Everton v Leeds United press conference recap: Marcelo Bielsa on injuries, Diego Maradona, Tier 3 and Mateusz Klich as a centre-back

The Whites head coach was asked about United's latest injuries, Everton and of course the death of Diego Maradona.

Here is what Bielsa had to say.

On Maradona

"He couldn't be better. He was for us and will continue to be an idol.

"And given the fact that he is not here with us any more it gives us great sadness.

"Having lost an idol for us is something that makes us feel weak."

A particular memory in your mind? His testimonial in 2001 when you were Argentina manager?

"In that game what really stood out was his relationship with the public but everything he did as a footballer was of beauty which cannot be matched.

On nomination for FIFA coaching award

"To be nominated is always a distinction, I appreciate it. But every time a manager is singled out the players are involved in this singling out because the coach is always an appendix of the players and also the technical staff because the construction of a football team is not solely the responsibility of the one in charge so this nomination is also for the technical staff and the support and spirit of a club like Leeds that is also recognised as a result of this.

"Whilst it is a nomination it can also be perceived as excessive but any labour that generates a repercussion can have its praise or criticisms so I appreciate all the recognition and accept the criticism."

Team news - Hernandez?

"Shackleton, Pablo and Llorente are still not available but the rest of the players are."

What did Maradona mean to Argentina as a country?

"Maradona was an artist. The dimension of the repercussion of this art had infinite recognition. To give one example that stands out the songs that have been written about him are extraordinary and I read ten texts after his death that have been emotional and there is a recognition of what he gave to the spectators in beauty and in terms of what he signifies to us in particular, Diego made us feel a fantasy that an idol makes you feel. He is an idol, a myth that is a person who believes that as a person we are all capable of doing it and that;s why the loss of an idol always hurts the people who are most excluded the most. Because they are ones who most needs someone to show them that they can triumph."

On Everton - they have been up and down?

"Week to week I have been commenting on a team's results, you have already commented on them for me so I don't think I need to give an explanation.

"The results and succession of results speak for themselves and then there are results we can analyse."

can you exploit defensive problems there?

"Prior to giving an explanation for our defensive woes I would require the same amount of time for them so I can't give you a synthetic answer and in that press conference I appreciated the fact I was allowed for 20 minutes to give a good answer so the same applies now."

On Ancelotti

"I have respect and admiration for Ancelotti, first of all because he has been wanted by all the best teams in the world, he has been chosen by some of them as part of their institutions in football which shows how good he is.

"The second thing is that he has triumphed everywhere he has been and the third thing is that he is a manager who is well respected by the players as well as his other colleagues.

"And the last thing is that he has never been no one has ever criticised his way of playing which is always an unselfish one and is always valuable.

"To have all of this in one manager is not very frequent."

On Klich

"Klich for me is a player that can play in all the best teams in the world for me.

"So he is in Leeds by chance.

"It doesn't have to do with the fact that I decided he continues at Leeds.

"To say in the first pre season I asked if he would consider playing as a centre back but it so happened that in one preseason game before the start of the season against Las Palmas the candidates for the player to play in the no 8 all started falling away. I a referring to Forshaw and Ronaldo Vieira and their absences allowed him to play and show his abilities and he has never been out of the team since.

"All the praise should go to him and to Victor Orta who is the player who brought him here."

on football and social media

"To be honest I have no idea about the subject of social media.

"A sector of life that society has is that anonymity allows you to express yourself without the judgement of others. It's not the same as something in public, everybody has the opportunity to manifest themselves and a civilization shows that if someone expresses themselves they should face the consequences of what they express."

Where you where when Maradona faced England in 86 World Cup - memories - of the dribble goal

"It's a work of art.

"No I don't recall where I was but the expression of a work of art is something you can't put to too many things.

"And for me it gave me that impression like when you see an architectural work of art where you are astounded, something similar to that.

"For example when you see a beautiful church you are taken aback and this is something similar to when Diego scored."

Maradona pressure at Napoli

"Players with such individual brilliance they don't know what it is to play with pressure.

"The development of the creativity of a player like Diego wouldn't have been able to develop if he felt pressure.

"And in football the pressure means that the pressure around you affects some way your performance.

"And I believe that in the 4 or 5 best players in the world feel this."

Tier 3 - no fans - but 2,000 allowed elsewhere

"It's a question that is linked to those who define the categories.

"If the reasons why Leeds are in category 3 are the right ones then it's the correct decision.

"And if category 3 it means that it is risky for the public to attend then the decision is correct again.

"What I don't know is whether it is correct Leeds are in category 3 and if this means there should be no fans.

"The question should not be if Leeds have no fans and if Liverpool do have fans.

"The question should be is should Leeds be in category 3 and is it right that fans shouldn't attend. There is another look to this - we stop allowing the competition to be performed.

"The competition has natural scaffolds. The power of each club corresponds to that club so perhaps there could be a rule where fans are not allowed in all stadiums and they should not be allowed until everyone can.

"This is not a question, it shouldn't have to do with the consequences of being in the category or the category, it should be about trying to maintain the competition as equal as possible with things that are controllable.

"I am just applying common sense which perhaps doesn't go.

"The presence of fans has an effect on the result but the competition says that people who are from higher rates of infection will be penalised for that reason but this is also the case where perhaps these institutions should not be punished because there is a higher risk of infection.

"I am just making an analysis of common sense.

"It’s the same for me with more or less fans.

"I am not going to say anything if we have to play with fans or without fans."

Maradona greatest of all time?

"If you were to compare the 5 players I mention it is very difficult because you have to take into account so many factors.

"So then it all comes down to the feeling that each player has left you at that time, maybe he left you with a certain feeling and you carried that with you.

"But there is something that makes me really sad is that people like Maradona and Messi who showed their individual brilliance through dribbling, they are versions of players that stop repeating themselves.

"That is to say for example that Mbappe is the best player in the world right now, his art is not comparable to that of Maradona's and Messi's."

On missed chances against Arsenal - deju vu?

"I think that in other opportunities in other occasions we have had many opportunities to score and this prevented us from winning and the game against Arsenal has this characteristic."

Is there anything you can do about it?

"Football is decided in both boxes, you have to be effective to finish off your attacks and you have to neutralise the attacks of the opponents so they don't become dangerous.

"What happens in both boxes appears to be something that is key but what the teams do in the rest of the pitch, what happens in the two boxes, if you elaborate then you will have more chances to create danger or to create more important chances.

"And if you neutralize the opponent before they reach your box then you will have better opportunities to defend so in the case of the game against Arsenal, in the first 11 against 11 we played well and in the second half have it was more difficult for us to attack then in the first half because the opponent sat back with the same amount of players even though they had one player less.

"Because Arsenal had one player left they were able to defend deeper and better but this cost them momentum and in line with this we had to defend less and we had more of the ball to attack but in more difficult conditions.

"Within that contest in the two halves we created 12 opportunities to score and we received three attacks from them and the best team in the world with 12 opportunities they score three or four goals and usually for us we score two or three.

"In this case there wasn't position, there wasn't accuracy, it's not that we don't train accuracy or shooting but what we have to do is create opportunities of danger.

"What we have to try to achieve is that we don't need as many chances to score a goal, and the question is how do we improve this so we have to be precise.

"All players and all teams train this vigorously and there is no direct relation between the more I train these aspects and the better I get.

"What the training sessions do influence is the amount of opportunities you can create."

Why is the art of dribbling dying out?

"I wouldn't know what to answer you, sincerely, even though I constantly talk about football.

"To dribble is to trick your opponent to show him that you are going to something and do another.

"It is something that you can't teach, it belongs to every player and the talent that they have so traditionally you have a player who would learn to play with many hours and without any rules.

"With many hours and no rules there are a lot of situations to resolve and everyone would find their own solutions.

"Nowadays kids or players they don't spend as much time with a ball and what they learn is not by themselves but transmitted to them and for me football's creative spectacle, every time has less beauty and as time goes on players are worth even more but not because the quality increases, just because there are fewer good players and that's why in football in general hasn't been able to develop this so it becomes more efficient."