Marcelo Bielsa blamed Leeds United’s sloppy finishing for the near-ending of their automatic promotion chances. The Argentine was crestfallen after Leeds lost 2-0 to Brentford, their second defeat in three days, which now leaves Sheffield United one win away from sealing second place.
Speaking in his post-match press conference at Griffin Park, Bielsa said that this defeat was “unfair” and was the “summary of their season” because of their inefficiency in front of goal. He also insisted that Leeds would have already won the Championship by now if they could only take their chances.
“I am very sad,” Bielsa said. “The loss today is going to be very difficult. Today’s game looked like many games we played this year. We did not take advantage of the positive moments where we could have made the difference. At the beginning of the first half and the second half we could have scored goals. And the moments where we dominated less, they dominated us and they scored.”
Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts missed good chances in the first half, Pablo Hernandez missed two chances in the second half, and Leeds had a good appeal for a penalty overlooked.
“We played against a team with very good offensive players, but we had twice more chances to score than the opponent. It is hard for us to build actions to goal. We had offensive actions but without efficiency. And this is the summary of our season. Many chances to score compared to the goals we actually scored.”
Leeds are now three points behind Sheffield United and six behind Norwich, but Bielsa believes they would be comfortably top, heading for the title, if only they could finish.
“If we had normal efficiency we would have 10 or 12 more points than we do have. That is not the case. And we have to put all of our energy into the option we still have [the play-offs], it is very important for us.”
Bielsa did not blame his players and said that they have out-performed expectations simply for being where they are. “If we want to speak clearly and say why we do not have 10 points more, we just have to look at how many chances to score the other teams need to score one goal, and how many chances we need to score one goal. The level of the team has always been the same, the effort has always been the same. Of course the team has limits…This team has hidden many limits with huge effort. With personality, and by being demanding. Each player has played very close to his maximum during many games.
“If we are to explain these circumstances, what we can say is this team deserves to have 10-12 points more and we don’t have them, because we needed too many chances to score to actually score one goal. This is the vision I have through the whole season.”
Bielsa had special praise for Pablo Hernandez, who left the field in tears at the end. “Pablo deserves to finish first or second,” he said. “So I understand how he feels. But football every day gives you new opportunities.”
