Gary Neville has compared Leeds United to Barcelona teams of old and says he will not be criticising Marcelo Bielsa's tactics this season.
The Whites suffered a 6-2 defeat to old rivals Manchester United on Sunday, being stunned by two goals in the first three minutes as the Red Devils created numerous chances.
Yet the Whites had plenty of opportunities of themselves in an open, end-to-end match that showed both the good and the bad of Bielsa's tactical plan.
Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville said the way Leeds play reminds him of Barcelona sides of the past.
He enthused: "I absolutely love them, I love watching them and I love every game they play in.
"He demands a lot from his own players but the players that are on the other team know they've been in a real game. Man United's defenders just won 6-2 but will be in that dressing room thinking they could have conceded five or six.
"There were some teams I played against, like Barcelona obviously, for many years you played against Barcelona in the late 90s and they weren't that great at the time but every time you played against them, they could score three or four. They had an incredible style and good players.
"Leeds isn't down to individual brilliance of their players, they've got some really good players, but it's the fact that all 11 of them sprint forward and go into the box.
"They have four or five in the box for each cross, they over-commit and through overcommitment comes their reward but also their risk.
"That's why we said at the start of the season they'll lose games six but they'll win games five or six and that's exactly what's happened this week.
"That's what we knew we were going to get. I can't criticise them and I'm not going to criticise them all season - I can't criticise that."
Neville admitted there were various flaws in the way that Leeds played and, if it was any other team that had put in the performance they did at Old Trafford, he would not be so forgiving.
Yet he argued that the Whites are so enjoyable to watch and their players are so committed to the cause that it gives them a certain leeway.
He said: "I don't want them to change, I don't expect them to change.
"Bielsa is a great coach, to get a team to commit like that in the last few minutes when losing 6-2 and still sprinting forward and giving it their all.
"I know there'll be some cynics out there, managers who say they'd get killed if they played like that, but I've never seen a team as committed like that after coming up from the Championship.
"I've seen committed teams but I've never seen a group of players who, through 90 minutes of every match I've watched them, run themselves into the ground and give absolutely everything.
"It's impossible for me to criticise them. They're going to lose games, make bad mistakes, expose defenders, the goalkeeper makes mistakes, lots of things you can see from a purists' point of view - if we were doing Monday Night Football and that was Arsenal against Man United, we'd be battering them, but I don't feel I can criticise this Leeds team having come up from the Championship.
"I feel as though they deserve some leeway due to the joy they bring when watching them play.
"There are very few teams that can make you feel like that, they're an absolute joy to watch."
