Former Bristol City boss Lee Johnson has revealed that he watched back the Robins' opening weekend defeat to Leeds United 'at least 15 times'.
Marcelo Bielsa's side kicked off their season last August with an emphatic 3-1 win at Ashton Gate and would go on to win the Championship by ten points. Johnson was dismissed by City in July after a run of four successive defeats saw them miss out on the play-offs.
And it would appear that the defeat to Leeds to kick off the 2019-20 campaign left a huge impression on Johnson.
"I must have watched that game back about 15 times," Johnson told The Times. "I broke down every little section of it and it was good learning. Leeds are a good side with a world-class coach. What that Leeds side has the ability to do is almost read the minds of the opponents. They're so organised."
One of the areas Johnson believes Premier League-bound Bielsa excels in is 'positional psychology'.
"The first huge shock to me tactically was playing against Brendan Rodgers's Swansea [in 2011]. They were so organised in possession. I was everywhere the ball had just been" he recalled.
"I thought, 'This is ridiculous. I can't get near Leon Britton,' who three months before I'd absolutely destroyed in a game against Sheffield United. From that point I was hooked on the tactical side and positional psychology.
"All the top teams have this positional psychology that drains the opponent from their game very, very quickly. Marcelo Bielsa and Pep Guardiola are masters of positional psychology.
Johnson was the Championship's longest serving head coach when he was dismissed, with the Robins going on to end the campaign in 12th place. They are yet to appoint a successor, while Johnson says he is ready to return to the game and keen to utilise the experience he gained during four-and-a-half years at Ashton Gate.
"I've been very lucky so far to meet some very, very good coaches. Playing against Guardiola and then talking to him for 45 minutes just on football in the office. One of the nice things was he grilled me as much as I grilled him about tactics, formations, why we'd done this against them. He's relentless in the pursuit of excellence."
