Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds United and the Premier League – at last a match made in heaven

The Whites travel to Liverpool this weekend for their first Premier League outing in 16 years.
Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa. (Picture: Simon Hulme)Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa. (Picture: Simon Hulme)
Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa. (Picture: Simon Hulme)

Leeds United’s promotion to the Premier League after a 16-year exile provides a long list of subplots and storylines.

Perhaps, though, there is none more intriguing than Marcelo Bielsa’s first foray into the top flight of English football.

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The 65-year-old raised eyebrows across the world game when he opted to join the Whites in the summer of 2018 – a team going nowhere in the depths of the second tier.

A man who had managed both the Argentina and Chile national teams to World Cup finals, was making the unlikely move to the Championship.

Bielsa was well known in Europe for his stunning spell with Athletic Bilbao alongside his time in France with Ligue 1 sides Marseille and Lille.

And who could forget his two-day stint in Rome with Serie A outfit Lazio.

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But for a man who began his coaching career in 1980, this will be his opening salvo in the Premier League and the spotlight that it brings.

He has managed big teams under pressure before, guiding his first love and hometown club Newell’s Old Boys to success, but his run to the Europa League and Copa Del Rey finals will forever be remembered by those who witnessed them in the Basque Country.

Many in England sat up and took note as his Bilbao team ripped apart Manchester United over a two-legged tie leaving legendary Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson with no answer.

“They are very determined and organised, with a great belief in themselves,” Ferguson said afterwards. “That is the hallmark of their coach. He has instilled these qualities in his team.”

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The story goes that clubs don’t pick Bielsa; Bielsa chooses them. And perhaps it is his more rounded analysis of teams beyond the pitch which explains why he often shys away from the top jobs in the world game.

Leeds were a football team that piqued his interest from the start and his decision to take up post in West Yorkshire would change the course of history in LS11.

Bielsa laid out his plans and plotted a path to the Premier League in Rosario for the Whites hierarchy and two years on delivered what he believed he could promise.

His absolute commitment and belief in his coaching ability and methods is what has set him apart as an example for those who he will now rub shoulders with next season amongst England’s elite.

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“It will be incredible for English football to have him in the Premier League,” declared Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.

“Winning titles helps to have a job next season but at the end of your life, what you remember is not the titles you have won, what you remember is the memories you have and whether the manager taught you a lot.

“Marcelo is at the top of the list. Absolutely at the top of the list.

“He is unique in world football because of the special way he plays. I learnt a lot about his style, his final product. He’s an incredible person, so special.”

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Liverpool’s Premier League-winning manager Jurgen Klopp has also previously hailed Bielsa as an “outstanding coach and role model”.

Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino is another coaching disciple – and yet further reminder at what a coup it was for Leeds to have him take charge whilst struggling in the second division.

“It’s a pleasure for me if he comes [to the Premier League] because he is one of the best managers in the world,” the ex-Spurs head coach said. “He is like my father in both ways – he is also my football father.”

As Leeds make the leap into a different world away from the Football League, Bielsa is entering a division in which he is held in the highest regard by some of the world’s best coaches already.

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His impressive career to date and the admiration that follows him leaves him with little to prove, but you can bet there will be a steely determination to make an impact.

Bielsa’s legacy at places where he has enjoyed most success hasn’t always been in the form of trophies; his presence is felt in the wake afterwards nonetheless.

In Chile he is held in god-like esteem while supporters in Bilbao and Marseille say similar for giving them hope, belief, thrilling football and a foundation for the future – yet he departed from all of the above without winning a single trophy.

His imprint on the game goes far beyond the four white lines of a football pitch and often Bielsa sets standards that others aspire to – both as a world-class coach and a human being.

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In Leeds he bucked the trend as he claimed the first domestic title of his career outside his homeland – the best conclusion to a romantic notion of resurrecting a fallen giant that many believe played a factor in drawing him to the club.

The Premier League has been an option for him before though, in the shape of West Ham United and Swansea City, but a world where the blurred lines of money and success has never appeared to appeal until now.

Bielsa is heading there with the right club, where he has found a home from home, and with a squad fine tuned to near perfection, so much so he only needs to add a sprinkle of quality to compete.

He will take on his new peers –the ones who admire him so – in exactly the same fashion that he has done throughout his career, with complete dedication and confidence in his football no matter the opponent.

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It is exactly that, after all, which saw Leeds rip through the Championship and claim a 10-point title-winning margin to earn their place at the table among the huge names.

Bielsa is not an outlandish character like Jose Mourinho or a media darling like Klopp, but his 24 months in England have already shown that he is every bit as box office as those he will encounter on the touchlines.

The Spygate episode – as Chelsea boss Frank Lampard will attest – and a FIFA Fair Play award thanks to an act of generosity against Aston Villa, thrust the Whites onto the world stage once more.

Now, Bielsa is entering the big time with Leeds United – a football club that doesn’t do anything by halves.