Ipswich Town v Leeds United: Animated Bielsa has captured headlines at Elland Road

REGARDLESS of what happens next in terms of Leeds United’s quest to return to the Premier League, Marcelo Bielsa’s first year in English football is one that will live long in the memory.
United's head coach Marcelo Bielsa.United's head coach Marcelo Bielsa.
United's head coach Marcelo Bielsa.

‘Spygate’ and a fallout that will continue into May if tomorrow’s final day ends with Derby County still occupying sixth place and Leeds awaiting Frank Lampard’s men in the play-offs, remains the standout moment.

But a saga that saw Leeds fined £200,000 – a sum the Argentinian revealed yesterday he paid himself – is far from the only time head coach Bielsa and his unique style of management has made headlines since moving to Leeds last summer.

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Just last Sunday, for instance, his instruction to let Aston Villa cancel out a goal from his own side that had been against the spirit, if not the laws, of the game led to footage being shown all over the world.

The order was not without consequence. Sheffield United may have been going up regardless of whether Leeds won or not thanks to that vastly superior goal difference.

But three points for United against Villa would have cemented third place, whereas now a West Brom victory over Derby tomorrow will leave Bielsa’s men needing at least a draw from their own trip to Ipswich Town.

The Argentinian knew this, but instead did the right thing and let Villa score.

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Since then, of course, Patrick Bamford has rightly paid the price for his histrionics when successfully getting Anwar El Ghazi sent off by feigning injury.

The Leeds striker serves the first of a two-game ban tomorrow at Portman Road and can have few complaints.

Bielsa, however, feels the Football Association have been guilty of a “contradiction” in their handling of a melee that clearly saw Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane throw a punch at Mateusz Klich.

In what was his most animated press briefing since the ‘Spygate’ saga blew up around Derby’s visit to Elland Road in January, the Leeds head coach yesterday said: “It is a fact that Bamford simulated receiving a hit so there is no point in talking about it. But you have conclusions which are important to underline because this kind of situation conditions behaviour in the future.

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“The obvious conclusion is that if you punch someone and this person is strong enough it is not aggression. If you punch someone and this person is weak, it is aggression. That is the conclusion we have to take from the decision.

“When the authorities take decisions they send messages which we have to process. All of these interpretations are made because they don’t tell the public how they reached this conclusion or what was the process to reach this conclusion.

“It is clear why (Hourihane) was not cited by the commission because they look at the subject. It is not that it has not been judged. It has been judged and the conclusion is that a punch like that is not an act of aggression.

“I am going to tell you something I shouldn’t. It is my interpretation.

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“This means that any punch you receive, even if it is just touching you, go to the ground and simulate that it is a strong punch because the only way to get justice is by doing that.

“That is why there is a contradiction in the decision taken by the commission. They sanction people who simulate but at the same time, they invite people to simulate.

“Remember this. I am not asking for the commission to analyse any rival. I am not denouncing anything. I never do that. I only say that this behaviour was judged and interpreted this way.

“Me, as a head coach, I have to interpret decisions taken because I am responsible for the behaviour of the players in my team.”

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Last weekend’s events at Elland Road mean most neutrals favour a rematch between Leeds and Villa in the play-offs.

Providing Bielsa’s men get the required point tomorrow that could only come at Wembley in the May 27 final. It means the focus can remain solely on the quest to mark Bielsa’s first year at the helm by escaping the Championship to boost hopes further among supporters that the Argentinian will stick around after many had taken his comments before the Villa game as a suggestion he may leave in the summer.

“I have never said if we don’t get promoted I won’t carry on my work here,” said Bielsa yesterday when asked about his own future.

“I haven’t said that I was going to leave and I haven’t said that I was going to stay.

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“I just said it was not the moment to talk about the subject.

“I just said it is about receiving the proposal and then accepting the proposal or not. I never said and I would never say if we stay in the Championship I won’t stay here because otherwise you would say the importance of this club is linked to the division in which it plays.

“For me this team and this club are important whether they play in the Premier League, the Championship or League One. And I am not saying this with demagogy.”