Leeds United: '˜High priest of high press' comes with trusted team

Clubs who court Marcelo Bielsa often find that he knows more about them than they know about him. The board at Leeds United were amazed to discover that Bielsa reacted to initial contact from Elland Road by watching every minute of every game from their recent Championship season. Seventy-six hours of real-time footage before his salary was even agreed.
Marcelo Bielsa talks to backroom staff Pablo Quiroga and Diego Reyes during his time at Lille.Marcelo Bielsa talks to backroom staff Pablo Quiroga and Diego Reyes during his time at Lille.
Marcelo Bielsa talks to backroom staff Pablo Quiroga and Diego Reyes during his time at Lille.

Athletic Bilbao, Bielsa’s first European team, got exactly the same treatment and his obsessional preparation should allow him to hit Thorp Arch with a bang next week. United’s players, or those who the Argentinian wants to work with, need not read much of the literature about him to know what lies ahead of them.

Pre-season with or without Bielsa was designed to be arduous this year – three weeks of intense training sessions before so much as the taste of a friendly – but Bielsa is in the habit of flogging his flock, physically, mentally and tactically.

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Leeds are preparing to undergo a cultural shift, rebranded by a man who Tim Vickery, the BBC’s South American football writer, calls “the high priest of the high press”.

South American football expert, Tim Vickery.South American football expert, Tim Vickery.
South American football expert, Tim Vickery.

Players who Bielsa has already deemed surplus to requirements will either leave the club or be sent to train with the Under-23s. The remainder will be educated in Bielsa’s tactical ideas and the principles of movement and versatility which feed his addiction to attacking football.

A three-man defence is the basis of it, though Bielsa has routinely used midfielders in that area to improve the standard of passing from the back.

He employs wing-backs and pushes his players to rotate positions, pressing aggressively high up the field when they lose possession. The same philosophy lies behind Pep Guardiola’s obsession with winning back the ball a matter of seconds after losing it.

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Bielsa might not go the whole hog with his singular 3-3-1-3 system but the unpredictability he seeks will contrast sharply with the matter-of-fact 4-2-3-1 which Leeds stuck to beyond its sell-by date last season. United’s squad are also about to discover his religious and stressful work ethic.

Marseille's French goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, top, who worked under Leeds United's new coach Marcelo Bielsa. PIC: Claude Paris/AP PhotoMarseille's French goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, top, who worked under Leeds United's new coach Marcelo Bielsa. PIC: Claude Paris/AP Photo
Marseille's French goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, top, who worked under Leeds United's new coach Marcelo Bielsa. PIC: Claude Paris/AP Photo

At Lille, Bielsa’s squad were put through double training sessions in pre-season, one at 10am and the other in the early evening. Accommodation was laid on and his first-teamers had little choice but to sleep at the training ground. He trusts implicitly in video analysis as a way of honing and improving performance. In the words of Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy, who worked with him at Marseille: “He made me devour videos like never before.”

The consistency of Biesla’s methods should be helped by the consistency of the staff around him. Of the four definite additions to his backroom team, all have worked with him previously.

Argentinian Pablo Quiroga and Chilean Diego Reyes have been with Bielsa since his days as Chile’s national coach.

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His third assistant, Diego Flores, came on board at Marseille in 2014.

Bielsa will also have Frenchman Salim Lamrani in tow, an academic who acted as his translator at Lille. Bielsa speaks little English and, having taken on his first job in England at the age of 62, is already in the process of learning the language.

There is no disputing that Bielsa’s imagination and tactical acumen have had mixed results over the years, or that his coaching is as exhausting as it is inspirational, but a long line of players have felt the benefit of his coaching.

Steve Mandanda, Marseille’s captain at the time when Bielsa unexpectedly resigned from the club in 2015, summed up the mood of a shocked dressing room like this: “He made almost everybody in this group of players progress.”