Marcelo Bielsa is undoubtedly enjoying a fantastic season at Leeds United. The club, last year, finished 13th in the Championship and had sacked their manager after only four months. Fast forward seven months Leeds sit at the top of the Championship, so undoubtedly Bielsa's coaching is working miracles.
However, yesterday's third round FA Cup tie against QPR was not a great example of this.. In fact, it was arguably a miracle favouring QPR. Until yesterday, QPR had only won two FA Cup ties in the last seventeen attempts, and this season, they sit ninth in the Championship. Moreover, they are currently being managed by the man, who twice was voted as England's worst ever manager, having failed to get the so-called 'Golden Generation' of Rooney, Gerard, Lampard and co. to the Euros in 2008. So playing top of the league Leeds Utd, managed by the coach who's pressing game influenced the likes of Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, didn't sound like a great prospect in terms of breaking that duct.
However when the final whistle blew at the Loftus Road Stadium on Sunday afternoon, and QPR found themselves 2-1 winners, no-one who was there could say they didn't deserve it. From the outset you could see the mentality of the two teams. Leeds, kept most of the possession and piled on the pressure to score. QPR on the other hand, dropped back and countered. It seemed as if, in the first half, QPR lacked belief. They needn't have. Their opponents, who had rested key players for their upcoming league match against Derby County on Friday, fielded a defence that only had five league starts between them. QPR even scored first. A bright start from the Hoops eventually forced an error from the Leeds back line. A clumsy tackle from Leif Davis lead to a penalty which Oteh slotted home.
After Halme's equalizer moments later, Leeds pushed for a second, and throughout the latter minutes of the first half, it seemed as if better club was the better side on the day. Obviously, McClaren saw something that I didn't because the QPR that came out in the second half looked like a completely different side. They piled pressure onto Leeds, they showed heart, they showed energy and they showed courage. Frankly, Leeds got outplayed. They never really threatened the Hoops' goal in the second half. QPR's pressure was rewarded by a late header from Bidwell to put the Hoops 2-1 up. To be honest if you were a first time spectator, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that the chants of "we are top of the league," were being made by QPR fans rather than Leeds.
Now as to whether Bielsa was out done by McClaren. You'd have to say yes, based on the performance of the two teams on the day, but when you consider the fact that Bielsa had to field a weakened team with an inexperienced defence, it might not be fair judgment of the Argentine.
