Bielsa points blame after defeat; makes vow for Wednesday clash

Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa admitted he got his tactics wrong in the 2-1 defeat to Birmingham, which ended United’s unbeaten start to the Championship season.

The former Argentina and Chile boss opted to play Kalvin Phillips in midfield rather than as a third centre-back, like he has done several times this term.

But the decision backfired as Birmingham’s two strikers linked up impressively, with Che Adams scoring twice in the opening half hour.

That led to Phillips’ substitution for Stuart Dallas in the 34th minute and, despite a Gjanni Alioski strike during a late rally, Bielsa suffered his first league defeat as Leeds head coach.

He was willing to take the blame for the reverse, saying: “The proposal I chose for this game at the beginning was not the right one.

“Phillips played in front of (Pontus) Jansson and (Liam) Cooper to link defence to attack and we could not reach that goal.

“In the first 30 minutes we were not fluid with the ball and we didn’t feel safe because we didn’t recover the ball well.

“We couldn’t make the link between defence and attack because Phillips could not receive the ball.

“Phillips had to assume the consequences for the mistake I made.

“When I corrected the mistake, the rival had already scored two goals. Our team was less confident. It’s a high price to play for a tactical mistake.”

Leeds almost stole a point at the death as, after Alioski drove home to make it 2-1 with five minutes remaining, Lee Camp made two fine saves to deny the Macedonian winger and Dallas.

Despite the loss, Bielsa is confident Leeds will bounce back against Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.

“We have an obligation for each game,” he said. “We have to correct what was wrong. We have to recover from the mistake we made.

“The feelings after this loss will not prevent us from getting a good result in the next game.”

 

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