Could Marcelo Bielsa Be Heading To Elland Road?

Endorsements don’t come much bigger in football than from Pep Guardiola.

When the Manchester City manager speaks, there is a hush around any press room as his words are taken in like the gospel. There was a soundbite of his that was played on repeat in Leeds on Friday the first of June after it emerged the Elland Road club were plotting an audacious move for Marcelo Bielsa.

In this particular video, Pep Guardiola hails Bielsa as the “best coach in the world” because of his influence on football and football players over his time as a manager. That was certainly glowing praise indeed from Guardiola and it was enough to make the Leeds United faithful giddy with excitement at the prospect of such an esteemed manager taking over at Elland Road.

This all came about after the Leeds hot seat has been made vacant yet again after chairman Andrea Radrizzani called time on Paul Heckingbottom’s 16 games in charge and instead opted for a bigger name with more experience.

It has been quite the u-turn from Radrizzani after he appointed Heckingbottom as coach in February because of his “knowledge of the league” and stated that’s why he had to let Thomas Christiansen go because of his lack of it.

It’s common knowledge that Bielsa hasn’t ever managed in the English Championship and what the Leeds hierarchy are thinking by perusing the Argentine coach is anyone’s guess after making clear the candidate they wanted only three months ago.

There can be no doubt about his pedigree and Leeds Utd fans are quite happy to look past the double standards set by Radrizzani and managing director Angus Kinnear when it comes to securing the services of a manager of Bielsa’s worth.

If this appointment were to be made, then it will be the finest manager Leeds United have had since the Davd O’ Leary days and you can’t help but feel one of these managerial changes Leeds make is going to come off.

The passionate and loyal backing of the Leeds fans could well be the perfect match for the manager dubbed the ‘madman’. Should Bielsa accept and take up the challenge of returning Leeds to the Premier League, one of his first tasks will be to lift an underperforming team.

Pontus Jansson has looked a shadow of his former self this past season and Bielsa will need to get him and others performing at the levels they were during the 2016/2017 season. Jansson heads to Russia with Sweden now, where they are 150/1 to win the World Cup in the football betting. Bielsa will be keeping a close eye on Leeds’ talismanic defender and may have to fight off interest from other clubs for him after the World Cup should he take the job.

The managerial conveyer belt hasn’t stopped turning at Elland Road ever since Ken Bates sold to GFH back in 2012.

Massimo Cellino went through manager after manager as the club fumbled about trying to find a quick solution to a long-term problem. Kalvin Phillips is a product of the Leeds academy and, at 22, has played under seven different managers at Leeds.

Andrea Radrizzani appears to be as trigger happy but it is obvious that he has Leeds’ best interests at heart. The Italian is learning as he goes and has a clear vision of where he wants Leeds United to be.

Change is coming to Elland Road for the umpteenth time and the warning signs to Leeds Utd fans would be to buckle in once more as Bielsa’s impending appointment could go one of two ways – disaster or destiny.

Posted on June 4th, 2018 by admin
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