Jeez that's worse than the bournemouth one..
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[Albion] Deluded Leeds (an EFL club) fans
- Thread starter vagabond
- Start date
Jeez that's worse than the bournemouth one..
B-right-on
Living the dream
Yea got us mixed up with the Palarse model, spunk money on 'just at/past their prime' players with little to no resale value, over the top wages, panic buys to appease fans demands and stagnate the club forwards progress.
B-right-on
Living the dream
Could only read the headline as not a subscriber, but lol: He lives above a newsagent, shops at Morrisons and sits on a bucket to watch his team. Meet the new Premier League manager known as 'God'
Boroseagull
Well-known member
Not too sure this will work - but.....
bielsa
Marcelo Bielsa and his team celebrate their win against Charlton and promotion to the Premier League, 22 July 2020 CREDIT: Reuters
Imagine the life of a world renowned, £6 million-a-year football manager, fresh from one of the defining moments of his career. A huge mansion in an exclusive suburb? A garage full of Mercedes or Porsches, perhaps supplied by a sponsor? Rails of sleek designer suits?
The reality for the unique figure who has delivered the rebirth of Leeds United, and will next month oversee the club’s first game in the Premier League for 16 years, however, is rather different. He lives in a rented one-bedroom flat above a newsagent’s; he walks to and from work, his backpack making him look like he’s on his way to a seniors’ hiking-group meeting; and he is rarely seen wearing anything apart from a baggy clubissued tracksuit. Even to a black-tie dinner.
Welcome to the remarkably unremarkable world of Marcelo Bielsa, the eccentric 65-year-old Argentine maverick who is known to some as ‘El Loco’ (the madman) but these days is more commonly referred to by Leeds fans worldwide as ‘God’. In less than two years he has taken the biggest sleeping giant in English football and not just reawoken but reinvigorated it, and the city as a whole, in a quite astonishing way.
It would be great to say, especially as a Leeds fan, that I’ve got an exclusive interview with one of the most fascinating characters in world sport. But he doesn’t do one-on-one interviews – because he believes they are undemocratic – and so only speaks at official press conferences (in his native Spanish, as he speaks very little English).
Phil Hay, of leading sports website The Athletic, who has covered Leeds for all of the club’s 16 years outside of the Premier League, says, ‘His argument is basically that, “Everybody should have the same opportunity to speak to me, to ask questions of me, to hear what I have to say. I shouldn’t be excluding anybody from that.” Actually, I quite like that approach – and his press conferences are the most fascinating I’ve ever sat through, without exception.’
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Bielsa on the sidelines in his trusty team tracksuit CREDIT: Lee Smith/Action Images
And there certainly has been plenty to cover, in what has been a roller-coaster two years. From players having to pick litter as part of pre-season training and being ordered to deliberately allow an opposing team to score an equaliser in a crucial game (to right a perceived moral wrong), to accusations of spying on rival clubs and the £200,000 fine that followed. Which, of course, Bielsa being Bielsa, he insisted on paying out of his own pocket. Welcome to El Loco, the West Yorkshire years…
The unlikely love affair between Bielsa and Leeds began in 2018 after yet another season of underachievement from a club whose fall from grace is a byword in football for hubris and overambition.
Leeds finished third in the Premier League in 2000. They reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001. But then the citadel – built on borrowing to bring success – began to fall and fall hard. On the pitch, it meant relegation from the Premier League in 2004 and then from the Championship to League One in 2007 – the first time in its history the club had played at such a low level.
Off the pitch was worse. Administration, fire sales of the best players and a succession of owners who promised much, delivered little, overseeing a revolving door to the manager’s office where few stayed long, even fewer could achieve in an often-toxic atmosphere and no one came close to restoring the club back to the Premier League.
In 2017, Italian businessman Andrea Radrizzani became the latest owner with a grand vision – but his first season ended with the club mid-table and having gone through two managers in less than a season. Which is when his director of football Victor Orta suggested a name so outlandish that it seemed someone had been raiding the boardroom drinks cabinet.
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Snapped by fans out shopping CREDIT: Courtesy of @_mollywhitmore/Twitter
Marcelo Bielsa was a cult figure in world football. Having never worked in England, his profile here was low. But his CV included notable highlights: the Argentine league title with his hometown team Newell’s Old Boys in his first managerial job; winning the Olympic football tournament with Argentina – the country’s first Olympic gold medal for 52 years; and successful spells with Athletic Bilbao and the Chilean national team.
But then there were the abrupt departures. From Marseilles, resigning after one game of his second season following a disagreement with the club’s management. From Lazio, resigning after just two days, claiming that promises made to him on player recruitment and other issues were not being kept. And Lille, sacked after 13 games because he had decided to sell certain players.
And then there was the most famous incident, which helped create the El Loco myth. It came when a group of Newell’s ‘ultra’ fans turned up at Bielsa’s house to complain about a 6-0 defeat. He opened the door holding a grenade and threatened to pull the pin if the fans did not leave. Then, as they fled, he was said to have chased them down the street in his pyjamas, shouting, ‘Do you still want to talk?’
Leeds’ long-suffering fans knew little of their new manager’s idiosyncratic ways. Daniel Chapman, co-editor of award-winning Leeds fanzine The Square Ball, says, ‘I’d heard of him, but I didn’t know a lot about him. Then I read through his biography and I was like, “Oh, it’s the hand grenade guy.”
‘But he did his first press conference after he was appointed in June and then he completely disappeared because he doesn’t talk to anybody, and there was no reason for a press conference in pre-season. We had no idea what was coming.’
When Orta and Leeds chief executive Angus Kinnear flew to Buenos Aires to interview Bielsa – which does make you wonder who was interviewing whom – they were concerned how much he knew about Leeds and the Championship in general.
The answers quickly revealed the manager’s obsessive nature: he’d watched every Leeds game from the previous season (more than 70 hours of pretty average fare) and ran through the preferred formations and lineups of every team in the division.
In addition, he had managed to get hold of the layout and facilities at Leeds’ training ground, Thorp Arch, near Wetherby, and had a list of improvements, most notably adding sleeping pods so the players could rest between sessions.
Bielsa’s all-out attacking and high-tempo possession football demands the highest levels of fitness and stamina from his players. So each of them got used to having a weight target and being weighed every day. Fitness and running statistics are also obsessively monitored. And then there is the weekly game of ‘Murderball’: a full 90- minute match, played at full intensity with no stoppages. No free kicks. No throw-ins or goal kicks (coaches positioned around the pitch just throw in a new ball, so that the game can carry on uninterrupted).
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Snapped by fans in Costa CREDIT: Courtesy of [MENTION=15890]danny[/MENTION]leadbeater/Twitter
But his demands were more than physical. He made the players read for 30 minutes a day. And then there was the litter pick, when he asked the club staff to work out how long the average fan would have to work to pay for a ticket to watch a match. About three hours, was the answer. So, at the end of one training session, Bielsa called his squad of millionaire players together and ordered them to collect litter at Thorp Arch for the next three hours to understand better how hard the fans worked to be able to support the team.
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Snapped by fans in Five Guys CREDIT: Courtesy of [MENTION=32865]Lukee[/MENTION]1995/Twitter
One of the younger players, Ryan Edmondson, now on loan at Aberdeen, recently said, ‘We had trained and afterwards he got us all into a room. He told us all these stories about the people who come to the games and how hard they have to work to go to one game. A lot of the players weren’t happy with it because it wasn’t something they were used to. But I think the message behind it was crucial as it helped the boys have that humility within their game. If you’re not humble, then a lot of the time you’re not willing to work.’
All of this was fuelling the El Loco mythology – but would have been nothing if results on the pitch did not improve. And there was plenty of doubt about Bielsa. Chapman says, ‘Initially, suspicion kind of grew because we didn’t make any spectacular signings. We sold players that people thought we would be keeping, and he didn’t say a word about what his plans were.
‘Then, in the first game, against Stoke, who had just come from the Premier League, everything changed because he basically named the same team that everybody had grown to hate at the end of the previous season – when the players just didn’t seem to care – and at half time it was the most incredible football we’d seen in years. That was the moment when everybody suddenly became interested in what he was doing, how he was doing it and how it was having this impact.’
That season may well have been the most dramatic in the club’s history. Yes, there was superb football and growing belief. But then there were three quite remarkable hiccups.
First, ‘Spygate’, when a Leeds employee was caught ‘observing’ the training session of promotion rivals Derby. Bielsa immediately admitted he had sent the ‘spy’ – and had done so to every other opponent. He even called an impromptu press conference, at which some foresaw another walkout.
Instead, the astonished gathered media were treated to a 77-minute session in which Bielsa gave a detailed PowerPoint presentation of his data and research. Despite admitting no rules had been broken, the Football League fined Leeds £200,000 (and changed the rules). Hay wasn’t surprised: ‘It’s just the way he is. He asks people to take responsibility and he takes responsibility himself.’
Second, the bizarre incident in a match against another promotion hopeful, Aston Villa, when Leeds scored while one of their opponents was on the ground injured. As the Elland Road crowd erupted to celebrate a crucial goal, the players were squaring up as the referee tried to regain control. The TV cameras cut to the managers, to capture Bielsa, calling his players back and screaming, ‘Give a goal. Give a goal.’
The Leeds team parted and allowed Villa to score unopposed. Only defender Pontus Jansson made a half-hearted effort to prevent the goal. Chapman remembers, ‘Another manager, apart from Bielsa, I’m not sure they would have made the same decision. I’m also not sure it would have been accepted in the ground the way it was.
‘You could feel that kind of, “Well, if Bielsa has told them to do it then that makes sense.” The Villa player was booed as he ran through to score, but the anger quickly turned less towards Bielsa for letting Aston Villa steal, essentially, an unfair goal, [than] to Jansson, for being the one player who tried to stop them from scoring.’
The incident led to Bielsa and Leeds winning the prestigious annual global Fair Play Award from world governing body Fifa. But it was the only silverware of the season, which ended with the third and final hiccup: defeat to Derby in the promotion play-offs, having thrown away a two-goal lead. A season so full of so many good things ended as sourly as many others. It seemed as if Bielsa’s reputation as a genius who too often fell just short had been proved in his first foray into English football.
Fast forward 14 months (thanks to the Covid-19 extended season) to July this year, and Leeds are playing Derby again. Except this time the Derby players line up to form a guard of honour to welcome Leeds on to the pitch – as the newly confirmed champions of the Championship.
The veering narrative lurches of the previous season had been replaced by a relentless march to promotion. Yes, there were blips. But pretty much every opposing manager praised Bielsa and his team. Rotherham’s Paul Warne perhaps put it most poetically: ‘It’s like going on The X Factor and being backstage next to Elvis Presley, with his collar turned up. You’re wearing jeans and a white T-shirt and, psychologically, you fear the worst.’
However much rival managers and players might have admired Bielsa, it was nothing compared to the fans. They loved not just the success but the style of the man who delivered it. Who was regularly spotted doing his shopping in Morrisons (still in his club tracksuit), holding team meetings with his staff in the local Costa and happily posing for pictures with fans on his walk to work. According to Hay, ‘He constantly says to us, “I don’t understand the fascination with people seeing me at the baker’s or seeing me at the supermarket. I don’t know why that gets written about.” He just feels it’s kind of tittle-tattle and to an extent he’s right.
‘But at the same time it’s fair to say there won’t be many people who are seeing Guardiola in Morrisons or Mourinho buying bread rolls. It’s just odd but it’s also very infectious. And it’s hard not to like that.
‘I think deep down he understands it. He really knows that these days the gap between supporters and players and managers, particularly at the elite level, is just getting wider and wider and wider. It’s not something he likes. It’s not something he thinks is good for the sport.’
Chapman says Bielsa’s nature particularly appeals to the Yorkshire mindset. ‘There was a quote from [ex-Leeds manager] Howard Wilkinson recently, who got it quite right when he just said, “Nothing about Bielsa says, ‘Look at me.’” He is a multimillionaire. He’s incredibly intelligent. He’s regarded by thousands of people as a genius, and his decision to live in the middle of Wetherby in a flat above a shop just has put him in the right ballpark for the people who live in Leeds who don’t like show-offs basically.
‘He doesn’t wear his achievements on his sleeve, and he’s self-deprecating, even though he’s confident. There’s always that thing in Leeds, that I think holds the city back in some ways, that you’re not supposed to talk about how good you are at stuff, and he never does. But you are supposed to be really, really good at stuff, and he is.’
There is a tragic irony that this man of the people has brought such joy to so many – but in an empty stadium, devoid of the atmosphere and celebration he and the players deserve. Watching Leeds crowned champions was great, but oh to have been there or watched as Elland Road rang out with songs in honour of its unlikely hero.
Now, the question is how does this most atypical of managers get on in the most commercial and cut-throat league in the world. Hay says, ‘I’ve thought about this a lot because, in many ways, the Premier League feels to me to be contrary to the aspects of football that Bielsa really loves. I think from a coaching perspective there’s a lot to appeal to him. Games against Guardiola, games against Klopp, games against Mourinho, games against the clubs that Leeds feel like they should be mixing with.
‘I think that he’ll revel in that challenge and they’ll definitely warm to him. I just worry that the rest of the stuff that goes with the Premier League will not be to his taste. The attention will go through the roof. I will be quite intrigued to see how he enjoys it. But I hope he does because he hasn’t half earned it.’
Bielsa V The rest
Home
Bielsa
A one bedroom flat above a newsagent’s. His wife Laura, an academic, is said to be mostly based in Argentina.
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Other managers
A £25 million Belgravia mansion for José Mourinho; Rangers’ Steven Gerrard owns a swanky Palladian-style mansion; Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp apparently lives rent-free in a £3.75 million mansion owned by his club.
Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho returning to his Belgravia home CREDIT: Geoff Pugh
Luxuries
Bielsa
Bielsa sits on a blue bucket during matches, insisting that it gives him a better view than from the Elland Road dugouts. (He’s got form – he opted for a cool box when at Marseilles.)
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CREDIT: Reuters
Other managers
To keep managers and players warm and comfortable during games, many top clubs in Europe have installed professional racecar seats at a cost of £3,500 each.
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiol
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiol CREDIT: THOMAS KIENZLE/Getty Images
Transport
Bielsa
Takes a 45-minute walk to work from his flat in Wetherby every day. Although he was seen marching around a Volkswagen showroom back in May, he was reportedly shopping for a car for a friend.
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CREDIT: Courtesy of @KarlLuty/Twitter
Other managers
Pep Guardiola has pranged £460,000 worth of cars while at Man City. Mourinho’s collection includes an Aston Martin DB9 (among others) but he still gets driven to White Hart Lane by limo as he ‘doesn’t like driving in England’.
Style
Bielsa
Turned up to Leeds’ black- tie centenary dinner last October wearing his trusty tracksuit and trainers. If it ain’t broke…
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CREDIT: Courtesy of @gareth_boyes/Twitter
Other managers
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has previously modelled for Louis Vuitton, adidas Y-3 and Mango. Chelsea’s Frank Lampard is never seen without a sharp suit, while Mourinho favours Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna and Hugo Boss.
I think it's quite hard not to like him, and he is clearly a good manager.
Leeds fans are about to realise that you need a lot more than that to challenge properly in the Premier League.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
Not too sure this will work - but.....
bielsa
Thanks for posting, that was a really interesting read. I was already looking forward to seeing how he does this season, even more so now. He sounds like my kind of guy
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Green Cross Code Man
Wunt be druv
I think we have to acknowledge Bielsa is a unique character and a pioneering coach. I was lucky enough to see his Athletic Bilbao side close at hand twice when they knocked Man Utd out of Europe and also watch part of one of his meticulous training sessions in Spain. The spirit and intensity of that team was phenomenal. Whether his idiosyncratic methods will bring success in the Premier League, who knows? There’s always a ceiling, regardless of the coach and I suspect the Leeds fans have an inflated view of their players’ abilities. It’s a shame he’s at such an unlikeable club as, otherwise, he’d have a lot of affection from the neutrals.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
Good point, I have deleted the article from my reply
No plan you say? shit scared he leaves? Desperate?...you couldn’t be more wrong. We’re two years into a 5 year plan that was laid out when Bielsa came in. We’re bang on track and if you haven’t noticed we’re also in the process of picking up a load of young top prospects for the u23’s. We’re building for the future whilst getting the quality in we need to ensure Premier League survival.
The difference between Leeds and Brighton is the small club mentality you lot have. You can call it deluded all you want and call us arrogant but the fact is Leeds are a big club with a world wide draw. Whilst you’re happy just surviving every season we aim a little higher than that. Europe in 3 years is the aim and why shouldn’t it be? Yes we’ve had 16 years away, the mis-management of the club during that time through various different shit house owners has been clear for all to see but when Leeds are in the top division we don’t dick about just aiming for survival. We’re aware of the gulf between the Championship and the Prem and are under no illusions this season is going to be tough, survival this season is paramount and then we push on again the season after. Of course we could go down but I don’t believe we will, I think our style of play will shock a few this season whilst at the same time entertaining, we certainly won’t be sitting back against anyone, every game we’ll be all out for the win, it’s the Bielsa way. Sure they’ll be a couple of thrashings but I can’t wait to get going and also for the rest of the league to see just why Bielsa is lauded the way he is, not just by us but universally across the football world.
As for Ben White, I’ve nothing but good things to say about him and I thank him for the season he gave us last year. I’ve absolutely no doubt he’ll be a future England CB in time, he’s that good. Would have loved to have signed him but TB made it clear he wasn’t for sale (at least to us) We’ll be fine tho, this Koch looks a more than adequate alternative, a current German CB and for what looks like a bargain price especially with the figures we were looking at for Ben.
Anyway good luck for the season, should be a good one.
SweatyMexican
Well-known member
- Mar 31, 2013
- 4,155
Bielsa is a good coach, but because Leeds have been used to utter trash for ages, they see anyone who can get them promoted as some sort of demi-god.
Now, where have I seen that model before?
Andrea Radrizzani: “As a model, I look at clubs like Brighton & Hove Albion and the success they’ve achieved gradually on a sustainable budget. I want to take a similar approach."
Ah yes, thanks Andrea.
Can't wait for you to loan out one of those top prospects to a smaller club and then get all huffy when they start their #freeXXXXX campaign because you want him back.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
I think we can see with the pursuit of Rodrigo and others rumoured that they have already binned using the Albion as a model.. Rodrigo is likely to cost 9 million more than our record spend and he’ll be drawing wages that we are nowhere near offering. But hey, this is Leeds, they are big time and we are small time.
I really don't think it is.
Whilst I would never take issue with the fantastic history Leeds have and the incredible support the club enjoys (although a lot of that went missing in the Championship years until promotion became a possibility again), I've seen nothing to suggest anyone outside the UK has much idea who Leeds are.
Whilst the game has exploded in popularity and media reach over the last decade, you've been so far out of the limelight that outside the UK you're the equivalent of "Accrington Stanley - who are they?"
For anyone outside the UK who is under 25 or so and gained interest in English football, dominated by the Premier League, you're just another side who has been promoted from that bit below. Same as us.
If you haven’t realised by now that social media is full of idiots (likely the under 20’s) then you really should stop reading Facebook and Twitter. There’s these clowns from all clubs and I wholeheartedly agree with you it’s embarrassing. Unfortunately these idiots have always been amongst us it’s just in the modern world social media has given them all a platform. I can assure you, of the 40 odd lads in my local supporters club we all understand the Ben White situation and hold no bad feelings at all. Don’t confuse the under 20’s on Twitter with the match going regulars.
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- Nov 11, 2009
- 12,273
Every club has their 4 or 5 year plan. But your master plan all hinges on Bielsa. Give God everything he wants and kowtow to every whim is the crux of the master plan.. You’re terrified of him leaving and so you should be. If he does the house of cards collapses. Sure you’ll get a new man, but a lot if what you have is Bielsa based, he is bigger than your club. Kinnear and Radd are shit scared of him leaving, and having to balance that fear whilst also trying to say the right things to appease your baying mob. That is the basis imho for irrational Crazy spending on a 29yo. Danny Mills in Leeds live questions the money (not the player)
Seasons starting, still hasn’t signed, no major first team signings.....shit, do something quick, we have to keep Bielsa.
Would Leeds spend so much if Bielsa had another year on contract already?
Desperate, yes. Rodrigo is a good player with pedigree in Spain. At 29 for 60 million total package, after major signing setbacks, and a manager who won’t sign his deal till whims are all met, it smacks of desperation by the execs. So much hinges or the majority Even on Bielsa staying they’ve willing to take big financial risks (sounds familiar). Without Marcelo there is no plan.
I’ve seen your young prospects, some good ones for the future. Something many clubs have been doing for ages and we’ve done too.. You may of heard of one of ours, Ben White (we hadnt heard of him until 3 weeks ago but he’s quite popular now!).
We don’t have a small club mentality. We’re realists and understand the difficulty of the league. Incremental growth, not gambling. You’re delusionists who think your past means something today, or your name guarantees something. It doesn’t. And as you chase your delusions of grandeur (as you don’t belong anywhere other than what you achieve on the pitch), you’re willing to take outlandish financial gambles Without resale value, sacrificing future financing and stability for short term glory.
Leeds United 2007 live for today, tomorrow never comes.
- Thread starter
- #4,539
Nope, no no no.
Many of the deluded tweets in this hilarious topic are fully grown men. Not kids.
Granted it is a skewed representation, but to a man, nearly every #freebenwhite tweet exhibited an extraordinary logic bypass, a lack of understanding of the loan system, believing clickbait, and usually a dash of disrespect to us, our club and our chairman. And occasionally a bonus bit of homophobia.
Then add that to the songs, memes, mugs, change.org petitions. And it’s pretty pathetically embarrassing to be honest.
I think you’ll find Tony Bloom’s long term objective - though not publicly stated for obvious reasons - is also European football. That would justify his huge ongoing investment in infrastructure and youth. Being a hardcore Albion fan, he’s building slowly but surely towards that goal having seen other supposedly more ‘ambitious’ clubs crash and burn so many times. Like, uhm, Leeds, for instance.
If you think the people running BHAFC are content just to survive every season, you couldn’t be more wrong. Football moves on. Things change. Glory in the distant past offers very little except pressure and unrealistic expectation.
As for the bullish talk about attacking football, we hear it every summer. As we’ve seen from Graham Potter, there’s no harm in having a go & it’s more fun to watch. The net gain though is likely to be minimal. If you anticipate Leeds consistently beating the top 4, it’s going to feel a very long season. Why would you imagine a relatively average XI can beat a team of world class players at its own game? You may spring a couple of surprises if you catch them on an off day - just like everyone else. What will decide how well you do, ultimately, is whether you can also defend. If not, Leeds won’t be hanging around.