Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds United - Every word from Marcelo Bielsa's pre-match press conference, Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling and Robin Koch injury latest

“Intensity, a collective sense, they are teams that attack with a lot of players but not because of this do they defend with less players and that is a virtue that is very hard to get in a team. The normal thing is that those of us who are spectators, we observe the aspects that outshine in a game but those things that I have just named are very difficult to achieve. I repeat, to attack with many, that without that you still don’t defend with less or defending with many and with that not meaning that you attack with less players and that is very marked out in the teams that he has managed and I think it is something that stands out and is very difficult to achieve.” On looking at his body of work rather than Tottenham as a team? “He is not a new coach, he is a recognisable coach in charge of a team with different players but the characteristics of the players is very recognisable and the principals in which he conducts also, so it is probable to imagine that with very few games the profile of the team.”

“The virtues that he has and the characteristics have always been the same and the evolution has to do with the way he interprets his professional life and the opportunities that he had and how he took advantage of them. He went earning a place in his national team and he has kept his place in the team in Leeds for four seasons now so what he does to maintain himself and to shine is what allows him to continue to grow.”

“No, we don’t do that. Imagine the amount of leagues, the amount of coaches that shine, to implement what you are proposing would be impossible to implement and also the managers, the coaches that shine they are always described and so for that reason whenever a new manager comes into the league it is not difficult to imagine and interpret his style of play, not that it is easy but it is possible.”

“I have seen the performances of all of them, all of them had very important games and they all had positive results. I wouldn’t put one performance above any another.”

“More than what I do, it is what he does. Every player that has the capacity to unbalance individually, they have a consciousness of a different type of controlled receptions from which they can compose themselves. The players that unbalance, what is most convenient for them, is to receive a lot of balls, doing it far away from the markers that they are up against, and to receive the ball more on the move rather than standing still and managing to take contact of the ball in spaces where the opponent doesn’t expect it and no player that unbalances ignores how to resolve these issues, to receive the ball in good conditions. As much as I would say that more than the power to eliminate players one v one, the virtue that allows them to shine is how they receive the ball.” How do you strike the balance of not asking too much of him but not depriving yourself of such an important player: “Another characteristic of the elite players, is that they are ambitious and that the demands and the limits, they put them themselves and they don’t need an external stimulus to want them to do this.”

“He is sufficiently good right now. If you asked me how do I imagine his evolution, I would say to maintain regularly performances like the ones he is achieving would be a great indicator and the other great challenge that the players that shine have is to transfer that evolution to his team mates and to the team. Raphinha will be a lot better if the team is better and if his team mates are better. This, what I say is not a conclusion that is elaborated by myself but it is a conclusion that comes from the players that shine. They start by unbalancing by themselves, they manage to facilitate how their team mates performs and that development of the collective game improves the team that they belong to, that contains them and that process is a great challenge.”