Marcelo Bielsa spoke of his frustration with his lack of English language ability in an article by The Athletic.
Phil Hay sent a tweet out summarising the article, which left fans with mixed reactions over whether his language skills should have improved during his management reign.
Bielsa joined Leeds United on a two-year contract back in 2018. However, the Argentine still has to use an interpreter during press conferences due to his lack of English.
A manager has a very busy schedule over the course of a season, so you can excuse a slower learning process, although there is always some breaks during the season to catch up on a few lessons.
A few weeks ago, Marcelo Bielsa talked about his frustration at not being able to speak more English. But does a coach in England need it? And how easy is it to learn in the midst of a very busy schedule? A piece here on football and languages:https://t.co/tTbAO0MCeN
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) November 1, 2019
I personally don’t mind listening to him through a translator, but the quality of the translations makes a huge difference. I much preferred Lamrani to who we’ve had this year.
— Charles John (@Steve192447378) November 1, 2019
Personally yes. Fans like to hear from the manager . With translators things can get lost. Look at Poch at Spurs. First season transistor but now he talks to media. Really important having direct communication. Same with players too.. Busy schedule an excuse. Had a summer.
— peter-maurice (@petermauriceuk) November 1, 2019
He can speak English. Enough to get by. Enough to complete a press conference. Probably not. I wouldn’t neither if I was working abroad with some of the press we have asking daft questions. I can get by in Spain when on holiday but I’d struggle if someone asked me where I shopped
— Cheesy_ Beans (@_ChrisRees_) November 1, 2019
A personal tutor could have helped him a lot, and faster. It is frustrating to be listening to poor translations where his communication on the finer points of the football playing philosophy he is trying to bring to Leeds is partially lost.
— LUFC Shah Alam (@AlamLufc) November 1, 2019
Leeds are currently third in the Championship, however, The Peacocks are the 10th lowest scorers with just 17 goals in 14 games, as data from WhoScored shows.
I think he’s been here long enough to at least attempt to speak English even if it’s limited………..can’t even understand the interpreters at time, plus the interpreters questions put to Bielsa are five times the length of the answers
— Andy Firth (@AndrewFirth21) November 1, 2019
He speaks it well enough to correct them every now and again but I don’t really care if I’m honest. The majority of people that slate him for it expect everyone else to speak English when they go abroad and never make the effort.
— Lance Barratt (@BarrattLance) November 1, 2019
What Do We Think?
Bielsa is arguably one of the most tactical managers in world football, so surely the language barrier can be overlooked if he can finally gain promotion to the Premier League? Although, saying that, he will need to communicate the ideas and methods he wants them to use effectively in order to do that.
We recently saw Gareth Bale heavily criticised for his lack of attempt to learn Spanish during his time in Madrid, meaning it might be a dangerous path for Bielsa to be going down. However, if results on the pitch, in the main, remain rather positive, then maybe it is not something to be worried about.