Marcelo Bielsa: Leeds United’s Maverick Manager

Where do you even start with Marcelo Bielsa? Arguably the biggest name manager we’ve had since Don Revie (though, even he wasn’t a ‘name’ when he became boss), the Argentine brought the good times back to our football club with an almighty bang.

A clear statement of intent from then minority owners, 49ers Enterprises, in one fell swoop this took us from mid-table mediocrity to Championship title-challengers. And, boy did their decision pay off.

With arguably the same squad, essentially overnight, he turned average players into world-beaters and in his first pre-season, we probably ran more than any other club in the league, all the while instilling self-belief into players and imposing his spectacular brand of football on us. Probably, the best the Championship has ever seen.

Immortalised in murals all around the city, mention ‘Bielsa’ in any pub around Leeds and you’ll probably get an hour’s worth of adoration from at least a couple of fans.

Bielsa: A Character Like No Other

My word, didn’t he bring some surprises – quirky little traits and eye-opening behaviour. The former being the ‘bucket’, the latter being the, quite frankly, hilarious ‘spygate’ scandal. Claiming it was ‘the norm’ while at other clubs to send scouts to watch other clubs train, this almost seems like a page from the Revie handbook and, wow didn’t it cause a stir.

Caught out by Derby County – who, perhaps unsurprisingly got their revenge on us in the play-off semi-finals, it led to a considerable furore. I certainly didn’t know what to make of it.

The traits I referred to, well – it hardly needs explaining. After a few games of consistently sitting on his Leeds United branded bucket, it almost became a meme – shared all over social media and certainly reinforced his quirky character.

It has to be said though, the guy was (and still is) a genius. Basically sleeping at our Thorp Arch training ground most nights, renting a very modest flat close by and even shopping in Morrisons, he was humble to the core and had staunch values.

Inevitable Success Unsurprising

After our disappointment in the play-offs and question marks surrounding his future (he always liked a one-year rolling contract), I don’t think there was any doubt about him signing again.

I thought he seemed more determined than ever to get us up the next season – indeed the pandemic season and wow – we ripped teams apart in style to win the Championship – ironically, a dismantling of Derby securing this. It looked a bit touch and go around January time, but we soon pulled away.

If anything, the lockdown helped us – we probably needed a rest and this meant we came back – again, as the fittest squad in the league.
When we did win the Championship, I thought he definitely deserved the opportunity for fans to show their appreciation, via an open top bus parade, though for obvious reasons, this couldn’t happen.

Premier League Shocks

I was excited at the prospect of a pre-Premier League transfer window under Bielsa – he was obviously a draw for many possible signings and, indeed, we managed to sign some big names. While you wouldn’t put Raphinha in that category at the time, he was arguably the best recruit under the Argentine.