'Keep this moment' - Marcelo Bielsa on Leeds United future ahead of Championship finale

MARCELO BIELSA says Leeds United should be intent on enjoying the moment as promotion of champions and that discussions about his future can wait.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Head coach Bielsa has steered United to a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2004 with Leeds having already secured the Championship title ahead of Wednesday evening's finale at home to Charlton Athletic.

Bielsa took the Whites head coach role in June 2018 by signing a two-year deal with the club maintaining the right to extend or terminate the deal at the end of year one.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Affter United's heartbreak of defeat to Derby County in the play-offs semi-finals of May 2019, Bielsa met with United’s board of directors towards the end of May to express his intention to continue.

SO HAPPY: Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images.SO HAPPY: Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images.
SO HAPPY: Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images.

Leeds then announced that Radrizzani had officially exercised the option to extend Bielsa’s contract for a second season and 14 months later Bielsa has taken the Whites to the Premier League.

Radrizzani has already said that talks regrading Bielsa's future would take place over the next few days with United's Italian owner confident the 65-year-old Argentinian will be with the club next season.

And speaking ahead of Wednesday's clash against Charlton at the pre-match Zoom press conference on his 65th birthday, Bielsa said he was keen for the current focus to be on United's players and fans and that his own future could be sorted when the euphoria of United's promotion as champions had subsided.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Asked when he expected to sit down with the owner and decide his own future, Bielsa said: "Tomorrow we play.

"Of course we need time to have things feel normal because now all the emotions are high and we need to be all of us calm to think more clearly.

"I wish you helped me to feel the objective I am saying.

"I am trying to not put the focus on me and put the focus on players and supporters.

“The players I've already explained but the Leeds supporters are great and they have had to wait for this moment for a long time and now they cannot celebrate this as they deserve.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“A sign of our times now is that we want things to happen before the process requires.

"Always everybody is anxious and they don't want to spend the necessary time for things to happen what they wish to happen and I think we have to be patient in this moment as well.

"This is a moment that everybody was waiting for and wishing for, and deserving of it as well and that is linked to what the players and also the supporters who are involved and who have fallen in love with the group.

“For this reason I think the ideal thing here is to try to keep this moment as long as we can.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“After, naturally, this moment will go, so don't put another feeling on this moment that is very special or maybe it's like I am so happy in this moment that I don't want it to go too fast."

A message from the Editor:

Leeds has a fantastic story to tell - and the Yorkshire Evening Post has been rooted firmly at the heart of telling the stories of our city since 1890.

We believe in ourselves and hope you believe in us too. We need your support to help ensure we can continue to be at the heart of life in Leeds.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Subscribe to our website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app.

With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Click here to subscribe.

For more details on our newspaper subscription offers click here.

Thank you Laura Collins

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.