Video analysis: Leeds United - Marcelo Bielsa
Check out part of my study of a specific moment of play from Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United: eleven clips showing how the team builds attacking play in a high block.
The analysis
This collection aims to identify points of interest from the team above, to use as input for my own game model.
Each clip shows a combination of recurring actions, such as one-touch passes, support in numerical overloads, and cut-backs, identified across several matches from the 18-19 and 19-20 seasons, and edited with Play (Metrica Sports).
The clips
Eleven variations on the same attacking pattern
Diagonal aerial pass + 2v2 wide situation
After winning back possession, an attacking midfielder (43, Klich) takes an oriented touch, body shaped toward the pitch, and spots one of the wingers (7, Harrison) making a run in behind the defence. That pins back the entire opposition defensive block. Given the attacker's good control and attributes, he engages his marker in a 1v1 while waiting for his teammate (15, Dallas) to overlap and create a 2v2 out wide, setting up a dangerous ball into the middle. Worth noting: the presence of the centre-forward (9, Bamford) and the winger on the opposite flank (17, Roberts), as well as Klich's unmarked run into the second line.
Third man inside the box + cut-back
Multiple touches inside the box that end in a third-man play, who delivers a cut-back. Note there could have been two or three receivers for that second pass into the third man, and four potential receivers inside the box for that ball; the ability to generate great offensive density is a determining attribute in teams I follow closely.
Lateral pass between opponents + switch of play + second-ball recovery + cross
The winger feints against his marker out wide, fixing the duel. Noticing he has no way to beat him, he uses his teammate's good positioning to play a wide pass between three opponents. The midfielders quickly read the chance to swing the ball across, moving it from side to side while accounting for positional rotations to occupy and vacate spaces. After recovering the ball within a second of losing it, they generate a cross with high offensive density in the box for both the first and second ball. Staying focused when you're not directly involved in the play lets you exploit space and maximise the desired odds; note that the winger who started the switch of play is the one arriving at the back post for the cross.
Diagonal pass between opponents + play inside the opposition box
"Inside-out" diagonal runs are an attribute heavily used in Bielsa teams' attack on the free spaces left by the defence. The player on the left (22) spots his teammate appearing inside the box to thread a pass between 3 opponents (I call this a "door-3 pass"), who plays it first-time to keep the tension in the box. Before the aerial cross, his own teammates are already reading that the ball could go to the near-post runner (10), as well as reading the space available through the middle of the pitch (22). In terms of offensive density, there are five potential receivers inside the box for a cross played in from the edge of the box, forcing eight of the opposition's ten outfield players back. This affects what comes next: if I have 8 players inside the box defending, I'm left with only two players to cover all the spaces on the pitch where we'd want to start building play after winning the ball back. That's a clear problem, triggered by the continuous offensive tension already described and by the lack of tools to counter it.
2v2 situation out wide + cut-back + shot
Marcelo Bielsa's teams tend to exploit the space in behind the opposition's back line. In this passage of play out wide, the 2v2 overload they generate lets them turn an almost inconsequential situation into a cut-back and a dangerous shot that goes out for a corner. What proves decisive is how the midfielder making the run (43) reads the available space while the pass in behind is being played to him, since it lets him know how to deliver the cut-back to the striker (9) given the limited space available. This ability to read the collective situation you and your teammates are in on the pitch within tiny windows of time, combined with sound decision-making, tends to be a differentiating quality at the elite level, and one of the important attributes to work on in training sessions with the teams I coach.
Go-and-back run out wide
Also known as a "short-to-long" run. A no-ball feint to create space behind the defender and receive in better conditions. It tends to work best when the marking is tight, when the player making the run has good acceleration and top speed, and/or when there's space to exploit behind the marker. I think it's valuable to see how this same play also applies in tight spaces as a way to create space, movement, and new passing lanes; these movements often work as decoys for the passer's real intentions.
3v3 situation out wide + "inside-outside-inside"
A 3v3 overload that goes from the middle out wide and back to the middle, gaining 10 metres through offensive mobility, one-touch play and passing. Something very common in teams that don't generate mobility to exploit space is how static they are in key moments; after the pass to the open player, the two teammates closest to the middle could easily have stood still. That would have prevented the opposition from being pinned back and the space opening up in front of the box from being exploited.
Runs in behind
Creating space in behind the defence lets you gain ground quickly. A controlled long pass lets the team settle in the opposition's half. While the initial receiver waits for a teammate to arrive, the play builds out wide, gradually occupying the central zones at the edge of the opposition box, to create fresh runs in behind the back line finished with a high diagonal pass. Without the mobility and boldness to make that run in behind the receivers, as well as to arrive for the next phase of play, this would also be inconsequential — but it ends up being very dangerous in front of the opposition goal.
Winning field position + long aerial pass
Ball-carrying from the team's deepest players is something I really value and find interesting; they tend to be the players with the best balance between how long they can hold the ball, their vision of the pitch, and the distance to the potential receivers for a given play, so involving them is an added value that opens up multiple options to play short or long, like the long pass shown here.
Third man + opponent mismatch
This kind of play looks simple and not very relevant at first glance. One of football's best-known problems is generating space and passing lanes against the opposition's presence; space always exists and can be created, but only transiently. That invites you to provoke mismatches in the opposition's marking through individual and collective play. Here you can see an attacking projection that starts with the ball almost stationary, but that, with a third-man combination, already breaks the opposition's marking setup in that zone, allowing a 3v2 out wide that pins the opposition back.
Switch of play + 2v1 situation in the box
Sometimes a play can't be closed out through the middle of the pitch straight away, so the ball has to be moved to create marking distractions against a well-organised defence. The overlapping run from the left-back (10) allows a 2v1 to be created out wide after the ball is switched along the ground, setting up a low cross that isn't well executed and ends up in the goalkeeper's hands easily. The support from the full-backs and the sheer number of teammates available to receive passes or crosses are characteristic qualities of this Bielsa team. It tends to be easy to spot the teams that are poorly prepared to face them, suffering enormously just trying to cope with them.
Footage comes from the official match broadcast and is used in short clips, strictly for technical and educational analysis, with no commercial purpose. Broadcast graphics (scoreboard and channel logos) have been blurred.
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