Marcelo Bielsa

[Kennyb41]

Alright for him to insult me, Cjay, Velo, White Riot,Orange box etc on a regular basis though...

I might not need to pm you Hector, your answer could be right there in the above ^

There'll be a few more cowardly lurking as well.

Must dash.

[Mick Jones shoulder]

Probably go either way......

[Kennyb41]

The 66-year-old Argentine's stellar reputation among his peers and his status with adoring Leeds United fans is based on steadfast principles that football for the masses must be a front-foot thrill ride designed to deliver excitement and brighten lives.

When it works it is glorious spectacle,

Bielsa, however, has left a body of work behind at Elland Road that will make him a hero forever with the fervent Leeds support, who have loved the entertainment he has provided for them as well as his humble approach that chimed perfectly with the characteristics of the area.

Leeds fans have resolutely refused to dilute their admiration for Bielsa, even in the face of grim recent evidence, but his unbending insistence on his own style and refusal to seemingly even countenance a measure of pragmatism has led to a decision which will create great sadness at the club and among its supporters.

Bielsa can justly point to mitigating circumstances such as the absence through injury of his key midfield man, England's Kalvin Phillips, and Leeds' main source of goals, Patrick Bamford. They have had a devastating impact on the team's effectiveness, while they have also missed influential defender and leader Liam Cooper.

Bielsa leaves with his reputation intact among supporters who are forever grateful that he put Leeds back in a place they feel is their rightful home.

He picked Leeds up from previous years of financial turmoil, plus a miserable time in the English game's third tier, and halted a rapid turnover of managers that had become an embarrassment to one of the game's great old football institutions.

Right up until his departure, Leeds fans accepted the flaws in Bielsa's plans in exchange for the entertainment he gave them, which was not without tangible reward in the shape of promotion then consolidation in the Premier League.

Marcelo Bielsa, though, is a coach and a personality who will always have a special place in the hearts of Leeds United fans.

Gonna miss you Bert.

[beer belly bert]

look at the situation with the head and not the heart , we only have had Bielsa for 12 more matches anyway as i believe he was on his way at the end of the season , thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you did for my club and i will remember only the good times we had and you will go down in Leeds history as a great ,

i would also like to point out that a few on here are now acting like children and its embarrassing

[Clacton White]

Let's hope we get that new manager bounce everyone else gets!

WBA haven't with Steve Bruce .

[WhiteRose]

It was becoming more and more likely to happen as results went by and I did say he should go but it makes it no less devastating for it to actually happen I feel a little bereft Reading through the media and twitter with tears in my eyes - it dosnt feel right for him to just disappear in to the night.

[Madron]

I believe that Bielsa would have kept us up, and that his replacement will do the same thing.

I think we'll pick up the necessary points over the next six matches - Leicester, Villa, Norwich, Wolves, Southampton and Watford to do so.

Agree with you. I was hoping he would at least be given the next 3 games to get back on track, all against teams in bad patches themselves. Its all about survival and not sure sacking him at the moment, even though I understand it, is the right call. The last 11 games have included playing all the top 7 with a lot of injured players out so we were hardly going to pick up many pts anyway.

[Mick Jones shoulder]

No loyalty in football which a few need to realise, plenty of good managers have come and gone at clubs no big deal. I might add they get paid bloody well for the privilege of doing something the like... New man comes in does well the fans will love him , does poorly and I'm sure a few will consider him an idiot.

[SG90]

Agree with you. I was hoping he would at least be given the next 3 games to get back on track, all against teams in bad patches themselves. Its all about survival and not sure sacking him at the moment, even though I understand it, is the right call. The last 11 games have included playing all the top 7 with a lot of injured players out so we were hardly going to pick up many pts anyway.

But Everton and Newcastle were in bad form and we lost to them without scoring.

Also Watford and Burnley took points from scum and Spurs so why couldn't we possibly do as well?

[SG90]

No loyalty in football which a few need to realise, plenty of good managers have come and gone at clubs no big deal. I might add they get paid bloody well for the privilege of doing something the like... New man comes in does well the fans will love him , does poorly and I'm sure a few will consider him an idiot.

I think he's had more than enough time to turn it around, but refused to. Any other manager would've been gone at Christmas.

[SG90]

Interesting Bielsa's win rate was second only to Revie just a few weeks ago, now he's dropped down to fifth with less than 50% win rate.

[danhirons]

sad but had to be done

[whiteswan]

Sigh
A deep sadness in me as to how this has all ended. I love the man, what he has brought to English football and not just to Leeds United. The respect everyone in the game has for him makes me feel incredibly proud.

I remember the sheer joy of our promotion, the lads partying at ER, then Marcello turning up and joining in with them. I was bursting with energy. That evening the bottle of fizz was already in the fridge, just in case.

Marcello has given me so much enjoyment as a Leeds United supporter, almost akin to the Revie era for me. Having someone to look up to and be proud of.

Thank you Marcello for the fantastic memories, happiness joy and pride in my club

I will never forget what you did for us

[Musicman1965]

Despite the frustration and whatnot this season I doubt any Leeds fan wanted it to end like this and if it is the end then it is a sad way to go out but doesn't change what he achieved here.

It also is criminal that Bielsa goes but People like Orta and Kinnear will remain

Orta for me is as responsible for our poor results. Good Call.

[The Subhuman]

I believe that Bielsa would have kept us up, and that his replacement will do the same thing.

I think we'll pick up the necessary points over the next six matches - Leicester, Villa, Norwich, Wolves, Southampton and Watford to do so.

Like me you're a great believer in continuity, I do think we'll need to be patient while a new system is put in place, for all the man marking whining we have here it won't be easy to go zonal for players so expect a lot of errors and bad goals conceded. This will probably be the most complex change over between managers in football history due to MB's totally unique system. IMO 12 games may enough to see us putting it together by game 11

Lets not forget we're getting a manager (it seems) with zero experience of English football, maybe no experience of fighting relegation and a team still riddled with injury plus the core still out.

Team selection for the next game will be interesting to say the least. My guess is it'll be very close to MB's selection but with the added comedy of maybe trying to play zonal over man for the first time in 4 years

Napoleon said of his generals, I don't need them to be good I just need them to be lucky ... Bielsa had zero luck this season for the most part. Woodwork 4 times in the last 2 and maybe 5 pen decisions going the against us

[CHAPELALLMAN]

At the end of the day if over your last 4 matches as a manager you have an aggregate score of 17-2 against you, you are going to struggle to survive whether you are Marcelo Bielsa or Don Revie. Or 60 goals conceded in 26 matches for that matter. Except that Don Revie created teams that could defend brilliantly - and that's part of football just as much as the offensive aspect.

For me, MB's managerial career has been all about the 3-3-1-3 formation, and his project in the PL was to try and make it work. On MOD last night it highlighted a situation whereby we had 9 players high up the pitch and one defending. Typically with 3-3-1-3 when we were attacking there were at least 6 players playing very high up the pitch and a massive hole in the midfield.

Tied to this was the man to man marking system which the pundits have been criticising heavily in the last week - hear what they said about it on MOD last night.

This is what Martin Keown wrote about it in one of the tabloids yesterday ;

" Leeds' unwavering man-to-man system is doing more harm than good right now. Just 44 seconds into their match with Man Utd at ER you could see the visitors toying with their opponents' obsession with man -marking.
Harry Maguire was taking a free-kick in his own half and the 10 secs that followed set the tone for the rest of Sunday's game. Ronaldo came running deep and Diego Llorente followed him all the way. If Ronaldo had kept running all the way to his own keeper, I have the feeling that Llorente would have gone with him. Next, Fernandez sprinted into the space left by Ronaldo and Robin Koch followed him. Paul Pogba dropped deep and pulled Forshaw with him.
The same man-to-man sequence happened with Luke Shaw and Dan James, and Jadon Sancho and Stuart Dallas.
United's players were leading their Leeds markers on a merry dance around the pitch whilst waiting for Maguire to take this free kick.
This is the MB way and he refuses to deviate from it.
It is a very single-minded system, and it shows too much attention to the opposition and does not allow his team to play their own game in a creative manner. "

Obviously Keown did not comment about the set piece issue - but clearly that's also caused by obsessive attention to what the opposition are doing through man to man marking, and hence not watching the ball when it comes in.

I think that the keyword with Marcelo Bielsa is always ' OBSESSION ' - and obsessive thinking is not always very balanced or open-minded.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Orta for me is as responsible for our poor results. Good Call.

I agree - the recruitment has been abysmal - Costa, Harrison, Rodrigo, Llorente, Firpo. Maybe Koch as well - the jury is still out. And far too much paid for James, plus the JKA fiasco which may yet lose the club £20m. Orta helped Boro get relegated don't forget.

As regards team selection, Harrison starting nearly every game under the Bielsa regime sums it up for me - a really erratic and often non-effective player who has had maybe one good game for every 10 played and yet has been undroppable.

[Cjay]

It's a sad day and it wasn't meant to end like this

In my head he would announce his departure before the last game of the season where he gets serenaded at Elland Road on our way to a successful top 7 finish.

LUFC have been a lower league club longer than a Premier league one in my living memory, and largely a crap lower league one.

So when Bielsa came in and we battered promotion favourites Stoke that day it was a moment of great hope and joy which I hadn't seen since we were a Premier League team with O'Leary.

It changed everything after years of dross and gave a sense of hope that I will always be grateful for.

As a person though I was proud to have him as our manager.

Humble, honourable, even slightly embarrassed by the worship he got.

A king and generous man who fully deserved a send off he hasn't gotten.

I hope he comes back to say goodbye to the fans.

Gracias Marcelo.

Bueno

[Mountain]

It seems from the statements that neither Radz nor Orta believe any blame lies with them. There is not one line of humility, no suggestion they may have got things wrong...

[Cjay]

It seems from the statements that neither Radz nor Orta believe any blame lies with them. There is not one line of humility, no suggestion they may have got things wrong...

Agree with that.

Wasn't impressed with that statement.

I firmly believe they don't think they have any responsibility for this season.

They are deluded