Marcelo Bielsa's last Leeds match felt like a goodbye to a family dog

There was no anger inside Elland Road, no storming of the directors’ box amid calls for the manager to be sacked. Instead, a sad acceptance of a journey’s end.

It felt like a mournful goodbye to the family dog, and Leeds United under Marcelo Bielsa have certainly lost their bite. It was time for change and, when Bielsa’s departure was confirmed at 11am yesterday, there was little protest from supporters.

Rarely, though, will a manager leave on the back of four straight defeats — and a club tumbling towards relegation — with as much affection and acclaim as that which will be afforded to the Argentine.

LEEDS (4-1-4-1): Meslier 4.5; Ayling 4.5, Llorente 3, Struijk 4 (Klich 46min, 5), Firpo 3.5; Koch 4.5; Raphinha 5, Forshaw 5, Dallas 5.5, Harrison 5 (Rodrigo 46, 5); James 5. 

Booked: Klich, Dallas , Firpo, Rodrigo. 

Manager: Marcelo Bielsa 4.

TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris 6; Romero 7, Dier 7, Davies 7; Doherty 7.5, Winks 8, Hojbjerg 8, Sessegnon 7 (Bergwijn 78); Kulusevski 7.5 (Royal 78), Kane 8.5, Son 7 (Scarlett 87). 

Scorers: Doherty 10, Kulusevski 15, Kane 27, Son 85. 

Booked: Davies, Sessegnon. 

Manager: Antonio Conte 7.

Referee: Craig Pawson 7. 

Attendance: 36,599.

Leeds are here, in the Premier League after 16 years away, because of Bielsa. He turned Championship players into top-flight stars, making England internationals of Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford, both of whom are currently sidelined. That has not helped.

But what we have seen in recent months is a squad losing faith in Bielsa’s unbending methodology, a man for whom the notion of change does not extend much beyond the colour of his side’s jerseys. Without that belief, some have started to look like the second-tier players they perhaps always were.

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