Marcelo Bielsa is not about walking down a downtown street. It suffices to see the numbers and note that he has only drawn two matches out of 25 in the Premier League. But it is comforting to see him play to believe in this scenario with 11 wins and 12 losses (43 goals in favor and 43 goals against).
It is true that he has not found prolonged regularity (his best streak was two wins in a row) since he made his long-awaited promotion in July 2020 and cut 12 years into the English promotion. But it is also true that any fan of the team and the team champion would have celebrated if at the beginning of the road he was guaranteed to be in his current place: far from suffering for the relegation centers and eight points for Chelsea the last to enter European competitions.
It is noteworthy that Bielsa has the fourth lowest budget of the 20 Super Teams. Even less than his rival, Southampton, in a match that was suspended on the 18th date, which he defeated 3-0 at Island Road.
Loco fell asleep and almost paid a heavy price for a stalled ball, his Achilles heel that he couldn’t correct. But as the minutes passed, he entered the match and balanced the process.
Rosario usually changes the names and the scheme. This time he set a streak of three behind and used Tyler Roberts as playmaker behind Patrick Bamford, his scorer and the only attacking man.
The idea, of course, was for the midfielders to arrive. Stunned at Ayling on the right, Raphinha could be free to exploit his speed and punch, as Stuart Dallas was encouraged to look for the pass between the lines.
In the first part, Raphinha only manages to break out of the mold. The first one he did very well: he ran a net dribble down the right wing, collected three marks and played again to enter Tyler Roberts set high. In the second, he missed an unbeaten opportunity: after a quick start from the bottom, the Brazilian got the floor to run 60 meters with the ball and face Alex McCarthy head-on. It took so long that Romeo gave him the opportunity to make a great finale. Swept the defender just enough and scored.
With fewer arrivals, the place was more emotional. Southampton was shrinking. In the 35th minute, Natan Tila faced the left flank and entered the area and when he faced Llorente he fell. Judge André Mariner sanctioned one of the criminals, but the VAR ruling later alerted and reversed him upon reviewing the action.
The match opened in the second half with an early goal from Bamford. Attack in Bielsa. Quick exit from the bottom with three touches. With Roberts accomplished the task intended by the Argentine. The 22-year-old put the ball into the rear immediately, an excellent pass between the lines for Bamford, who once again set the rating: crossed with the left foot and tight at the post.
1-0 break the process. There were no brakes in the middle of the field. Team Bielsa was exactly that: Team Bielsa. He attacked in anger and had several chances to top the account; He didn’t protect himself in the background and struggled too much with a harmless competitor. Until close, it managed to filter the process and put what happened in the process on the scoreboard.
Bamford had a strong right hand that was covered by McCarthy, as well as Roberts with a powerful shot and even Llorente, the center back who went out to play and ended up defending in the area but again found a good reaction from the visiting goalkeeper.
The relief came 12 minutes after the shutdown and another piece of script Bielsa tried to use. With a midfielder advancing past the opponent’s area, he appeared surprisingly and ready to hurt. Stuart Dallas, already running through several spots under Loco’s hand, was perfectly contoured, on the edge and against the wand.
The cake was crowned by Ravenha with a superb free kick goal.
The three points are necessary to turn the page and leave behind two consecutive defeats (1-0 against Wolverhampton and 4-2 against Arsenal) and are an additional link in a campaign that unites the first goal of establishing the team in the highest category.
Bielsa’s style, without halves of course.
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