'Having lost an idol makes us feel weak' - Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa on Argentine icon Diego Maradona's brilliance and artistry

Bielsa, speaking of his admiration for the World Cup winner less than 24 hours after Maradona's death was first reported, said the loss of such a figure not only saddened but weakened those who held him dear.

"He couldn't be better," said Bielsa.

"He was for us and will continue to be an idol. Given the fact that he's not here with us any more it gives us great sadness. Having lost an idol it is something that makes us feel weak."

Bielsa managed in Maradona's testimonial at Boca Juniors' La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires, and was struck by the attacker's relationship with his adoring public.

But it was Maradona's body of work, the expression of love towards him from football fans and the outpouring of emotion since his passing, that will leave a permanent impression on the former Argentina boss. And he lamented the impact Maradona's loss would have on those most in need of inspiration.

"Everything he did as a footballer was of beauty that cannot be matched," said Bielsa.

"He was an artist, the dimension of the repercussion of this art has infinite recognition. To give one example that stands out, the songs that have been written about him are extraordinary and I've read 10 texts after his death that have been emotional. It is a recognition of what he gave the spectators in beauty. In terms of what he signifies to us in particular, Diego made us feel the fantasy that an idol makes you feel. The myth that is that person makes us believe that what they're capable of, we're all capable of doing it. That’s why the loss of an idol always hurts the most excluded the most. They are the ones who most need someone to show they can triumph."

In Bielsa's eyes he was a player in a select group who possessed individual brilliance and the ability to play without pressure and while he insisted it was too difficult to compare the world's bes players in an attempt to try and find the greatest, he believes Maradona's level of artistry is fading from the game. The reason for that, he ventured, was the lack of time youngsters spend on the ball in games without rules or time limits, where working out solutions to defensive problems encourages the development of skill.

"There is something that makes me really sad, that players like Maradona and Messi who show their individual brilliance through dribbling, they are versions of players who stop repeating themselves," he said.

"That's to say if for example if Mbappe is the best player in the world right now, his art is not comparable to Maradona or Messi.

"I wouldn't know what to answer you [why dribbling is a dying artform] sincerely. Even though I constantly talk about football. I would risk to [say that] dribble is to trick your opponent, show him you will do something and do another, it's something you can't teach. It belongs to every player and the talent they have. Traditionally how a player would learn to play was without any rules and with many hours, with a lot of situations to resolve. Everyone would find their own solution. Nowadays kids don't spend as much time with the ball, what they learn is not by themselves but it's transmitted to them. For me football as a creative spectacle every time has less beauty. As time goes on players are worth even more but not because the quality increases, just because there are fewer good players and that's why in football in general hasn't ben able to develop this so it becomes more effecient."

Reflecting on perhaps the greatest and most famous example of Maradona's brilliance with the ball under his spell, Bielsa called his second goal against England in the 1986 World Cup as a 'work of art.'

"I don't recall where I was but the expression of a work of art is something you can't put to too many things," he said.

"For me it gave me that impression like when you see an architectural work of art when you're astounded, something similar to that. For example when you see a beautiful church you are taken aback, that is the feeling I had when Maradona scored this goal."