OPINION
It might be too early to look at the Championship table and proclaim new Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa a magician.
Leeds topped the table last season in September before crashing and burning down to a hugely disappointing 13th place in the league.
However, scratch the surface and it’s easy to say that Leeds are not at the top of the table through luck.
Bielsa has effected a massive change throughout, in the playing culture of the players – they currently have the most assists, most goals from open play, most passes and best pass completion rate in the Championship.
He’s also moulding the players’ attitudes and teaching them humility. In one reported episode he had the players picking up litter.
But the real evidence that Bielsa is working magic is coming from the players.
Bielsa hasn’t come in and spent tens of millions of pounds on a new squad. He’s effecting the change with a group of players that failed under Thomas Christiansen and Paul Heckingbottom last season.
If you wanted proof of how important a manager can be, this is it.
Perhaps the biggest turnaround has come from Mateusz Klich.
The 28-year-old midfielder joined Leeds from FC Twente last summer for £1.5million and made just five league appearances before being shipped out on loan to FC Utrecht.
It seemed that his Elland Road career was over before it started, but under Bielsa he has become an integral part of the squad – in six league games he’s scored three goals already.
And his new-found form has been rewarded with his first call-up for Poland in four years.
He thanked Bielsa for “opening my eyes” and vowed to establish himself as a regular for Poland.
You can take this, the results and the underlying stats, add in the anecdotes and the praise from managers like Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino and there’s only one conclusion you can take – Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has taken a massive step to getting Leeds back into the Premier League.
And what a story it would be if Bielsa did it at the first time of asking.