MARCELO BIELSA

RESEARCH STUDY
PART 1
EDUCATIONAL STUDY BY
WWW.KEEPITONTHEDECK.COM
LEGAL NOTICE The following is accepted by the recipient of this document

No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

ACKNOWLEDGED ON RECEIPT transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, mechanical,
recording or otherwise.

Printing of this publication for individual reference is exclusive solely to the

person who has downloaded this document.

Use of videos is exclusive solely to the person who has downloaded this
document. Videos may not be shared online or distributed by any means,
electronic, photocopying, mechanical, recording or otherwise.

Person, company, site or any online location found to be responsible for

breach of the above accept all legal action resulting.

In accordance with internet law, this is a research based educational document

intended for fair use purpose. The images and videos accompanying this
document have been licensed under creative commons license or public
domain content.
Social Media: @keepitonthedeck

YouTube

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook
 The Ten Principles

Table of of Bielsa (1-10)

What is featured in
Contents Part 1 (11-12)
Session 1 (13-14)
Session 2 (15-16)
Session 3 (17-18)
Session 4 (19-20)
Session 5 (21-22)
Session 6 (23-24)

Website
This document contains Part 1 of the Marcelo Bielsa Research Study
www.keepitonthedeck.com
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle One - Entertain

"Whoever sacrifices beautiful football

for the result, they can chastise me.
The poorest of us only have football
as relaxation. I would be sorry if we
only gave them results“

1
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Two - Repetition Triggers Action

"A player may not automate an action.

They must learn them, and they might
forget them. The action will remain
present, and the football will bring
them back to life when needed"

2
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Three - Creativity is Vital

"A playing style system that does not

look to play the central attacking
midfielder misses something essential
in my opinion”

3
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Four - Angled Passes

"Passes must always be given with

angles on the pass, because if you
get the ball with your back to goal,
you will not see the game and you
will lose speed”

4
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Five- Game Intelligence

"There are ten tactical formations in

football. All teams at a training centre
must learn all those schedules. The
game may never evolve in such a way
that it is unknown territory for players“

5
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Six- Identity

"As a coach you have to choose a

playing style. You have two options
that are both defensible, take charge
or contain. I prefer that you spend
more time on the ball rather than
spending time chasing after it“
6
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Seven- Fast Thinkers (Technical and Intelligent)

"Making the space small is easy. You

don't need good football players for
that. Learning to solve the problems
because space is limited is much
more difficult“

7
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Eight- Quality of the Pass

"A good pass does not

bounce, a good pass
shaves the ground”

8
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Nine- Talent

"Everything starts with

talent. Talent provides an
answer that nobody else
comes up with“
9
The Ten Principles of Marcelo Bielsa

Quote Source: De Montil

Congress Centre Bielsa Talk

Principle Ten- Be Authentic

"Authenticity is the only indispensable

quality that a coach must have. What
we propose comes primarily from our
emotion and our conviction. Convincing
is the most important part of our job"

10
Patterns of Play

Marcelo Bielsa
Training Session Study

What is in this research work?

Over the upcoming downloads we are going

to focus on some of the training methods used
by Marcelo Bielsa over the years that he has
managed. We will also take an exclusive look
at match examples showing Marcelo Bielsa's
training methods in game scenario's.

11
Patterns of Play

Marcelo Bielsa
Training Session Study

What is in this research work?

This is Part 1 of the Marcelo Bielsa Research

Study. This work is sent to people who have
supported the Possession with Purpose
Download by www.keepitonthedeck.com. In
this introduction, we are going to take a look at
the first six training sessions of Marcelo Bielsa.
Videos are supplied with this download.
12
SESSION 1 - LEEDS COMBINATION

Marcelo Bielsa 13
 NUMBER OF PLAYERS
1
Session 1 5 Players
Combination Set Up

DIMENSIONS
2
Varied Distances

m o c. k c e d e h t n o t i p e e k . w w w
RULES
3
Players will complete the set sequence, if
possible using one touch only.

OBJECTIVE
4
This combination set up is a warm up
activation. Intensity is gradually
increased over a set time period in order
VIDEO EXAMPLE to challenge players technically.

See Video Number 1

14
SESSION 2 - MURDERBALL

Marcelo Bielsa 15
 NUMBER OF PLAYERS
1
Session 2 22 Players
Murderball

DIMENSIONS
2
Full Pitch or SSG Appropriate

m o c. k c e d e h t n o t i p e e k . w w w
RULES
3 The play is non stop. The coaches will
return the ball into play immediately once
it leaves the field of play.

OBJECTIVE
4 This is a normal 11 vs 11 game played at a
high intensity with no breaks in play. The
game is played over five halfs made up to
5 minutes per half or four halfs of five
VIDEO EXAMPLE minutes. The time depends on the coach.
See Video Number 2
16
SESSION 3 - PASSING & PRESSURE

Marcelo Bielsa 17
 1 NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Session 3 3 Players
Passing & Pressure

DIMENSIONS
2
8 Yard Passing Distances

m o c. k c e d e h t n o t i p e e k . w w w
RULES
Players must progress through each
3
passing gate marked by cones during the
sequence of play. The player pressing is
not permitted to intercept a pass.

OBJECTIVE
4
Two players will pass the ball between
them while progressing through target
gates. At the same time one player will
VIDEO EXAMPLE sprint to press the ball following every
pass.
See Video Number 3
18
SESSION 4 - SHAPE WORK

Marcelo Bielsa 19
 1 NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Session 4 9 Players
Shape Work

DIMENSIONS
2
1/3 Pitch

m o c. k c e d e h t n o t i p e e k . w w w
RULES
3 Players will react to the call of the coach
to take up cover positions in accordance
to the position the coach calls.

OBJECTIVE
4
Players will sprint into good cover
positions in relation to the position called
by the coach. A ball will be passed into
VIDEO EXAMPLE each player as they move to their cover
positions. (See video)
See Video Number 4
20
SESSION 5 - MOVEMENT SPECIFIC

Marcelo Bielsa 21
 1 NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Session 5 4 Players
Movement Specific

DIMENSIONS
2
8 Yard Passing Distance

m o c. k c e d e h t n o t i p e e k . w w w
RULES
3
Players will follow the set sequence of
passing.

OBJECTIVE
One player will mark while one player will
4
receive a pass. When the first ball is
played the forward player will receive and
return the pass. A second ball will
VIDEO EXAMPLE immediately be played forward. The
defender must react quickly to intercept
See Video Number 5
the second ball and return it to the passer.
22
SESSION 6 - MOVEMENT SPECIFIC

Marcelo Bielsa 23
 1 NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Session 6 3 Players
Movement Specific

DIMENSIONS
2
Varied

m o c. k c e d e h t n o t i p e e k . w w w
RULES
3
Players will follow the set sequence of
passing.

OBJECTIVE
4
One player will mark while one player will
move to receive a pass. When the ball is
played the defender must react quickly to
VIDEO EXAMPLE intercept.

See Video Number 6

24
 Want More?
MARCELO BIELSA RESEARCH
STUDY PART 2 - Coming soon,
along with more research work from
clubs and coaches across the globe.
NOTE: Future content is
exclusively being sent only to
PEOPLE WHO HAVE
DOWNLOADED POSSESSION
WITH PURPOSE from our website
as a thank you for your support

www.keepitonthedeck.com
DON'T MISS IT!
In Marcelo Bielsa Part 2 we are going to show real game footage
and how Bielsa trains those game scenario's. One not to miss!

Coming Soon!