Fifteenth in the standings with Leeds, Marcelo Bielsa has still not extended his contract as it expires next June. And Leeds do not really know on which foot to dance with the Argentinian technician …
Marcelo Bielsa’s time at Leeds is still exciting. The Argentinian technician began his 4th year at the club at the start of the season. He had started his adventure in the Championship and had allowed the Yorkshire club to rediscover the joys of the Premier League almost 20 years after their last descent from D1. Very quickly, El Loco was adored by the supporters of this working-class city. And very quickly, he also became attached to the city and the fans. Reason why he never stayed as long in a club during his career as he does now. But this season sounds slowly but surely like Marcelo Bielsa’s last with Leeds.
After a successful first season in the Premier League where the Peacocks finished in a very interesting 9th place by offering attractive football, the second seems much more complicated. Currently 15th in the standings, the band in Bielsa is fighting for maintenance and fails to get ahead of the relegation places. The team also doesn’t seem capable of replicating last season’s performances. And even if Leeds have been decimated by injuries and covid since the start of the season, this ranking worries the management of the club. Especially since it does not allow us to see more clearly as to the situation of the former OM coach.
Leeds begin to prepare for post-Bielsa
While his contract expires at the end of the season, Marcelo Bielsa has still not extended and will not decide now. According to The Athletic, internally, we do not really know how to handle this situation. With the difficulties of the current team and while Bielsa will not plan for next season, the management does not want to extend it and thus take the risk of keeping a coach who could bring the club down to the Championship. If the club wanted to keep him at all costs a few months ago, the recent results have made the leaders doubt. The latter would also have liked Bielsa to accept certain players offered during the transfer window to strengthen the team. What he did not do while his team chained the average benefits.
Faced with the vagueness of the situation, Leeds are aware that time is not on their side. The sports management also wonders about the sporting interest of keeping Marcelo Bielsa. The development of the club’s young players for next season is a particular subject. In this sense, the club is already preparing the post-Bielsa and the idea is to rely on the very hard work and the game ideas of the Argentine coach to continue to develop. The Athletic explains that two profiles were targeted. That of Jesse Marsch who has a very good relationship with the club’s sports director and who would correspond to the policy of developing young people with high potential. The other track refers to Ernesto Valverde who had already succeeded in succeeding Bielsa on the Bilbao side … Tracks studied if El Loco were to leave. But the Marcelo Bielsa case therefore continues to be a real headache for Leeds.
