Every morning, Bielsa and his assistants respond to letters from admirers around the world. When a Jewish Leeds fan wrote to invite Bielsa to a traditional Friday night dinner at their family home, Bielsa phoned to politely decline and spent time discussing football with the supporter’s Spanish-speaking nephew. At Leeds, he has welcomed coaches from India, China and Norway. Those who visit encounter a man ferociously dedicated to his craft. He has a bed and kitchen installed for himself at the training ground and has requested sleeping areas for his backroom staff. Together they work into the small hours, studying thousands of hours of video. Players suspect he has slept over at the training ground and he has been seen walking into the complex with his backpack to dodge any morning traffic. As manager of Athletic Bilbao, where he led the team to Europa League and Copa Del Rey finals, he was known to rise at 5am and scour the world’s sport pages and journals for fresh inspiration. Players are matching their manager’s application. In August, they did not have a single day off. The team are weighed every morning, using a DEXA scan machine, which details lean mass, fat mass and bone mass. Those not considered to be in shape did not join the full squad until Bielsa considered them fit in pre-season. ‘Players used to get away with a beer or the odd Burger King,’ says one source. ‘Not any more.’ The players, mostly the same as the squad who finished 13th last season, eat at least two meals a day together and have individual diet plans, with most handed protein-heavy meals for the majority of the week while carbohydrates come in during the 24 hours before kick-off. Bielsa himself puts together the players’ gym routines. He is obsessive over the length of the grass on the training pitches and goalposts are suspended off the ground as this, apparently, ensures all the turf receives the same amount of sunlight. Double sessions are accepted and routines have lasted up to two and a half hours. High-intensity sprints enable Leeds to play a high-pressing game but there is also an emphasis on positioning. Many sessions do not involve players going up against one another but instead against mannequins, so Bielsa can explain, through a translator, exactly where a player should be with and without the ball. Most clubs only rehearse set pieces after training but Bielsa asked: ‘What if we need to take a free-kick in the first minute of a game?’ So now a selection of players rehearse routines twice a week before training, taking three to five free-kicks, corners and penalties, and the player who hits the specified zones then takes the set-pieces during a game. Every margin is pursued, so training mirrors kick-off times, with sessions at 3pm ahead of a weekend fixture. ‘He is very strict, it is like being in the military,’ said midfielder Mateusz Klich. There is respect and admiration. Players stay together the night before all games. Bielsa and his staff invite each player in for a 15-minute individual session, in which they are shown clips from training sessions (all recorded) and games to fully understand their role. Players then study clips focusing on their direct opponent. The statistics underline the control. Leeds have the best goal difference in the division, the most shots and only Middlesbrough have conceded fewer goals. Their possession statistics, with 63 per cent of the ball, are the best in the league and the only game that provoked dressing-room condemnation from the boss was, in fact, a 1-0 win at Sheffield United — the only time when Leeds had less of the ball than their opponents. It is not passing for passing’s sake, and Bielsa puts as much stock on creating more chances than opponents. Players are by now used to his quirks, after being ordered to collect litter from the training ground during pre-season to help them relate to those who come through the turnstiles. And of course he famously sits on a blue bucket on the touchline during matches. As Argentina manager, he once scribbled on his shoes to demonstrate to his players the part of the foot they should use to strike the ball. He continued wearing the shoes in the following days. At Athletic Bilbao, he visited a local nunnery, where he enquired about the sheltered convent life — not so different from his players’ monastic, communal existence — and then asked the nuns to pray for his team. At Leeds, the early concern was burnout. Yet morale is high and players feel fitter than ever before, despite a succession of injuries that have seen youngsters promoted from the academy. Bielsa attends many Under 23 games and specifies training sessions for the development team. The club physio, Rob Price, is highly rated and the Englishman was behind the decision to send captain Liam Cooper to have surgery in Italy, where Francesco Totti and Andrea Pirlo have previously been treated. In January, a goalkeeper will be signed, but agents have been told to expect only outfield loan reinforcements. Bielsa has long awaited an opportunity in English football. He came to watch matches during Euro 96 and has twice been interviewed for Premier League jobs. After recent travails — he walked out on Lazio after two days in 2016 and a year earlier, left Marseille after the second game of the season — he maybe also had a point to prove. Now he and Leeds are halfway to the Promised Land.
64 if those are your words The guy is inspirational and you have to wonder about any player who wouldn't want to play for someone like him. I only hope he stays
Crackin' article, & a good start to the day. Where did you find this, Leon? Must be written by a fan, 'cos there's no sensationalism - just interesting fact.
It's co-written by Amitai Winehouse in the fail (he is a BIG Leeds fan) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...olution-sleeping-training-picking-litter.html
Same thoughts as me, Doc, but I opted to go for fan rather than Leon himself (more chance of being right! ). I've now met Bielsa twice, one on one, and I can't find the words to REALLY tell you what he's like. He doesn't even have to speak for you to realise that he's a special guy. He seems to trigger something inside you that releases pure joy and absolute confidence. I should imagine it's something akin to meeting the Dalai Lama. Reading this back, I realise I'm setting myself up for pelters, but I kid you not, he's different. In my life I've met many prominent people who were lauded in their fields, but whilst they may have been impressive people with impressive attributes, not one has come anywhere near this guy. And no, I'm not simply starstruck. I've been starstruck before, but this guy is on a completely different level.
I know what you mean by that and will give you 2 examples I have had. Firstly the Bishop of York John Sentamu. I am not religious but I met him and was blown away. You can tell he is a holy man, a genuine man and special man unlike the prick he works for as Archbishop of Canterbury who only does socialist politics and bigs up Muslims whilst Christians around the world are slaughtered, secondly years ago my boss was a guy called Prendergast and in his spare time he invented the Hovercraft. Another Brit took the acclaim for it because Prendy didnt think about a trade mark. The guy was a mad boffin and like a mad proffesor, but inspirational and you would follow him anywhere.
A very good account. I don’t know about anyone else but I see very definite similarities in the approach of Bielsa and Don Revie. Revie didn’t have the technology available today, but his use of dossiers on the opposition, tailored to each player, the fostering of a close knit team, the obsessional attention to detail - all rang bells for me. I also think the way Revies team played, they owned the ball and pressed the opposition incessantly, the way forwards like Lorimer tackled back, are in common with Bielsas Leeds. Didn’t Cruyff say, ‘if you give the ball to Leeds, they will make you dance’? Seems that is what Bielsa is aiming for. Anyone else agree?
Just been round to Moribobs again. No Bielsa tonight, but I was talking to my youngest's pal who works there, who happens to be a scum fan. He's been hearing a big rumour that Bielsa has already turned down scum. No more detail than that.
So many similarities 2020 Revie introduced young lads into the first-team such as Bremner, Reaney, Hunter, Lorimer, Gray, etc Bielsa giving kids opportunities in the current Leeds side with the likes of Peacock-Farrell, Shackleton, Halme, Pearce, Clarke, etc
LOL, I don't believe I do. I've often seen you referred to as Leon on here, and I find it flows in a sentence better than '1964'. Apols if I've been over-familiar. Was tempted to say that we met during a session in the Peacock where I loaned you £20 - which I'm still awaiting payment for! But then no-one I know would have believed that given my hybrid Jock/Yorkie shortest arms/deepest pockets.
Ahh so the only happy endings they got was shouting house in a bingo game. Meanwhile on the other side of the Pennines, George best was licking champagne off miss world’s love bundles. Where did it all go wrong George?
