London (AFP) – After decades in the wilderness, Leeds United are chasing a long-awaited return to the Premier League thanks to the eccentric genius of Marcelo Bielsa.
Bielsa’s side sit three points clear at the top of the Championship heading into Saturday’s crucial clash with second-placed Norwich.
With 17 games remaining, Leeds are on course for promotion to the promised land after 15 years of purgatory in the lower leagues.
The sleeping giants from Yorkshire are stirring at last — fittingly just months away from the 100th anniversary of their foundation in October 1919.
Leeds’ unexpected revival has been masterminded by Bielsa, the 63-year-old Argentine nicknamed ‘El Loco’ for his hair-raising antics throughout a colourful managerial career.
When Leeds made Bielsa the highest-paid boss in their history in June, the appointment was greeted with a mixture of apprehension and intrigue.
Bielsa is Leeds’ 11th man at the helm in just six seasons, including Neil Redfearn twice, a statistic that underlined what a mess the once-proud club had become.
Add Bielsa’s reputation as a volatile character and it seemed Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani was throwing petrol on a raging fire by hiring the former Marseille coach.
But, showing why Pep Guardiola describes him as the “best manager in the world”, Bielsa and Leeds have proved a match made in heaven.
With a commitment to a high-tempo attacking style, Bielsa has moulded the team in his own image, all the while watching the action from an upturned blue bucket on the touchline.
Bielsa claims his curious vantage point gives him a better view because the dugouts at Elland Road are below pitch level.
That sideshow, typical of his idiosyncratic style, should not detract from Bielsa’s demanding and detailed philosophy — which has him insisting players clean their own changing room and putting them through gruelling 12-hour days in pre-season.
“I am not a demagogue. When I speak I try not to please people. I try not to lie and I try to tell the truth but sometimes it’s hard not to be empathetic,” Bielsa says of the secret to his success.
He even had a bed and kitchen installed for himself at the training ground and requested sleeping areas for his backroom staff as they work into the small hours.
“He is very strict. It is like being in the military,” Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich said.
Bielsa’s scorched earth approach has turned the tide at a tortured club infamously labelled the ‘Damned United’ by novelist David Peace.
from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2Rsqs44
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