Leeds United sit top of the Championship with 13 points from their five matches played so far. In those games, the team has scored 14 times and the Marcelo Bielsa era is starting in both an entertaining and productive way.
Getting Bielsa was something of a coup for Leeds and a risk for both manager and club. The Argentine could have chosen to wait around for an international offer which would likely have come his way sooner rather than later, but he’s put his head on the block at Leeds which is an even bigger reputation risk given what happened at Lille.
From the club perspective, taking on Bielsa was always a gamble, but some gambles pay off and this one is looking good so far.
Leeds United are news around the world football media at the moment and Chile’s El Grafico have gone to the extent of speaking to Olivier Dacourt.
The former Leeds player has been quoted as saying: “They started very well, Marcelo Bielsa is a very good coach. Although he had problems at Lille, what he did at Marseille was crazy and I hope he will do the same with Leeds. If someone like Pep Guardiola says that Bielsa is his mentor, that he learned a lot from him, it’s for something, he does not say it for nothing.
“I think he can repeat the good he did in Marseille, he can take Leeds back to the Premier League. The English players are very competitive, they work very hard, they train, work and work in training. That’s what Marcelo Bielsa likes, because if you play with him, you have to work very hard. He will get along very well with his players.”
Dacourt believes that Bielsa will have found a receptive audience with players in English football: “When you have trained in so many countries and are used to moving, you adapt your philosophy to the country where you are. As I was saying, the English players work hard, they will not joke in training, and we all know that Marcelo likes to work.”
