Murderball: Why Bielsa's Leeds United are the fittest side in the Premier League
The dreaded Murderball…
I’d like to start by stating that typically there are no positive connotations to come out of the lexeme ‘murder.’
So if you don’t already know what Bielsa’s Murderball is, you’ll be able to gather that it isn't particularly pretty.
When Marcelo Bielsa was appointed as Leeds United manager back in 2018, everything changed.
A completely new system was implemented into the Leeds United camp, which included the most dreaded test of fitness in the game; Marcelo Bielsa’s Murderball.
A key feat of Marcelo Bielsa’s success as a manager comes from his side’s ability to maintain a consistent high press.
Of course, in order to maintain such an intense method of play-style, Bielsa’s players require an extremely high level of fitness.
That’s where Murderball comes in.
“You honestly have to see it to believe it”
“Even if the ball goes out, there’s a member of staff waiting with another ball to put it in. You can’t stop.”
“Five minutes, you rest for a minute and then go again. That’s where we get our fitness from. Hell for leather, run into each other, no fouls, no offsides.”
Via CameraSport
So what is Murderball?
To put it simply, Murderball is essentially football with no rules or stoppages of any kind.
The session consists of two teams made up of 11 players in a non stop, high intensity game in which heavy tackles and shirt pulling are legal acts.
When the ball goes out of play, Bielsa’s coaching staff ensure another is instantly available so that there is no chance for the players to recover.
Leeds’ captain, Liam Cooper, described Bielsa’s Murderball as “organised chaos,” whilst Polish midfielder, Mateusz Klich concurred with his teammate.
He said:
“The intensity of the Wednesday games is higher than the match.
It’s 11 v 11 non-stop, constantly running around, sprinting, you have coaches on the pitch screaming at you, you can’t stop running
You have to just play football, you could be five or six minutes one time or one time 20 minutes”
Whilst it’s clearly a tough drill, Klich believes it’s the weeks most pivotal activity.
By building fitness through a method as demanding as this, it allows the players to build on physical qualities such as stamina and strength whilst also promoting mental developments such as tenacity and team play.
The stats reflect this notion and speak for themselves;
Leeds’ Mateusz Klich has made the most pressures this season with 185.
Luke Ayling (1882) ranks second in the progressive ball carrying statistics, just behind Jack Grealish (1968).
Whilst Leeds centre-back, Robin Koch (1486), ranks 7th in the progressive ball carrying statistics, just behind Kyle Walker (1529).
Leeds United as a team rank 3rd in the number of loose balls recovered this season, just behind Liverpool and Southampton.
Whilst Mateusz Klich is currently the most pressing player in the league, defenders Luke Ayling and Robin Koch are in the top 10 players this season for the most amount of ground covered with the ball.
What’s more, the team as a collective are among the top 3 teams in the league for best recovery numbers - a true testament to Bielsa’s tactics and his player’s physical and mental strengths.
Not only do these stats reflect how Leeds play, but they also suggest that their players are a cut above the rest in terms of fitness - allowing them to operate between a hybrid of gegenpressing and an overloading ball side press.
This allows Bielsa’s men to win the ball back as quickly as possible and strike on the counter with immense pace and directness.
Whilst the work that they put in helps them to dominate in aspects such as ball recovery and ground covered, the system does take a lot out of the players and can lead to niggling injuries.
It remains to be seen as to whether Bielsa will look to dilute his extreme methods during a hectic fixture overload.
It’s something to watch out for, but it’s definitely worked for them so far as they’ve taken the Premier League by storm since their promotion.