Back three strikes again
Marcelo Bielsa’s 3-3-1-3 system has always felt like the poor relation in his tactical family since he arrived at Leeds United in 2018.
Whether it is the shape itself or the lack of time spent practising it in competitive matches, this team has rarely played in it at a level which builds confidence on the terraces.
Frank Lampard has long preferred a 3-4-3 shape in his short management career and even with the injuries his Everton side have suffered in the past week, there was a rotten taste in the mouth when the penny dropped in the opening five minutes.
‘Robin Koch is playing awfully deep as a defensive midfielder in a 4-1-4-1 formation. I’m sure it’s just a transitional thing, he’ll move forward in a moment.’
It never happened and Everton settled into a 4-4-2 formation nobody saw coming. And we all know what an opposition front two means for Leeds.
The biggest victim was Mateusz Klich. The offensive-minded central midfielder was the default option for the Kalvin Phillips role with Koch folded into the back three.
The Poland international, as Bielsa admitted afterwards, is simply not suited to that position and suffered badly as a result.
“The position of Klich was an error on my part,” he said. “The midfielder positioned in front of our three centre-backs had to defend too much.
“He couldn't do what he does best, which is to make runs in attack. Sincerely, I assigned a task to him that didn't fit his characteristics.
“It was difficult for us to maintain and for us to recover the ball. If you recover the ball well it's easier to retain.”
In hindsight, it seems so simple to beat Leeds. Play two strikers and press like your life depends on it.
The execution of that idea is harder than it sounds, as many Everton sympathisers’ shocked faces would have told you, as they marvelled at one of the finest Goodison Park performances in recent years.
Leeds never settled, from the first whistle to the last. They were disjointed, they were sloppy with their passing, they could not beat the press, they gave away possession and were run ragged in transition by the hosts.
The trip to Southampton this season, right up there with the very worst displays of Bielsa’s tenure, was another 3-3-1-3 attempt without Kalvin Phillips.
It’s a system which has looked too demanding on the players even with the England international in the centre, playing his protective best football.
Discussing player fatigue under Bielsa can feel like a taboo subject at times because it has been so carelessly thrown at the head coach by the wider world at entirely inappropriate points, but Wednesday was tough on an unchanged line-up.
There is no shame in admitting Luke Ayling, Klich and others did look a touch leggy at times on Saturday. Heroic fightbacks like those at Villa Park do not come without a physical sacrifice and Saturday’s system just seemed to stretch those bodies a little too much.
Raphinha: a victim of his own success
Three halves of football on the periphery of Leeds United’s attacking play and Raphinha is suddenly under the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
The Brazil international has carried this club at times during an inconsistent season where wins and goals have not always come easily.
The 25-year-old is absolutely allowed to show he is human and should not be expected to dig the team out in every match. It’s a team game and, as Rodrigo did on Wednesday, there should be a multitude of team-mates stepping into the breach when Raphinha is not at it.
Raphinha’s half-time withdrawal is the incident which has cast a harsher spotlight on this poor week the Brazilian is having.
As recently as two weeks ago, the idea Bielsa would choose to withdraw Raphinha when Leeds are chasing a match at 2-0 down would have been considered insanity.
Few eyelids would have been batted when the side came out with him missing for Saturday’s second half. Like Wednesday, Raphinha did not have the impact we have seen him have so often this season.
Bielsa had no explanation for such an odd week by the winger’s sky-high standards.
“Players can play better or worse, it's very difficult to stand out and to shine when you're an attacker,” he said.
“There isn't attackers who are at a high level continuously. In the first half against Aston Villa, Raphinha made important contributions.
“A winger with a different characteristic (Daniel James) could have added a different variable to the game.”
Raphinha has a week to find the kind of form which has Europe’s best clubs chasing him because Manchester United at Elland Road is the stage he was born to play on.
Dallas finally succumbs to injury
At long last, the final ever-present outfield player at Leeds is at risk of ending his run of starts.
Stuart Dallas barely lasted eight minutes before he limped off on Saturday. As Bielsa and a few of his team-mates have revealed in recent weeks, the Northern Irishman normally plays with injuries which would force others into the stands.
There was an initial plea for assistance from the medical team before a half-hearted effort to play on until his body ultimately gave away and he slumped to the turf.
Fingers will be crossed Dallas is not missing for long, if at all. Much like the story of the squad this season, as soon as one returns from injury another leaves the side.
Junior Firpo is expected to be available for next weekend and just in time to play down the left in Dallas’s absence.
Momentum wiped out, again
Leeds cannot build up a head of steam this season. Every time it looks like their campaign may be about to get up and running, they hit an obstacle.
The first win of the season was followed by one of the worst away performances of Bielsa’s tenure.
An unbeaten three-match run across Wolverhampton Wanderers, Norwich City and Leicester City, was followed by a Tottenham Hotspur loss and Brighton & Hove Albion horror show.
Then consecutive wins last month were killed by a demoralising Newcastle United defeat before Wednesday’s Villa bubble was popped on Merseyside yesterday.
And now the side heads into a run of fixtures which conjure memories of the 14-3 aggregate defeat in December suffered at the hands of Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal.
The injury situation now is nothing like as bad as it was back then, while Elland Road can, and needs to be, the big leveller in these coming games.
Liverpool away really does seem like an impossible task right now, but the visits of Manchester United and Spurs do have something about them.
The Red Devils have had United’s number at Old Trafford since promotion, but the Elland Road game last year was a defensive masterclass from Leeds.
Ralf Rangnick’s side are winless in three in all competitions, despite facing Championship Middlesbrough, bottom-club Burnley and mid-table Southampton in that run.
They have a midweek clash with Brighton on Tuesday too. Leeds should be better rested next Sunday.
Spurs’ long-term form is still very strong, but that home loss to Southampton on Wednesday left a lot to be desired.
Beyond those crumbs of comfort, the league table still makes for encouraging reading. The beauty of a bottom-five fight is none of your rivals are particularly good at picking up points either.
Leeds remain as close to Southampton in 10th as they do to Norwich in 18th. The gap to each is six points with a game in hand for the Whites.
