da apostaganha： Having led Leeds United to the Championship title last season, it was inevitable that a lot of people’s eyes were going on to be Marcelo Bielsa.
da winzada777： “Here comes El Loco” was the title that The Guardian ran with in the first week of September, as excitement grew over seeing the man Pep Guardiola hails as his mentor.
But whilst Leeds have had an encouraging start to the new Premier League campaign with seven points from their opening five games, that’s not a patch on what Dean Smith is managing over at Aston Villa.
Having survived relegation back to the Championship by the skin of their teeth last season, Villa have done a complete 360, and currently sit second in the table with four wins from four – even a point against Leeds on Friday night would send them top and above Everton thanks to goal difference.
Despite the fact they’ve confounded everybody’s expectations, Bielsa continues to be the topic of conversation.
Sky Sports ran a lengthy feature ahead of his team’s clash against Manchester City about how he inspired Guardiola, whilst before that, after a 4-3 loss to Liverpool, the headline was “Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds show no compromise in Liverpool thriller”. It’s been all about how the Argentine has shaped the Yorkshire club in his own image.
He’s a magnet for attention with his quirky style of management – since when did sitting on a stool on the touch-line become a thing? – and it’s no surprise that people gravitate towards that.
But on Friday, Smith can strike a blow to that love-in with a tactical masterstroke. In the games Leeds have dropped points in thus far – their defeats to Liverpool and Wolves and the draw to City – they have come undone against teams who have quick forwards who are prepared to run in behind.
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Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick, Raheem Sterling netted for City, and Wolves had the likes of Daniel Podence, Pedro Neto and Adama Traore to call upon as they won last time out.
With Leeds’ high-pressing, by-passing that with a quick ball over the top for wingers and central strikers to chase onto can leave them unstuck, and it’s why Smith may be tempted to throw in someone like Keinan Davis into the attack on Friday.
The 22-year-old is a willing runner and makes constant movements into the channels, and instead of relying on just Ollie Watkins to do that, having another outlet in Davis could leave Bielsa in a muddle.
Smith has the perfect opportunity to get one over on his counterpart, and prove why he’s been the outstanding manager of these first few weeks of the Premier League season.