Southampton 1-0 Leeds: Bielsa reaction

Last updated : 20 October 2021 By .

Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "I concede that we didn't play well at any moment in the game. The result is fair and it is justified in the first half. In the second half it was more even but we didn't play well in any moment. "It is not common to not be able to count on six players but the team that started the game was formed of players that usually play. Despite that it was difficult for us to get into the game in the first half, so I don't link the absence of the players to the result of the game. "I would have hoped to be able to count on all of them, but it is common that in competitions there will be moments when they are absent. Perhaps not six players but with the 11 we started with I imagined we could have done something. I don't ignore the absences but the performance is not linked to this."

On Raphinha travelling to Southampton but not playing: "The effort we made before knowing how many minutes he would play on Friday [for Brazil]. And in what conditions he would arrive. When the decision was taken the possibility existed he would not play minutes on Friday and that would have increased the possibility of him participating. He played 70 minutes and flew 15 hours and got here and rested. Today, he wasn't in condition to play. It was impossible to know this when the decision was taken for him to fly like he did."