West Brom must find answer to Bielsa's unique style: Allardyce

LONDON:

West Bromwich Albion manager Sam Allardyce knows Leeds United will throw the kitchen sink at his side when they meet in the Premier League later on Tuesday and he must figure out a way of neutralizing their high-powered attack.

Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa has earned praise for his attack-minded football philosophy, which has helped his side up to 12th in the league, though after scoring 25 goals and conceding 30 there have been criticisms of his approach.

After a 6-2 loss to Manchester United earlier this month, Bielsa accused the media of looking to "destabilise" his squad with opinions on their playing style.

"I've got to work out why he's so crazy," Allardyce told reporters. "It's not 'crazy', it's more his intelligence and his unique style, and I think it serves the players and the club in good stead."

Allardyce is known for a more pragmatic approach, which has worked well with sides struggling for survival, and the veteran coach hope to build momentum in his bid to keep 19th-placed West Brom up.

His side earned a 1-1 draw at champions Liverpool in their last game while Leeds beat Burnley 1-0.

"We have to find a way of finding out how we can score against them, which sometimes seems easy, but it's never going to be as easy as that ... they try and score as many goals as they can, so we've got to cancel that out," Allardyce added.

"... Can we expose the weaknesses and the gaps and spaces that they leave when they do go all-out attack?"