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Marcelo Bielsa's murderball: What it is and what Leeds United players say about it
Marcelo Bielsa's murderball training sessions have become legendary, but what is the truth about them and what have Leeds United players said about it?

By Andrew Hankinson 15:00, 8 JAN 2022

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 Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa, creator of murderball. (Image: Getty Images)

Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa’s murderball has become legendary, but like all legends the truth has become somewhat difficult to decipher.
While some Leeds United fans may be sick of hearing about murderball, other football fans may be hearing about it for the first time as a result of ITV’s coverage of the Whites'
FA Cup tie with West Ham United.
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With that in mind, we thought it might be worth providing an explainer for those who are new to the term, or those who would like to know the truth about murderball.

What is murderball?
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trainingsession that was introduced at Leeds United by manager Marcelo Bielsa. The players divide into two teams and compete in a match, but the ball is continually put
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Why is it called murderball?

The Leeds United players nicknamed it that due to the intensity.
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What has the media said about it?

The Telegraph called it “gruelling”; the Sun called it “notorious”; the Scottish Mail on Sunday called it “ruthless”; the MailOnine called it “remorseless”; and the Scottish Daily Mail
used it as an example of Bielsa’s “bizarre methods”.

Is it a bizarre method?
Maybe not. In 2019, then-boss-of-Carlisle Steven Pressley said: “I read something about Marcelo Bielsa and the murderball game he plays in training. It's an 11 v 11 game. We
always talk about these foreign coaches and the things they are Leeds
doing,Live
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What do the players say?

Last year, speaking to the Daily Mail, Leeds striker Patrick Bamford said: “It's 11 v 11 on a full-sized pitch and every player has his own cone. As soon as the ball goes out of play,
wherever you are, you sprint back to your cone. Then the ball is chucked in somewhere and you go again.
“It's constant sprinting. I heard Kyle Walker describe the way we play as being like basketball. Murderball is basketball. It's man to man. If your man runs, you better be running
with him.”
He added: “It's non-stop. The coaches don't stand on the touchline, either. There are five of them in the middle of the pitch. You're having to dodge them and they're watching
everything.”
Also last year, Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips told the Times: “Murderball's mental. I'm used to it now but for new players that have come in like Robin [Koch], Rafa [Raphinha],
Diego [Llorente] after the training session they were looking around, as if to say, 'What have we just done?’
"We got three or four coaches in the middle screaming, plus the manager. Say a ball goes out, they're screaming at you, 'Get the ball back in,' 'play.' It's 100mph. I could clatter
you, no foul, play on. People fly into tackles, I've done it.
“I've been angry because the manager's shouting my name and I've seen the ball, and gone to tackle somebody, and then thought, 'I should calm down now because somebody's
going to get hurt here.’”

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In 2020, also to the Times, former Leeds player Kemar Roofe, now at Rangers, said: “We ended up giving it the nickname murderball because it just killed everybody, physically. It
was very tiring, non-stop running.
"There were no fouls. Everyone got kicked. Everyone gave it out, taking a yellow card for the team when you're having to chase someone down and you clip them from behind,
tactical fouls, just to stop the attack.”
Finally, Leeds midfielder Jack Harrison told the Telegraph last year: “It's three days before the game and it's the most intense training session we do. If you are defending, you
have to do it to your maximum. If you are attacking, it's the same.
“It doesn't stop. If the ball goes out, it comes straight back, there are basically no fouls, virtually no offsides. You play and continue playing and it's on a full-sized pitch, back and
forth.
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Today, we did six-minute segments and you really feel it. The stats are amazing as well, as we get close to the same number of high-intensity sprints we do in a game - and that's
within 20 or 30 minutes of football.
"It changes every week. We do three minutes or five minutes or six minutes for 20 to 30 minutes. After each segment we have a two-minute break and he [Bielsa] will talk to us
about things we have to improve on in the next segment.”
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