Leeds United fell to yet another defeat as they went down 1-0 to Brighton and Hove Albion at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.

The defeat sees the Whites remain in 12th place in the Premier League table, without a game for 10 days when they travel to St James' Park to face Newcastle United.

  • On the performance

A first half strike from Neal Maupay condemned Bielsa's side to three defeats in five, in what was a very lacklustre performance by the Whites.

After the game, Bielsa gave his thoughts to the awaiting media and he was asked if the performance was down to the state of the pitch.

"I don't want to link the performance or the defeat to the state of the pitch. I think we could have got a better result anyhow," he said. 

Bielsa also spoke about where he felt the game was lost from a Whites point of view saying: "I think we defended below our capabilities, below our usual level,"

"We only managed to recover the ball close to our own goal. Every time we lost the ball the adaptations took us to the edge of our own area to recover the ball." he continued.

"We attacked below our usual capabilities. We didn't attack well and we also didn't defend well either and we also didn't play well, but the result could have still been different to the one that was, without doubt.

"Even whilst playing below our capabilities, we still could have aspired to a better result." he admitted.

  • On Rodrigo's performance

One player who hasn't performed well of late, whether it's in the number 10 position or number 9 is Rodrigo, the Spanish international's performance levels haven't quite been there as they were when he first came into the side.

Bielsa was asked if there was an impact on his condition from his time out with COVID or rather the period of time he spent away from training.

"No, physically he is a player that has recovered his physical level," Bielsa revealed.

"With regards to the attacking output, the attacking output of the team has reduced, not Rodrigo necessarily." Bielsa expressed.

  • Bamford struggling when coming up against a three-man defence

When coming up against a team who plays with a three-man defence, striker Patrick Bamford, has struggled to really get any chances or efforts on target.

The Argentinian boss was asked about the situation with Bamford and he didn't seem happy with the insinuations about his striker.

"I don't link the fact that he doesn't have opportunities to the fact that the opponent plays with three defenders," he said.

"And we're making references to the striker who's had the most shots in the Premier League.

So that point that you make doesn't invite you to think that Patrick is struggling against a certain line of defence." Bielsa explained.

  • Meslier absent from the squad

Earlier in the week rumours began to circle social media that goalkeeper Illan Meslier would be missing for the Whites against Brighton. Yesterday afternoon the rumours came true when Kiko Casilla replaced Meslier between the sticks for the first time in the Premier League this season. Bielsa explained the reason as to why Meslier missed out.

"He's unwell, that's why he (Meslier) didn't play," he said.

Bielsa was asked if it was a last minute decision to replace Meslier and he replied: "No, it was not last minute."

  • On Struijk's performance in place of Phillips

Leeds United were forced to deploy Pascal Struijk in the holding role in front of the back four following a one-match ban for Kalvin Phillips, who collected his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Tottenham Hotspur last time out in the Premier League.

Struijk didn't really impress in the role and Bielsa gave his thought on Struijk's display: "He didn't shine, but he also didn't commit errors that unbalanced the team."

VAVEL Logo
About the author