‘I will be working at Leeds United next season’ says Marcelo Bielsa

Speaking through a new interpreter, Marcelo Bielsa did not say much in his first press conference as a Premier League head coach. The Argentinian did not even say he had signed the new contract Leeds United have had on the table for him since July’s Championship celebrations, but he did manage to utter in Spanish the nine words Whites supporters have been longing all summer to hear.
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa.  (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa.  (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

“I will be working at Leeds United next season,” he said when asked the most pressing question of the day, of the whole shortened summer.

There was no budging when asked later if he had actually put pen to paper, but nor was there any cause for alarm.

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“Everything has been sorted and it’s definite I’ll be here next season,” he confirmed, and left it at that.

It was a massive statement.

At Leeds, what can go wrong too often has in the 21st Century, so no matter how relaxed the club’s hierarchy came across about Bielsa’s reticence, nagging doubts were hard to expel.

The Elland Road club have come back to the Premier League after 16 years away with some highly-talented players but to a man they would acknowledge Bielsa’s importance dwarves them all. It is often said that the most important people in football are the players and it is usually true, but such is Bielsa’s gargantuan influence, Leeds could be the exception which proves the rule.

Just as his football speaks for itself, so does the calibre of managers who take note of it. From the moment he walked through the door two years ago, Leeds have become a different club, even if he is shy about admitting it.

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The football Leeds have played has been on another level to anything seen in the famous all-white kit at least since the days of David O’Leary. It is a refreshing, exciting brand, and it will be fascinating to see how they match up at the home of the Premier League champions and in many people’s eyes the best team in Europe when they kick off at Liverpool in tomorrow evening’s televised game.

There is a real zeal about the man who sits on the sidelines on his upturned bucket, studying and from time to time cajoling. He has such (justified) belief in his methods he would rather attack the Premier League with players who know them so well than import the handful of superstars some supporters excitedly dreamt of once promotion was clinched.

“They’ve formed a group for some time and we’ve maintained the players we think can play at a higher level,” he reasoned when asked why his transfer activity has been so minimalistic. “To begin with we will try to play the same way.

“It’s one the difficulties we will face this season and we have to show we can continue to play the way we can.”

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Centre-forward Rodrigo and centre-back Robin Koch were on opposite sides in the recent Spain versus Germany Nations League game and although Bielsa was playing his cards very close to his chest there are plans for more senior additions but most of the new faces are teenagers, putty to be moulded into Bielsaball experts over the long-term, not instant upgrades.

Such are Bielsa’s methods, it would be no surprise were Rodrigo and Koch made to bide their time in the Anfield stands, watching and learning from Patrick Bamford and Liam Cooper, particularly with no injuries (beyond long-term absentee Adam Forshaw). Bielsa, however, hinted that might not be the case.

“They’re in very good physical condition ahead of the game,” he said of the pair. “They are two players who have the correct level to play in the Premier League and if there are going to be any more new signings we will let you know in due time.”

Rodrigo “is a very known player who has an extensive track record. He’s also a starter for an important European nation. That defines him as a player.”

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As for Koch, “The spot on the right of defence of a back four does not require a lot of adapting.”

Bielsa seems to be the only football-lover in the whole of West Yorkshire who does not appreciate the significance of him signing a new contract. He has been too busy to take a post-season holiday, too busy it seems to bother with the triviality of signing a lucrative contract of employment.

“I don’t share the opinion that I’ve changed the structure of the team,” he said, whether wilfully or not misunderstanding the question about how he had transformed the sagging giant of Yorkshire football in a much more fundamental way.

“Like in every negotiation nothing is done until it’s actually done,” was how he shrugged off the contract suspense.

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“There’s nothing of importance. I’ve been working at 100 per cent since the promotion celebrations were finished.”

And with that, Leeds United fans could breathe a sigh of relief.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson

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