Leeds United has a way of attracting special managers. Some go down in a ball of flames, like Brian Clough and his 44 days of damnation. Others go into immortality, like Clough’s arch-antagonist Don Revie, immortalised with a statue. Then others just go, with those left behind left to pine for them after a parting that felt like it came too soon. That was the case with Marcelo Bielsa. The Argentine, who turns 68 today, was Leeds’ first great manager since Howard Wilkinson and the last one they will have for a while.
That’s not to say Leeds haven’t had plenty of good managers. David O’Leary took the club to the Champions League semi final. Kevin Blackwell had them within a game of a Premier League return in 2006. Simon Grayson ended their ignominious stint in League One in 2010. But true greatness is measured differently. Revie had it. Wilkinson had it. While Bielsa can’t boast the league titles those men won, he has it too.
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When the Rosario-born ideologue joined in 2018, Leeds fans couldn’t believe their luck. This was the wise sage Pep Guardiola went to for advice. The godfather of modern, pressing-based coaching. Bielsa couldn’t boast a trophy cabinet to rival those he influenced but the football philosophy he built was more enduring than any medal.
Still, there was caution. Ralf Rangnick’s disastrous stint at Manchester United shows what can happen when a manager credited with influential status is put in a position where their theories are tested. Bielsa had never experienced English football. He had only stayed in a job for more than 100 games once, during his stint at Athletic Bilbao, taking them to a Europa League final. Would Bielsa like what he saw in the Championship? Would he stick around long enough to find out?
Those complaints seem laughable now. Almost from the word go, Bielsa set about falling in love with a city and making its people fall in love with him. Far from the belligerent caricature he was portrayed as, the ex-Chile coach charmed Leeds, both the club and the citizens. The salary that made him the highest-paid manager in Leeds United history may have motivated him, but there was genuine love there.
It was a love that journalists attending his press conferences soon felt. Whether it was his iconic tactics briefings or his amusing “Spygate” dispute with then-Derby County boss Frank Lampard, Bielsa was box office. Responding to league sanctions over the fact one of his staff watched the Rams train, Bielsa presented the media with a lengthy, detailed look into the way he scouts teams and prepares for the opposition. Even though the club were eventually fined £200,000 for the indiscretion, in a way the manager had won in the court of public opinion.
Leeds fans were besotted. Bielsa’s idiosyncrasies quickly became the stuff of legend. The famous bucket, a pitchside perch from which he could better view the action, was the subject of flags and banners. It helped that the results on the pitch justified these maverick methods. After World Cup glimpses and breathless testimonies from the coaches he influenced, finally England was seeing firsthand what Bielsa was all about.
Leeds didn’t go up in that first Bielsa season. The media had their narrative written almost before a ball was kicked. After the Yorkshire side lost the play-off semi final to old enemy Derby County, stories about “Bielsa burnout” emerged. The inference was that his hyper-intense style of fitness-first training and relentless pressing had cost a tired Leeds.
In the end any such worries were extinguished when Leeds won the Championship the following season. Suddenly, that first campaign looked like nothing more than acclimatisation. The players had gone close to promotion while getting used to Bielsa’s methods. Then, when fully schooled in the Argentine’s ways, they won the league.
It is a great shame that COVID-19 robbed fans a chance to attend the majority of games the following season. Leeds were one of the most exciting teams in the Premier League, losing none of their attacking nous or spirited pressing game in the top tier. There were glorious moments to savour, even on television. A last-gasp Stuart Dallas goal to beat Manchester City 2-1. Leeds followed that up with draws against Manchester United and Liverpool. Tottenham Hotspur were handled 3-1. Newcastle United were put to the sword in a thrilling 5-2 victory. Bielsa’s team weren’t just surviving, they were thriving. The former Argentina manager led his team to 9th place that season. It was an incredible achievement for a club playing their first season of top flight football since 2004.
The wheels came off the following season. They began to look shopworn. Bielsa, still loved by the fanbase, couldn’t seem to arrest the slide. The hard-running was getting a little more lumpen. The pressing was not as all-encompassing and suffocating for opposition teams. Leeds were 16th in February, when Bielsa was relieved of his duties.
It was a decision that split the fanbase. Some feared relegation. Others identified Bielsa as both the best man to keep them up and, failing that, the ideal candidate to get them promoted if the worst should happen. One thing the supporters were united on was their affection for the man. Often circumstances like this can bring about toxicity, but not this time. Even those that wanted Bielsa gone expressed it reluctantly, with the sadness that accompanies the end of an era.
Jesse Marsch would keep them up that season, just about. Leeds finished 17th, one place below Bielsa’s final league position. It was a fact not lost on those fans who never wanted Bielsa to be sacked. The club’s luck would run out the following season. Marsch was sacked and Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce were each given a go in the hotseat before they were relegated.
It was tempting to wonder what Bielsa would have done. Many did, publicly. Every time Leeds dispensed with a manager last term, there was a groundswell of support to bring back their last truly great coach. But Leeds have opted for Daniel Farke, a fine candidate who has won the Championship twice before with Norwich City. Meanwhile, Bielsa has moved on to become manager of the Uruguay national team.
Like ex-lovers whose flame burned passionately before exploding into nothing, Leeds and Bielsa will never stop wondering what could have been. The veteran manager is reportedly still very fond of the club while Leeds fans will forever sing his name. Until Bielsa retires or another manager surpasses his achievements, you sense the idea of an Elland Road reunion will always be just the tiniest bit possible. But until then there are the cherished memories to enjoy. And what memories they are.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
