Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has sensationally revealed that he has sent a staff member to watch all of their opponents’ training sessions this season – but hasdefended his methods and insisted they are not illegal.Bielsa called an impromptu press conference on Wednesday in response to investigations launched by the Football Association and the English Football League into his practices afterthe ‘spygate’ incident, where he employed a scout to watch Derby train ahead of their Championship clash last Friday.3
| Marcelo now walks the press through video analysis of an opponents offensive actions, explaining how it totals 40 minutes, which is then broken down into 8 minute clips for the players pic.twitter.com/juLwE0NEGo— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 16, 2019
MB going into detail on his homework on Derby #lufc pic.twitter.com/Wkchni9RyN— Adam Pope (@apopey) January 16, 2019“My goal is to make this easier for the investigation. By doing this I assume the possible sanctions by the authorities.“I don’t want to compare my situation with previous similar incidents.“I don’t want to make it easier for me by attacking others. Regarding what I’ve done – it is not illegal. It’s not specified, described or restrained.“Regarding what I’ve done, it’s not illegal. It’s not specified, it’s not described, it’s not restrained. We can discuss it, it’s not seen as a good thing, but it’s not a violation of the law.
'SPYGATE' TIMELINE OF EVENTS
January 10 – A day before the Rams host Bielsa’s league-leaders at Pride Park an employee of Leeds was spotted outside the Derby training ground. The police were called and Derby later released a statement confirming the chain of events.January 11 – The FA announce they are to investigate the incident, with the statement released shortly before goals from Kemar Roofe and Jack Harrison secure a 2-0 win for Leeds.Lampard speaks after the game, saying that sending someone to spy on the training of his side was “over the line” and that he would “rather not coach” than employ similar tactics.January 12 – Leeds formally address the incident and confirm they offered an apology to Derby and would “remind head coach Marcelo Bielsa of his responsibilities.”January 15 – The EFL launch a “formal investigation” into the incident.January 16 – Bielsa holds an impromptu press briefing where he says he has “observed” every opponent this season and that he will help the EFL with their investigation – adding his side did not get an advantage and that “it’s not seen as a good thing, but it is not a violation of the law. Although not illegal it is not necessarily the right thing to do”#LUFC BIELSA…. safe to say theres no doubt whatsoever that Marcelo Bielsa does comprehensive homework! pic.twitter.com/XoUJ4OhxvZ— West Yorkshire Sport (@WYSdaily) January 16, 2019“The wrong things you do are not done with bad intention or an intention to cheat. If you observe something without authorisation we call it spying.“I’m going to try and explain I did not have bad intentions.“I did not try to get an unfair sporting advantage. But I did it because it was not illegal or violating specific laws.“As Lampard (Derby boss Frank Lampard) says, he doesn’t believe I have bad intentions.“He believes I violated the fair play spirit so I have to adapt to the rules and habits of English football.”3
#LUFC BIELSA: As were going to play against Stoke, its hard to analyse them with a new head coach. So we analyse the 26 games he played with Luton & the structures he used pic.twitter.com/NKaaXB2j9f— West Yorkshire Sport (@WYSdaily) January 16, 2019Before Friday’s game Bielsa and his staff had watched all of Derby’s 51 games the previous season, with each match taking four hours to analyse.All opponents’ games are watched on video and broken down into five-minute spells to show which side is dominating, while Bielsa has data on every Championship player, including how many minutes each has played in certain positions.Bielsa admitted he was embarrassed by the depth of his analysis, adding: “I know that people laugh at you when you create this much data.“When you have strong data, it allows you to make a caricature of the one who is saying that.”Leeds’ next opponents Stoke appointed Nathan Jones as their new manager last week and Bielsa revealed his staff had watched all 26 of his former club Luton’s games this season.“I give this explanation to make you understand why I think I am not cheating, by doing something that is not illegal,” he added.“I know I am not trying to get an advantage. I already have the information. I repeat: Why do I do it? Because I think I’m stupid. Thank you for your patience.”
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