After 16 long years away from the Premier League, Leeds United finally secured their place in the promised land last season.
There is no doubt that Marcelo Bielsa has been a hero at Elland Road ever since he arrived at the club and he has continuously shown why he is held in such high regard by both fans and professionals within the game.
Although the Argentine manager has a reputation across Europe and South America regarding his managerial abilities, Leeds United is where many of the fans in England have been able to witness his magic work and many have taken to it straight away.
Whether it is his professionalism off the pitch in regards to his own tactical analysis and detailed notes on opponents, or just the way he is on the touchline as he sits on a bucket and often looks at the ground, Bielsa has certainly won over many admirers.
The Premier League, though, could win him plenty more loving eyes in the future, especially if he can get the Whites playing as well as they did in the Championship during his two years at the club to date. For those that have seen great odds on Leeds’ chances in achieving a surprise or two, The Bet Calculator can be a great tool to work out the potential winnings that will be earned from the wager placed.
Playing a 4-1-4-1 system and rarely moving away from it, his team have proven to be solid but fluid with their style of play and incredibly effective when going forward.
Leeds managed to record over 100 more crosses than Fulham with their style of play, whilst they also recorded the most shots on goal – having had 79 more than West Bromwich Albion’s 676.
The pressing that the Whites take when they lose the ball is also something to behold and the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City have shown that this method of play works in the Premier League.
Leeds won the ball back a huge 2,667 times (despite having had the ball an average of 60% of the time across the season), whilst they won it 208 times in the final third of the pitch. Only two other sides managed to achieve a better figure than them in that particular area of the pitch.
Bielsa may have lost the impressive Ben White from his team, however he has managed to keep the core of his side and significantly improve the squad as they step up their quest to remain in the Premier League after a long wait.
Rodrigo has arrived from Valencia in a club-record move and the striker will certainly give Leeds some additional firepower up top as he gets his second chance in England’s top-flight.
Robin Koch has also signed to fill the void that White had left at the back for the Elland Road outfit and the German certainly appears to be an adequate replacement. The 24-year-old managed to provide SC Frieburg with an average of 1.1 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 2.9 clearances in his 32 Bundesliga appearances (per WhoScored).
Add that to the permanent arrival of Illan Meslier, the extended loan deal of Jack Harrison and being able to hold recently called-up England international Kalvin Phillips, Bielsa’s Leeds certainly have all the ingredients to replicate what Sheffield United managed to do last season. If Rodrigo de Paul joins from Udinese, then who knows what will happen in the 2020/21 Premier League campaign.
