Jesse Marsch's Leeds United stars still have chance to say thank you or sorry to Marcelo Bielsa

Supporters and Bielsa himself shed tears at the gates of Thorp Arch and first-person accounts of those encounters left lumps in throats and watery eyes across the fanbase.

As headspinning an experience as this has been for those who loved Bielsa from outside his Leeds set-up, what must this have felt like for those in close proximity to the head coach on a daily basis.

For his staff, especially those having to depart along with him, undoubtedly it has been a devastating few days. For his players, the speed of the turnaround between the old regime and the new may well have denied them an opportunity to let the emotions sink in fully, let alone process them.

Social media, in a day when so many players’ accounts are managed by slick, glossy agencies raking in thousands of pounds each month, is no real window into how the Leeds squad might be feeling.

A lot of the words shared with the identikit ‘Gracias Marcelo’ image created by the club felt sincere and personal enough to have been crafted by players themselves and what shone through was gratitude. Beyond that, there was some poignancy in the nostalgia of moments shared with Bielsa, or the significance of his role in individuals’ careers, but there was no real sense of regret for how it turned out and no overt displays of sadness. Well wishes for the head coach’s next chapter are fine and well, but they largely ignore the fact that he had no desire for this one to end. For Bielsa, this was a loss, but the word sorry didn’t feature among the online tributes from his players.

Chances are he might never clap eyes on those posts unless someone goes to the trouble of printing them out, so what it was that was said in person will carry much more weight and those conversations are likely to remain largely private.

What it is that has really gone on in the heads and hearts of his players this week would be fascinating to behold. Bielsa himself will tell you he alone was responsible for what has befallen Leeds United this season, therefore his fate was sealed by no other, but it’s safe to assume there will be those in the dressing room who this week have felt they let him down.

Individual mistakes are not what caused Bielsa’s sacking, they’re just symptoms of the loss of confidence and form suffered by a team struggling to cope with injuries and unable to carry out the head coach’s plan in the face of mounting difficulty, so guilt wouldn’t be a logical response. It would be a human one, though.

This was a man who elevated many of them to a level they hadn’t shown themselves capable of reaching, prior to his arrival. He changed everything for everyone. To put it in base terms, Bielsa has made them very rich men but, far more importantly, he gave them glory and a place in history.

Affection developed in spite of the arm’s length he kept between himself and his charges. No matter the severity of the demands his regime placed on them, men like Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford had unforgettable moments and a special bond with Bielsa. His departure had to hurt.

Yet there may also have been a measure of relief. No real evidence of a loss of faith in his methods presented itself, they still ran for him and player power has not once been cited in the discussion of his sacking, but it would be only natural for doubts to have crept in and grown with every goal that went in at the wrong end during the four straight defeats.

If some did feel a change was needed, they’d be wise to keep such sentiment to themselves, given the feelings of the fanbase and, hopefully, given the circumstances, they’ll refrain from the traditional ‘new gaffer’s been brilliant since he came in’ stock phrases.

It may be true; Marsch may have struck a chord with his first impressions and what we’re told is an approachable demeanour towards the players, but this is still too sensitive a time for glib cliches. If anything, the tone set by Marsch is the one to follow. He was reverential when it came to the man he has replaced and sufficiently upbeat without crossing over into disrespect or disregard for what came before.

This is, like it or not, Leeds’ new chapter and there is work to be done. There has to be a response from the players - not by giving any sense that they’ve redoubled their efforts now there’s a new manager but by applying Marsch’s ideas with the exact-same intensity with which they played out Bielsa’s.

The best tribute Bielsa’s players could perhaps pay him is to ensure there is no undoing of his fine work and the part of his legacy that is attached to promotion. To do that will require the best of them, which he helped create. Whether they wish to convey to Bielsa a ‘thank you’ or a ‘sorry’, or even a bit of both, they will say it best on the pitch. Football will speak volumes.