Bristol City manager Lee Johnson has revealed he was blown away by Leeds United’s performance against West Bromwich Albion and insisted it is the methods of Marcelo Bielsa which makes them different from the rest of the Championship.
The Elland Road outfit made a real statement of intent against the Baggies, demolishing Darren Moore’s men 4-0 in a crunch clash between two promotion chasing sides.
With Johnson’s City side up next for Leeds, the manager has revealed how impressed he was by their display and that Bielsa deserves credit for his counterpart’s ability to adapt to the Championship while using his own methods.
Speaking ahead of his side’s clash against the Whites, he was quoted by the Bristol Post as saying: “I listened to the podcast by Guillem Balague [who spent four days following the Leeds manager and interviewing staff and players] the other day.
“Some of it [match preparation], we all do, but some of it is unique to any individual coach or manager and undoubtedly better managers bring that extra bit of quality or bit of sass and I think he’s done that. You see a lot of foreign managers come into the Championship and struggle because they’ve been used to coaching in lower tempo leagues, and that’s where I think Bielsa should get the most credit.
“The West Brom game on Sky was one of the best performances I’ve seen by a Championship side, but the week before they got beat 1-0 by QPR. That goes to show that, yes, Leeds are a very good side, but the Championship as a whole can throw up those surprises.”
Opinion
It seems as though Johnson has done all he can to get into the mind of Bielsa and figure out just how the Argentine works, so if his Bristol City side can pick up victory against Leeds you can imagine Guillem Balague will not be invited back to Elland Road any time soon. However, Bielsa’s rival in the dugout is quite clearly aware of the mammoth task that faces him and his players. They just have to hope that they catch the Whites on a bad day for if they do find themselves coming up against a team in form, there is little to be done to try stop them. As he says, the performance against West Brom was one of the best the Championship has seen – and that was against a side who have torn teams apart themselves this season. It is going to be a tough ask to seal victory but Johnson will be hoping the podcast has given him an advantage to be used on match day.