1) Yorkshire derby - what do you recall of last season Hillsborough? How impressed by them this season?
It’s a team that has improved. As I always say, all the matches are difficult for everybody.
The teams that are in the bottom of the table they play us in match 36 of the Championship and the players who are in the top, they don’t want to lose this position.
So even if you play with one of the teams at the top or the bottom, you play almost in similar conditions.
Wendies have improved, positions don't matter, everyone is fighting to improve so every game is hard.
2) How have Wednesday improved?
You can realise one style. They are following full results, the team have the feature of the coach. They are not easy to play against. They force the opponent to make a mistake.
They take decisions to avoid making mistakes.
And when the team responds to the manager’s style, that means something, that they have improved.
And also they are a team that have more than one player per position.
They have a subs in midfield, wingers, centre forward as well.
Maybe they have a lack of centre-backs but those that are playing are efficient.
Wendies are hard to break down, have a deep squad, force mistakes and are well organised, weak at cb. Monk has improved there results and MB applauds that.
3) How pleased with Tyler Roberts? What have you worked on with him?
Tyler is a player who likes being with the ball. He has a big character because he wants the ball.
He always receives the ball in one place where it’s more probable that he’ll lose it than keep it.
Most of the teams in front of the box have more than four players. Two centre-backs, two or three midfielders. So the player who asks for the ball there, he is probably going to lose it.
So to ask for the ball there you have to have talent and character. Personality.
And to give continutity to offensive. play, this is necessary.
Tyler likes to play as a 10 and receive the ball between the midfield and defence, MB likes this.
4) Injury latest
Shackleton and Cooper are well. Pablo is improving, close to coming back with us.
Forshaw needs more time.
Cooper and Shacks are fit, Pablo is nearly fit, Forshaw is dead.
5) More on Forshaw injury
He has a problem with the groin. It’s an injury that is not easy to deal with. A difficult situation. And it’s not easy to get the process of recover.
The reason we don’t have clear reference, the evolution of his process is not linear.
This kind of injury you have high and low until you heal this injury in the definitive way.
What we have is that Adam is a great professional. He is working hard to try and get out of this situation. THe same with the medical staff, they help him. They are involved to try and improve the situation.
Forshaw is injury prone and god knows when he will be back.
6) What do you lose when Forshaw is not in the team? What do his replacements need to do?
Forshaw is a player that when he has played, he is one of the better players of the team.
He has a feature that is very difficult to get. He defends similar to Kalvin and attacks similar to Klich. What he has close to Phillips is not a problem for him, when he goes close to Klich. You won’t find a lot of players with this characteristic.
Always Adam when he plays, is one of the players who runs more. Not just in total distance, not just in sprint and high intensity. It’s very important to have a player that can be flexible. Look at SHackleton, Phillips, Klich, they are also able to do this. With different characteristics which respond to his way of play.
But all of them can play close to the defensive midfielder and to the playmaker.
Forshaw is a box to box mid and comfortable doing what Klich does and what Phillips does (got to say MB thats rubbish he cant do what Klich does but hey ho)
7) Are you happier with how your team is playing now?
Yes. I think this team is much better than last year’s team.
<What specifically?>
The level of the players. Last season we had players who played very well. We also had players who didn’t do well. Today is more regular in performance.
And today we 15, 16. Today we are 12, 13. Today if Douglas plays, it’s simliar to Alioski. Or Bamford or Nketiah, Dallas or Ayling. This is important.
He feels the players are more consistent, last season some players played very well some didn't but this season its more even across the board.
8) What is the importance of Bamford to your team?
We cannot talk about Bamford when it’s necessary to talk in comparison with Nketiah.
I know that it’s not your intention.
But what I say about Bamford is going to be compared with what I say about Nketiah.
So to talk about Patrick is more useful to describe Nketiah.
Nketiah has developed at one club, Arsenal, and has to play at Leeds.
I am not comparing the level of both. But you can see clearly the performance in one team or the other team. We don’t have the players who win the match themselves. Big teams, like Arsenal, they have a lot of players that can win one match with one play. THis is natural Nketiah has developed in this school.
And he has all the resources, skills, to resolve the needs of scoring one goal. But we need to build the chance at goal. And we cannot build the chances if we don’t have a structure within all the players to create the chances.
You will see that every time is going to be less difficult to Eddie to be more similar to give this contribution to the team. When he in the last match went to the pitch at Preston, the match was played in the place of the pitch where he plays better, by the box. Against Birmingham he was far from the box and without offensive creation.
And against Birmingham he didn’t have a good match, against Preston he had an impact. To finish this explanation, the most important, what he does when we have to score. Nketiah is very good at scoring. Also Bamford.
But Bamford is missing chances and Nketiah is scoring.
But there is a fact before you score a goal, you build the situation that allow the chance to score.
Bamford or Nketiah - which player do you think ran more?
<Bamford, say the room>
No, Nketiah. You know why? Bamford ran for the needs of the team. Nketiah ran just to try and score.
THe metres that Bamford ran is true to the team. And to finish, Nketiah puts these meters in to finish the action.
It’s natural. What I’m looking for, to achieve that Eddie feels the needs of the team and that he understands if he doesn’t put the metres in both things, he is going to have less chances to score.
After saying that, I am not 100% sure what I’m saying. Football is football. We are forced to analyse. We are forced to take conclusions. But if the conclusion we take analyses where we are, football would not be the first sport in the word.
<But is't not analysis, it's Bielsa's brain...>
If you give him the option to chose between my way to analyse and free football, I prefer free football. I don’t prefer the football I build in my mind.
Football is of players. Be careful. Every time you find less players who deserve the freedom of the free football.
For this reason, Sheffield United can beat Arsenal. Because every time, there are less players who deserve one team where they don’t have to adapt themselves to a new situation.
Bamford is more of a team player whereas Eddie is more selfish and is less of a tactical fit. Eddie has only one goal, scoring goals whereas Paddy does more for the team. Uses Preston as an example, the game was played nearer the box when Eddie was on the pitch so he had an impact, against Birmingham is wasn't as much and thus Eddie had little impact on the game. Atm Eddie is basically to selfish and playing him not Bamford would impact the team as Eddie has only one focus and needs to do more as a team player. ( I think this is what he is saying).
9) Are you saying Bamford will start?
I’ll have to talk with him <points at journalist who asks last question>
As everyone in the room laughs, Bielsa gets up to leave and tells us Bamford will play. We’re all pretty sure me meant that.
Bamford will start and until Eddie convinces Bielsa he is a tactical fit then thats how it will be. We have to remember MB values the overall tactic and style over individuals and in his long explanation above he mentioned how Eddie comes from Arsenal a team with players who can win the game by themselves, he says Eddie has that mentality.
