Leeds United hosted Manchester City today to a 1-1 draw. Pep Guardiola's team was dominant in the first 20 minutes where I suspected that Leeds was out of there depth and based on their playing style would easily let in 3 more goals. However, Leeds did not break from their playing philosophy. Bielsa's coaching style was well demonstrated on the field today. I don't want to merely summarize the match as mostly anyone reading this can find others much more qualified for that. My interest lies more in the typical nostalgia factor of they don't make them like that anymore.
There is no surprise that Manchester City have a significant economic backing from their ownership group. The back four are one of the most expensive back lines in football. That is where I want to focus on, the money. No, this isn't the usual money is destroying the game and brings a disadvantage to other teams and blah blah blah. The emphasis on the money is how it has changed or can change coaching and managing a soccer team. The two managers for this game. Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa are two masterminds in the footballing world. Pep a genius and Bielsa "el loco."
The game was entertaining to watch, but it was difficult not to notice the way the teams were built. Guardiola has almost all the resources available to him while Bielsa is on the opposite end. Both teams are built in mind with their coach's approach to the game. Just one has unlimited amounts of cash or it seems that way while the other is a team recently promoted from the second division. To be fair, Leeds United did spend this off season. Their goal scorer tonight, Rodrigo was purchased for his services from the Spanish side Valencia for quite the price tag, breaking a club record.
This in no shape or form am I suggesting that one coach is better than the other or one side has an unfair advantage. My focus here is on the coaching or the approach to coaching a team with the influence of large amounts of money. Bielsa is carrying what I would consider the traditional approach where a coach has a team and must develop the players and team philosophy to complete their goals. Bielsa has revitalized the like of Kalvin Phillips in the central midfield role. This is not to say that Guardiola has not or can't do the same, which he has in the past. The issue is that now, Pep can turn to money to attempt for a quick fix for his side. In no way is that wrong or foul play, but today we saw that Mendy may not be the answer for Manchester City at left back. Full disclosure I watch Leeds United more than I watch Manchester City and could be wrong on my player analysis. Mendy could have just had a bad game and the pouring rain did not help either. Yet, for an expensive backline I would expect better from all four defenders.
The issue with money is that Bielsa is forced to coach players and their roles more intensely than Guardiola due to not sharing the same deep financial pockets. I see that Bielsa is a coach from the Sir Alex Ferguson era where one must make their team and players better with reliance on team chemistry and individual growth from certain core players year to year and game to game. I am not naïve to state that Manchester United did not spend massively on players during Ferguson's time in charge, but he didn't have the same approach as the other coaches who wanted to find a finish polish player every transfer market. Guardiola is an excellent coach with a huge budget or not. However, I sense that coaches are looking for the quick fixes which makes sense with the amount of pressure and limited time they have to turn a team around and get results. I wonder if that is one of the issues causing Manchester City's sluggish start that has carried over from last season.
I rate both coaches in the upper echelons of coaching. One clearly has financial resources while the other must rely much more heavily on his coaching philosophy. Which makes sense when Bielsa has stated that Leeds only know how to play one way. This is no ding at the teams with money at their disposal, it would be foolish for a coach to have that resource and not utilize it properly. I just wonder if that is being used as a primary method to fix a team further reducing the coaching role requiring to coach than to a manager trying to fit and control new star recruits for their team to function.
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