Crystal Palace v Leeds United – Meeting of old heads Roy Hodgson and Marcelo Bielsa likely to harvest lively duel

MARCELO BIELSA and Roy Hodgson. Two men hopelessly in love with football at a time when they could be enjoying the warm breeze and sea view with a glass of something reassuringly expensive by their side.
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. Picture: Nick Potts/PLeeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. Picture: Nick Potts/P
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. Picture: Nick Potts/P

They will have dined with rarified company in some of the most exclusive restaurants that the world has to offer.

But nothing beats a cup of tea or in Bielsa’s case, Mate – a traditional South American caffeine-infused drink that is popular in his homeland of Argentina – in the training ground office on Monday morning before getting to work.

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The Premier League’s oldest managers stride out today with a spring still in their step at the ages of 65 and 73 respectively.

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson. Picture: Mike Hewitt/PA.Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson. Picture: Mike Hewitt/PA.
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson. Picture: Mike Hewitt/PA.

In a modern-day era when ageism is firmly in the spotlight, how wonderful it is that both are still operating at the top of their game and defying the perceived maxim that football management is almost exclusively a young person’s preserve.

Hodgson started out at the Swedish club of Halmstad in 1976 and his journey has taken him to 16 different clubs and four national sides, including England.

Bielsa’s own coaching career began with former club Newell’s Old Boys in 1980, where he first served as youth coach. He has worked with nine different clubs – in South America, Latin America and Europe – and also managed Argentina and Chile.

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As CV’s go, they do not get more extensive and, back in the day, it is easy to conjure an image in mind’s eye of Hodgson and Bielsa being in a departure lounge at some international airport before embarking on their latest managerial adventure.

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. Picture: Michael Regan/PALeeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. Picture: Michael Regan/PA
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. Picture: Michael Regan/PA

In terms of time in the dug-out, Bielsa – the ‘junior man’, if you like – is still playing catch-up.

As for whether he will be managing at Hodgson’s age of 73, Leeds United’s head coach has never been one to hypothesise.

Given that he is still at the height of his powers and surrounds himself with the best backroom staff and is thoroughly up to date with all the technological advances in football and remains modern in his outcome, it would constitute a surprise if Bielsa is not involved in the game well into his 70s, all being well.

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Above all that, the heart beats of a ‘football man’ to his bootstraps and someone who is not just in love with the game, but still obsessed by it. It is what he does and what he knows.

On whether he will still be managing at the same age as Hodgson – who once planned to quit football management at the age of 40 to run a travel agency with former friend and mentor Bobby Houghton before fully committing to management – Bielsa said: “There is still eight years for that to happen and eight years is a long time in a person’s life.

“To be able to do the job as a manager, you need to have a lot of will and desire.

“There are a lot of jobs that you do without a lot of desire. But if you work as a manager and you don’t have any enthusiasm, then ultimately you are excluded.

“It is admirable with the enthusiasm he still has.

“I sincerely respect Roy Hodgson a lot.

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“I’m not the best person to have an opinion as I have only been here for two years, but I have the opinion that he is a very valued member of the English community, given the trajectory of his career and his behaviour.”

While passion for the game is the main reason for the pair still being at the sharp end of football management, it has come at a price, as Bielsa is candid enough to admit.

It is a profession which is 24/7 as opposed to nine to five.

Sacrifices in terms of home life will have been unavoidable for both during their decades at the coal face when they are likely to have clocked up more air miles than most in their profession.

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Bielsa acknowledges: “More than a virtue, I think it is a defect.

“The job of a manager usually stops you from living out other activities that are worth doing.

“Sometimes, when you are in a job for so long, you become a specialist in that subject.

“It does not let us see that there are other things worth seeing and doing other than football. I give a lot of attention to my family life and my married life.

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“At the same time, I have less time for some friends and I have not been able to do other things which are worth doing.”

On what they are, Bielsa, as ever, remains coy.

Questioned on the subject, he said: “This is a part of my private life and although this may be of interest to the general public, I prefer not to talk about it.

“My private life is not interesting.

“It can only be interesting to someone who is curious. I can tell you that my interests outside of football are not very attractive.”

The talk today may revolve around the names in the dug-out.

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The sub-plot is a fascinating clash of styles between a side who employ deep-lying counter-attacking tactics in Palace and the other in Leeds who, above everything else, prize possession.

Bielsa commented: “They are a team who has very important players in attack and a team who has a stable base.

“They have a distinct style of play that they don’t change, but they do improve.

“Like the majority of the teams in the division, they have had some very good moments and also some not so good moments, but they are a team with experience.”

An experienced, savvy manager in the dug-out too.

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