Slaven Bilic on why he loves Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa the most

Bilic and Bielsa have shared a mutual respect throughout the last two Championship promotion campaigns and now the Baggies and the Whites are both back in the Premier League with West Brom having finished runners-up to champions Leeds.

Bielsa has taken the Whites back to the top flight for the first time since the club's relegation in May 2004 and Bilic says the Argentinian's methods are so unique that they could not be replicated by another manager.

Speaking to IndexHR, Bilic put Bielsa in the same bracket as some of the best managers in world football in Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte, Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola with Bielsa's ideas standing out to the rest.

"All the big coaches, the difference between them and others it's not just talent, it's even questionable whether it is talent. They are crazy.

"When you are talking about football with (Antonio) Conte, when you see him on TV, he is physically hurt when they lose a match. And those kinds of people work harder than other ones.

"(Jurgen) Klopp, Conte, Pep (Guardiola) and Bielsa. That's just crazy. You can't say 'I will go watch Bielsa do coaching and next year we will be the same'. You will not.

"You need to be Bielsa!"

Pressed on talking to Bielsa a lot, Bilic said: "Yes I did. That's why I am talking about this.

"Now some other coach will write all Bielsa is doing in training etc and we will win. It doesn't go like that.

"That's why he is 'El Loco'. That's why I love him the most. He is a true gentleman. True gentleman and that's it. That respect he gives to others. And he is Bielsa."

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Thank you Laura Collins