of goals and emotional. It was the first game and despite the defeat it left some good feelings. Whilst that was at the start of the season, throughout the development of the league it forces you to renovate your efforts for every single game.”
On scoring the most goals (12) in the league from outside the box…
“Sincerely I did not know this. It comes to my attention, and throughout the week we insist a lot on the game on the wings, and I would give this to the influence and characteristics of the players in the middle of the pitch.”
On facing Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp…
“I like to see Liverpool play, they always play in the same manner. For me that’s a big praise to give to a team, there’s no player in their team who is not prepared to receive the ball and manage the ball in whatever part of the pitch they receive it. I think they’re a team who constantly thinks when producing football. They don’t speculate, they attack always and they spend a lot of time attacking and not so much defending. When they have to defend I think they do it well, putting into consideration the amount of energy they expend when attacking. Like every team, they have ups and downs.”
On the achievement of the Under 23s…
“I give a lot of value to the work that the current manager has done and to the group. Especially taking into account that the 23s is a constant help for the first team. This means that the coach has to accommodate his plans depending on the needs of the first team. This weakens the programme that the Under 23s can have. Within that scenario, it is not the ideal one, the coach and the players have contributed in a very, very valuable way.”
On the possibility of winning four Premier League matches in a row…
“I have always said, and I mention the institution of Leeds is very big. The sporting past of Leeds is full of very high points. To win four games in a row in the Premier League compared to all the things Leeds have achieved, of course it would give us great happiness to win four games in a row but if you compare it to all things Leeds have achieved in their history, it is not so big. To be able to be at the height of the past success of Leeds, some extraordinary things need to be done and we’re quite far away.”
