Five months ago Leeds suffered their worst loss of their season, a 6-2 defeat against Manchester United, causing some sections of the media to suggest Marcelo Bielsa needed to change his approach.
The dissent mostly came due to praise given to the Argentine for sticking to his guns during a humbling defeat, but the underlying context ran much deeper.
The praise mostly came from defenders of the likes of Sam Allardyce and attritional football, but today was the encapsulation of how much the game has moved on, with one of the biggest proponents of ugly football, Sean Dyche, humiliated by Bielsa.
Jose Mourinho has already shown how much the game has evolved, with his defence focused management style being easily bypassed by teams well-rehearsed in pressing and co-ordinating attacks, while multiple examples are being shown further down the league.
The aforementioned Allardyce racked up his second-ever relegation (although he claims it’s his first) while the majority of the top six places in the Championship are occupied by young fresh managers with new ideas, while names such as Neil Warnock and Tony Mowbray flounder.
This season has brought more of an opportunity than ever for trying new things, with a lack of supporters meaning sides like West Ham can even have success under the strangest circumstances, but for coaches like Marcelo Bielsa, hopefully today was another promising reminder of where English football is heading.
