Leeds United, once a prestigious top flight English club, suffered a massive downfall due to administrative oversight which eventually transformed them into a mere midtable second-tier outfit. However, Andrea Radrizzani’s investment to become the Whites owner brought back some stability at the club as the Italian businessman came up with sensible moves, matured decisions and constructive plans on how to run a football club.
The appointment of Garry Monk almost worked out for the Peacocks who were in contention to earn a long-awaited Premier League return, but missed out a playoff spot narrowly and Monk’s decision of stepping down as Leeds boss brought them back to square one.
Radrizzani had a gamble last summer when he appointed little known Thomas Christiansen, but the move did not go as planned despite a promising start which eventually led to a dismissal and saw the ex-Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom unveiled as the new Peacocks boss back in February. His term, too, proved to be short-lived as he suffered a sacking in less than four months time but the rumours of his successor already generated massive buzz among the dejected fans.
Marco Bielsa, the iconic Argentine, finally agreed on a two-year deal to become the new Leeds boss after a fruitful conversation with Radrizzani over his philosophy and future plans. Although his latest years in management witnessed chaotic conclusions, the 62-year-old former Argentina and Chile mastermind is still adored by the new generation gaffers for his impact on them while making a name in the managerial circuit. Managers these days mostly bank on instant success, but there are still a few left who leave a long-term impact by injecting their philosophy and principles. Bielsa is indubitably the pioneer of such football revolution.
The revolutionist, however, had a failed playing career but his interest of gaining knowledge on football, reading books and subscribing sports magazines grew this managerial aspect as his future aspiration. He incepted his journey at Newells’ Old Boys and made them champions before moving to Mexico where he managed Atlas and America.
The success in Mexico was not instant but deep-lying as he redesigned the scouting system to pick out talents from the core which eventually saw the country having eight players in the starting line-up during their 2006 World Cup Round of 16 defeat to Argentina who were either discovered, managed or trained by Bielsa. He then returned to his country to make Vélez Sársfield the champions prior to his move to La Liga side Espanyol which, however, did not last long as he accepted to manage the Argentina national team in 1998.
His excellence as the Albiceleste boss earned him IFFHS World’s Best National Coach: 2001, but his comprehensive work suffered a massive setback when Argentina got knocked out from the group stage of World Cup 2002 despite winning the qualification group before entering the finals. But he was not dismissed and handed a second chance to resurrect the national team. Although he lost to Brazil in the Copa America 2004 final, Bielsa won Argentina a gold medal in 2004 Olympics – their first one in 52 years. But he resigned later that year and his next assignment almost three years later still remains his most notable work in a colourful career.
He accepted the challenges of managing Chile, a South American minnow that time, who only managed one World Cup appearance in past six attempts and their football was being hindered by internal politics of the governing body. The Argentine soon earned an authority using his sheer experience and dedication towards the game. He opted to bank on the youngsters who earned the third place in U20s World Cup football and had a batch of promising youngsters in Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal, Gary Medel and Mauricio Isla.
Bielsa decided to work with them who were still raw but had potential to rule the world given proper training and guidance. Bielsa was bang on with his project when he earned Chile a place in 2010 World Cup who won their first game in this prestigious event since 1962. El Loco soon became a national icon in Chile despite being knocked out by Brazil from the round of 16, but these set of players are still ruling the football world and brought their nation back to back Copa titles in 2015 and 2016 – their greatest achievement in 100 years.
His spell in Chile ended in a controversy when he resigned due to the internal political reasons in Chilean football board and took charge of Athletic Bilbao a few months later. He had an instant success in Basque Country as he guided the La Liga side to become the runners-up in both UEFA Europa League and Copa Del Rey back in 2012 but suffered a massive disappointment the next term.
His contract was not renewed and his later stints at Marseille, Lazio and Lille did not last long either. The Lazio job, particularly, has to be the most bizarre one of all when he stepped down just two days after agreeing on terms blaming the management for not meeting the promises over transfers.
Bielsa, the football’s hipster, is known for his innovative 3-3-1-3 formation that had three central defenders, two wingbacks on either side of a deep-lying midfielder, one creative attacking in the hole and a three-man attack with two wingers. He invented this not to allow space in between the custodian and defensive line and the flexibility of the formation allowed him to shift the set-up accordingly. The charismatic Argentine is known for his meticulous preparation, measuring every little thing, analyzing videos and preparing his side to play high intensity pressing football. His philosophy has always been difficult to adopt, but whoever managed to do so, has excelled as world beaters.
There are pros and cons to everything and his tactics have certain limitations too. There are plenty of managers in current football who prefer a similar show and the solutions are there as well to deal with those strategic moves. It is difficult to execute his football week in week out and despite not being rigid and stubborn with his philosophy, Bielsa has often been seen losing his plot while switching his gameplan in recent years. He needs players who are specifically suited to execute his rich football blueprint, but his introduction to English league might see him reassessing some of his methods to meet the demands of Championship football.
He will have to keep his men fit and fine to perform twice a week with similar intensity and it is to be seen now how the current squad of the White cope up with his expectations. A move for Bielsa, therefore, is a huge gamble, but indeed a risk worth taking and the Leeds fans have every right to claim they got one of the finest of managers of football history in their toughest possible times.
