Even the biggest Marcelo Bielsa superfan would struggle to argue that Leeds United’s performance against Leicester City wasn’t a vast improvement.
The Whites came away from the East Midlands empty handed in Jesse Marsch’s first game in charge but they played much better than they had done previously.
The poor form leading into the Foxes defeat ultimately cost Bielsa his job as the club’s manager and his successor’s determination to put it right could not have been clearer.
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There was a stark contrast between the performance of the defence at Leicester compared with the four previous games.
A moment of real quality from Harvey Barnes denied them a much-needed clean sheet in a game where the central defensive pairing of Luke Ayling and Pascal Struijk were rarely troubled.
Along with the Leeds fans who watched the match, Ally McCoist was impressed by the changes Marsch was able to implement in just a few days.
“A lot better though, weren’t they,” he said on talkSPORT on Monday morning. “I made a point as I was listening to it – seemingly the consensus was defensively they were a lot better.
“It’s a funny one because it looked a step in the right direction, but plenty of work to do.”
His assessment of the match will not have been too dissimilar to one delivered by a Whites supporter.
It was certainly an improvement on the matches that came before but a lot of the old problems returned even without Bielsa stood in the technical area.
The dominance of a game without scoring, being dealt a sucker punch on the counter attack and getting no reward from a decent performance were all hallmarks of the Argentine’s time in charge, especially in the Championship.
Marsch was keen to make a point that he was impressed after the match but his ‘performance more important than points’ idea was wide of the mark.
The sole most important thing for Leeds between now and the end of the season is the accumulation of points.
In the summer and next season, when Marsch is preparing for his future at the club, is when it would be fair to claim that performances are more useful than points,
But while Leeds are fighting for their Premier League lives, supporters would definitely appreciate an undeserved victory more than a defeat in a game they’ve dominated.
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