Marcelo Bielsa is far from relaxed when it comes to getting Leeds United promoted

Yet with his 65th birthday approaching this summer and despite having been a coach since his days at university, the man guiding Leeds United admits he has become more emotional and at times he still struggles to analyse the Whites’ performances rationally.

Bielsa has managed clubs in his native Argentina, Mexico, Spain, France, England and (very briefly) Italy, as well as the national teams of Argentina and Chile.

He has won league titles in his homeland, reached the finals of the Copa Libertadores, Copa America, Copa Del Rey and Europa League.

He has an Olympic gold medal, ending Argentina’s 52-year run without one in any sport and reached the last 16 of the World Cup with Chile but was disappointingly knocked out of the group stages with Argentina. He has won and lost finals on penalty shoot-outs.

Fall-outs with various managements and senior players have cost him jobs, and he resigned as Lazio manager after just two days. He was in charge of Lille for only 13 matches.

As coach of Chile, he led the country to their first point in Uruguay, first victory in Colombia, and first win anywhere in an official match against Argentina, but also set a new record for their worst home result in World Cup qualifiers, then equalled it.

Bielsa has managed players of the calibre of Ariel Ortega, Gabriel Batistuta, Roberto Ayala, Juan Sebastian Veron, Alexis Sanchez, Mauricio Isla and Arturo Vidal, and is treated as a role model by the likes of Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino.

And while in press conferences he always tries to speak as analytically and objectively as possible, he says emotion can sometimes get the better of him.

Once, after a poor start to the season with Newell’s Old Boys, Bielsa locked himself in a room and burst into tears.

After Argentina’s poor showing at the 2002 World Cup, he hid away for weeks in his country house.

Rather than mellow him, Bielsa claims that side of his character has got worse with time.

Carrying the hopes and fears of a fanbase desperate to return to the Premier League after 16 years away weighs heavily on him.

“At my age maybe I should be more relaxed about my job but the opposite has happened,” he admitted last month. “I am very worried about what is going to happen.

“I shouldn’t worry about what is going to happen, I have to analyse what is going to happen.

“I always analyse, but I feel it when something is not going well, even if the analysis is positive.”

Leeds has never been a club for the faint-hearted.

A spectacular collapse in form in the second half of last season saw what was widely regarded as the best team in the Championship fail to win promotion, denied in a dramatic play-off semi-final by Derby County.

It looked like history might be repeating itself when the Whites won just two of 12 matches either side of the new year, despite being the better team in many of those matches.

An eight-match suspension for Spanish goalkeeper Kiko Casilla – until then an ever-present in this season’s Championship – over alleged racist remarks only made the waters choppier.

Yet despite the picture he paints of himself, Bielsa stayed steadfast and true to his 
beliefs.

The team kept playing the way he insists they always do, and he stubbornly resisted supporters calls for Casilla – who went through a dreadful and at times costly run of form – to be dropped, and for Patrick Bamford, the centre-forward whose struggles in front of goal at times epitomise his team’s inability to ruthlessly make the most of their good football, to make way for January signing Jean-Kevin Augustin.

Bielsa insisted Augustin was not yet fit enough to yet play 90 minutes of his demanding, high-pressing football.

The Whites steadied the ship with five straight wins without conceding a goal, and were starting once more to look like a team destined for the Premier League, only for the suspension of matches to help contain the spread of coronavirus to throw yet more confusion on the situation.

Leeds is a club to test the emotions of even the most stoney-hearted.