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Kieran King

Martin Keown makes Marcelo Bielsa 'obsession' claim but wouldn't want to be in Tottenham's shoes

Former England international Martin Keown wouldn't want to be playing Leeds United right now despite the club's recent slump in form.

The Whites face Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road this weekend as they aim to get back to winning ways after being thrashed 6-0 by Liverpool in midweek.

Burnley's 1-0 win over Spurs has left Leeds just three points above the bottom three and in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle if they don't pick up better results.

The most worrying sign is the Whites' defensive record, though, as Marcelo Bielsa's have now conceded the most goals in the Premier League this season (56).

When assessing the Whites in the games against Manchester United and Liverpool, Keown has picked out what concerns him the most, although he doesn't fear for their top-flight safety.

He told talkSPORT: "I'm trying to get to the bottom of what Bielsa wants and what he does. It's this man-marking system he has and this obsession and desire to mark people, it feels naive.

"I was 50 seconds into the game against Manchester United, there was a free-kick and Maguire's on the ball and there was five runs made by independent Man United players, just pulling Leeds players all over the pitch.

"It feels like they allow the opposition to dictate too much, they are too obsessed with the opposition. Leeds have got good players and I don't believe they will go down.

"I wouldn't really want to be playing against them this weekend. He makes so many changes and it causes confusion. A midfield player goes down injured, we know about the head injury to the midfield player.

"So, rather than just change the midfield player, he switches Dallas, the left-back to right-back, Ayling from right-back to centre-back, a central defender into midfield and the substitute on at left-back. That's three positional changes to make one change. Why would he do that? Why would you even think of that?

"It just gives you an idea of the detail he goes into with the players. What was remarkable about the game against Man United was that they were 2-0 down and he wanted to change the state, but I want to see some consistency and some rhythm."

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