“I can never be happy in defeat.”
Marcelo Bielsa’s answer summed up much of the hurt running through Leeds United’s dressing room since full-time at Anfield.
It is a stance which belies the positivity and optimism many Whites fans felt as the whistle sounded, and they reflected upon how close they had come to holding the champions.
However, it is a stance which underlines this may only be the start for United in the Premier League. They have not come here as tourists enjoying each day out, they are here to win.
As impressed as many of us were, they returned to Elland Road with nothing last night and that will linger longer than the praise of many who barely watched them in the Championship.
Points or not, as opening statements go, United’s was a declaration of war on the established Premier League order.
This Leeds United does not fit into the same mould as so many of their promoted plasticine predecessors.
This Leeds United does not set up as the journeyman boxer looking to get by with what they can and taking the defeats where they need to.
This Leeds United wants to shatter the glass jaws of those who have had it too easy for too long and want to fight fire with fire, going toe to toe.
Those of us who are not new to Bielsaball did not expect the Whites to change their ways, but we also did not expect it to land quite as many blows as it did in the toughest fixture of the season.
Liverpool have not lost a home league game since April 2017. Liverpool annihilated the entire division to win the title by 18 points last term. Liverpool drew once at home in the league throughout all of 2019/20.
That is the context of this result and what the Whites were so close to clinching before Rodrigo’s loose leg granted Mohamed Salah his hat-trick.
If this is the amount of blood they can extract from the nostrils of the best, ponder what they may do to the rest of the division.
You must be excited and full of so much anticipation for what lies ahead. This was the love letter to a season we are yet to meet. It was a promise kept.
Bielsa has never once turned away from his principles or methodology in his career. Plan B is always to execute Plan A better. So it was on Saturday evening.
There was no sitting deep, swamping the space between defence and goal, setting up shop for a 0-0. They were brave, fearless, breathless and they attacked with panache.
Leeds lived up to the hype and more. They trusted themselves. They weathered the early storm and slipped back into that style they have mastered. They had more of the ball than the champions on their own turf.
It’s not Fulham or Sheffield United you must be looking at next, it’s that Manchester City visit to Elland Road on the horizon. A chance to see these contenders do it all over again.
