Here we go with another interview in the South American media which has become a Marcelo Bielsa story.
The Leeds United boss has now been remembered by Sevilla winger Lucas Ocampos, who’s spoken to Argentine outlet TyC this week.
Ocampos started his career at River Plate and was soon sold to French side Monaco. In 2015, he was close to moving to Italy when he got a call from Bielsa, who was in charge of Marseille.
“It was unique to be managed by Bielsa. I didn’t know him, there were a lot of comments. His assistant calls me and tells me that Marcelo wants to talk to me. I had a conversation with him, grabbed my things and went to Marseille. I signed the contract on a Tuesday and we played on a Saturday,” said Ocampos.
“From Tuesday to Saturday I didn’t have a contact with Bielsa, nor in training. He has another way of reaching the player and teaches you from the distance. For me he was one of the great managers I had. He was the professor from Money Heist, ha.”
“Before the first half ended, we were losing 1-0 and he called me. He says, ‘Well, go warm up in the locker room’. After 10 minutes I got on, I scored a goal. Shortly before the end of the game, they send off one of our players and Bielsa took me out. It was very weird to leave because I had just entered. From that debut I can write a book, ha.
“Then Marcelo explained to me why he took me out and I understood. He did it because it was the best thing for the team.”
Ocampos joined Marseille on a loan deal in January 2015, and his move was made permanent the following summer. The problem is that just a couple of months later, Bielsa left the French side.
Since then, the winger never managed to succeed at the club, being loaned to the likes of Genoa and Milan. Last summer, Marseille finally sold him permanently to Sevilla in a €15m deal.
After leaving Marseille, Marcelo Bielsa had jobs at Lazio and Lille before taking charge of Leeds United in July 2018.
