After signing a new contract with Leeds United, Marcelo Bielsa expressed his unmitigated appreciation for something that is \u201cextraordinary\u201d. The feeling is mutual equally well reciprocated, as far as the club owners are concerned.<\/p>\n
The news that the Argentinian had signed a one-year contract to stay at Elland Road came as no great surprise to anyone even before he perfunctorily blurted it out at dinner time yesterday, announcing the issue had been \u201cresolved\u201d before any early-evening press release to that effect was rushed out.<\/p>\n
Actions – more than words (or contracts) – show Bielsa\u2019s unquestionable commitment to Leeds, the club the indomitable, legendary 66-year-old has managed for longer than any other. The doyen\u2019s June impromptu appearance to coach some of the academy\u2019s youngest players clearly emphasized that, as did his micro-management to upgrades at the Thorp Arch training ground where the session took place on.<\/p>\n
Actions aside, the words were nonetheless impactful and pretty telling too, an indication of how appreciative Bielsa is for the backing he has received at Elland Road. Normally in football that is code for the amount of money a manager is allowed to spend in the transfer market, but in Bielsa\u2019s case the spending outlay has only been extended to cover one senior figure, new left-back Junior Firpo, some junior and back-up players and also for endorsing the seal of permanence on Jack Harrison\u2019s loan moves. Although his squad seems to be getting noticeably smaller, the great man is happy about it – it is the unseen<\/em> support which has left him \u201castounded\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an extraordinary club,\u201d said Bielsa, who joined in the summer of 2018. \u201cIt\u2019s not often that you have a club that designates so much investment to improving the training.<\/p>\n \u201cLeeds have made a significant financial contribution for the tools for the manager to prepare his players. Everything we need in this area, the club has resolved it with a very high investment, whether it be the pitches, the facilities, the technology, commodities for the work of the players, and in this sense I am astounded by the conduct of the club.<\/p>\n \u201cThorp Arch year on year has been improving. Free spaces which previously couldn\u2019t be used have been made into spaces that can be used with grass.<\/p>\n \u201cOne pitch has undersoil heating and the facilities have been improved so that can happen with two other pitches in the future. There is a path being created for the machinery for the work around the pitches so that it doesn\u2019t damage the pitches and there are a lot more minor details that help our work to be better. All of this is done with a lot of professionalism.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most important coaches in world football would value what this club means in terms of organization, structure and the public.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is another step to be able to get these players that triple in value from what Leeds can obtain because I insist the powerful clubs are not there for no reason. But what I say is what Leeds produces.\u201d<\/p>\n To be fair, Leeds have simply recognized Bielsa\u2019s proven, extraordinary coaching talents and the resume he has and they are essentially just doing everything in their power to make him happy in his job. Needless to say, he has more than repaid them by taking them into the top half of the Premier League after having languished 15 years outside the division.<\/p>\n The suspicion lurks that Bielsa would ideally like a box-to-box midfielder \u2013 with Huddersfield Town\u2019s Lewis O\u2019Brien being mentioned \u2013 and perhaps another winger this summer but cool as he always is, he is certainly not about to rock the boat. For the meantime, he is happy with the recruitment of left-back Firpo, recovered from injury to be available at Manchester United tomorrow, and 20-year-old goalkeeper Kristoffer Klaesson.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are very well thought-out decisions, very well analyzed,\u201d he reflected. \u201cWe think all the conditions are there for them to have a good time at Leeds.<\/p>\n \u201cFor a long time I have been working in professional football and very few times have I ever seen a club so well looked after to decide when we sign a player.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year the club has reduced the amount of professionals and incorporated very few. This year is yet another example that many more players have left than arrived. There is a very prolific and fertile contribution from the academy.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of its organization, I consider Leeds an example. Victor Orta is the one who structures the arrival of players, the director of the academy (Adam Underwood) and Under-23s technical staff give nutrients to the first team and the owner makes investments he could easily ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"