Sky Sports pundit Phil Thompson believes Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa got his tactics wrong as the Whites slipped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Birmingham City
Che Adams’s first-half strike ensured Leeds slipped to third in the Championship table, with Sheffield United winning 1-0 away at Preston North End.
Bielsa’s men take on the Lilywhites on Tuesday night, looking to bounce back from this defeat.
Thompson, who watched the game live for Sky Sports’s Soccer Saturday show, was critical of Bielsa in his post-match appraisal, questioning his choice of tactics for the game.
When asked if Leeds lacked creativity, he said: “Yes. I just think Bielsa tried to be clever because he started with three at the back and [Kalvin] Phillips was moving into midfield and then they went to four.
“I think it was ‘watch me, look how I’m tactically getting this right’ and I thought it was poor. Then they lacked creativity unless [Pablo] Hernandez was on the ball, you never felt anything was going to happen.
“There was just something lacking until the last 15, 10 minutes when it was all Leeds and they were putting the pressure on. I thought Birmingham defended absolutely magnificently. In the main, they kept them quiet.
“With Leeds, I was expecting more, put it that way. I was expecting them to put more pressure on, get down the flanks, but it didn’t really happen.”
It was another frustrating day at the office for Patrick Bamford, who spurned several gilt-edged chances during the match.
After missing a penalty in last week’s 3-2 win over Millwall, the striker was once again wasteful and was substituted after 70 minutes.
“The first one he put out a leg and it hit the post, he should have done better with it,” Thompson explained.
Leeds United fans are all saying same thing about Patrick Bamford's display vs Birmingham City
“Then he had another one, I thought he was a bit lackadaisical, at the near post, he turned and put it over the bar when he should’ve been trying to ram it into the bottom corner. Then he had a header which Lee Camp saved. It just wasn’t his day.”
Leeds head to Lancashire on Tuesday night, knowing a win would take them back to second in the table, with Sheffield United not in action until Wednesday against Birmingham City.
