'There is nothing positive' - Leeds boss Bielsa fuming after worst-ever defeat at hands of Man City
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa could not hide his anger after both he and his club succumbed to their worst ever defeats, at the hands of Manchester City.
The Argentine could only watch on as City ran rampant at Etihad Stadium on their way to a 7-0 victory.
He admitted after the game that the result and performance were little short of a calamity.
What was said?
"There is nothing positive to take away from our performance," Bielsa fired to BT Sport after the final whistle.
"I can't find anything that can be valued. When there's nothing that's well done, it's not individualities that fail, but the organisation. There's no justification I can offer.
"The game was exactly how we thought it would be. We prepared ourselves to avoid everything that happened. We didn't manage to get anything.
"[Our usual style] is what we tried the whole game. Surely if we'd done the opposite, we would be lamented for not attempting anything to take away possesion from the opponent.
"What we attempted generated danger to our own goal. We didn't do anything well. That was evident in the scoreline.
"I insist everything that happened was what we wanted to avoid. As there's nothing to take from it, it's inevitable I have to take responsibility for a defeat of this type.
"We've never had a performance like the one today."
New lows
Tuesday's humiliation marked a nadir in Bielsa's long and illustrious coaching career.
Never before in 567 games had the ex-Newell's Old Boys, Argentina, Athletic Bilbao and Marseille boss seen one of his sides concede seven goals or more, making this his heaviest defeat since starting out more than three decades ago.
7 - In the 568th game of his club managerial career, Marcelo Bielsa has seen his side concede seven goals for the very first time. Loco. #MCILEE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 14, 2021
1 - Leeds United have suffered their joint-heaviest defeat in their history as a Football League/Premier League club in all competitions, alongside seven-goal defeats to Stoke (1-8 in Aug 1934), West Ham (0-7 in Nov 1966) and Arsenal (0-7 in Sep 1979). Hiding. #MCILEE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 14, 2021
Leeds too tied their worst loss in league football. Not since 1934, when they went down to Stoke City 8-1, had the Whites lost by a seven-goal margin, having also suffered 7-0 defeats on two occasions in the League Cup - to Arsenal in 1979 and West Ham in 1966.