Graham Potter is hoping Marcelo Bielsa’s unbeaten Championship record kicks the bucket at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday night.
Bielsa may be one of the most revered coaches in the world and he may have got Leeds United away to a flying start to the season, but nothing seems to have attracted more attention than his preference to sit on a large blue upturned bucket rather than in the dug-out.
The Argentinian has even added to the mystery by refusing to detail why he likes to park himself on the plastic, rather than the comfier seats on the bench.
“It’s just a bucket,” he said, enigmatically, when asked about it following three successive victories that have placed the Yorkshire side second in the early season table.
Potter is not a man to find controversy where there is only mundane observation, so his view on Bielsa’s seating arrangements are unsurprising.
“It’s just a habit,” said Potter. “I don’t think there’s any right or wrongs and I certainly wouldn’t tell Bielsa what to do.
“I think his assistants help him a lot. At the Stoke game it was quite visible. They are quite active in the technical area. He thinks and directs but it obviously works for them.”
Potter, whose own team lay sixth after two wins and a fortunate draw at Birmingham last Friday, is more concerned with Bielsa’s methods and the impact they have had on a Leeds side that appear transformed without extensive new recruitment.
The former Argentina and Chile national manager has overseen a switch to a more possession-based, but attack-minded style that has brought them 11 goals in four games in all competitions.
Potter said: “I think Leeds are really good on the turnover and they’re good on transition.
“They want to run and they attack you with numbers so we have to have an understanding of what we have to do and we have to be better with the ball ourselves.
“They are very impressive. It’s high energy stuff and there’s a lot of running but there’s a lot to it.
“There’s a clear understanding of what they are doing and the trickiest bit is to get the players to buy in. They’ve done that as you can see from their performances and results.”
Potter may have gathered seven points from his opening three games but he is not kidding himself that a squad still desperately in need of strengthening is playing to the level that could sustain a promotion bid.
Had it not been for the quality shown by goalkeer Erwin Mulder and centre-back Mike van der Hoorn in the recent games against Birmingham and Preston, then the Swans might well have lost both.
“The results can help or send you off on a different path so we just have to know that every game is a chance for us to lose or win. We have to see that for what it is and then still understand how we can improve along the way.
“I think as long as we are honest with that and prepared to say we need to analyse this and look at how we can improve then hopefully we see signs of improvement.”
Potter views Leeds’ Macedonian midfielder Ezgjan Alioski as their creative influence and the match-up between Alioski and the Swans’ own Balkan playmaker, Bersant Celina, should be intriguing.
“I think Alioski has been really impressive in terms of his movement and his ability to find space which is high end Championship class,” added Potter.
“As a team they’re very organised, attack with a freedom and having got nine points they are playing with confidence.
“They have got movement throughout their front six so it’s going to be a good game. We want to be positive and play our part in the match and whilst we respect them we think we can cause them problems as well.”
