The current Leeds United manager, famous for never giving 1-1 interviews and often cited as one of the most influential men on modern football. Funny, because he’s never actually achieved major success like some of those who eulogise him such as Pep Guardiola. According to Pep, it is not titles that makes Bielsa the best coach in the world but his influence on the game and unrivalled ability to make footballers better players under his management
He got his first big job with Newells Old Boys, he’s boyhood team in Rosario, Argentina. He was an average player for them in the 70’s, becoming the youth team coach in the 80’s. He only spent a few seasons at Newell’s before moving through the ranks of South American football culminating in winning the Olympic Games with Argentina in 2004. He spent 2007-11 with Chile, his personality as much as the improved results caught the attention of European football and he joined Athletic Bilbao for the 2012 season. After winning two domestic cups in Spain he got the job at Marseille but left after only 1 season having fallen out with the board. He then joined Lazio but left after just two days in charge claiming he was not able to sign the players previously promised.
He seems a man of romantic principles, never wavering from what he believes in. He has a vision for his teams. A free-flowing attacking style where players transition between positions to exploit areas of weakness highlighted from hours of studying the opposition (famously so). He understands and therefore demands the need for top conditioning from his players, with stories of 12 hour days coming out of pre season training camps, most football teams might train for 4-5 hours. As soon as he knew the Leeds board were interested in him he began to prepare. When they met in Argentina he had already watched every game Leeds played from that season, knew all the players and had an opinion on their growth and how they fit into his system. He also had a complete catalogue of all the formations used that year in the Championship from every single team.. The vision goes further than his style of play, it goes into the core of the clubs he manages. He is exacting on every detail down to where the plug sockets are located in the new Leeds training centre. Before taking the Leeds job he visited the city to get a ‘feel’ for the vibe to ensure it fit with his philosophy.
All these second hand stories might seem like good propaganda for Leeds and Bielsa’s reputation but his players buy into him and his vision. His wikipedia page is littered with quotes of ex players signing his praises about how he made them into better footballers. They all go along the same line, Bielsa’s relentless approach for perfection in all things at first seems too much but then you start to listen, then you start to improve. My favourite is about Benjamin Mendy, a man who doesn’t seem to take anything too seriously. Bielsa wanted Mendy to watch game tape, they would sit together watching and Mendy would fall asleep. Rather than shout and scream, Bielsa just carried on analysing and taking notes. It didn’t take long for Mendy to stop sleeping, to see the importance and dedication to study. At the end of the season Mendy got a big money move to Monaco. Even now Mendy still tweets fondly of Bielsa.
Marcelo Bielsa has created a cult of personality, many of his former players become his disciples. But rarely does anyone ever get to know the man. He keeps a distance from seemingly everyone but his close family and friends. Yet his teams follow and believe in him fully. And if they don’t he leaves to find one that does. A single minded focus, people follow him because he believes 100% in what he is doing. Because his players see his dedication to every single thing he does they buy into what he teaches. they truly listen and therefore willing to change their behaviours and actions to align with his vision. Even if his vision is flawed, ultimately he makes the players better. The difficulty here is to truly believe in what you’re doing. I’m going to suggest that he doesn’t truly believe that he is correct in all things and cannot be wrong. But, its in the dedication to the task in which you can find your focus, confidence and belief. By being as prepared as you can be. Once you think of something, you do it. As a coach your athletes see this and builds confidence and trust.
Specifically what can I learn from Marcelo as a coach and an athlete?
A total analysis of events and performance goals. There is no generalisation for each athlete or goal. I am racing next week, I know the course, I know the opponents. I know the physical parameters needed to achieve my goal. What could I have missed?
Constantly strive for more understanding of training principles and performance. Marcelo watches hours and hours of game footage to understand opponents and his own players. I need to consume racing in all forms to develop a knowledge base I can call on in any situation. Ive seen this before, I know your strengths and weaknesses so if we do this we have a good chance of winning.