The Athletic reporter Phil Hay has recently discussed what it has been like to cover Leeds United’s Argentine manager Marcelo Bielsa as a journalist.
The Whites’ 65-year-old gaffer has been situated at Elland Road since he was appointed by the club in the summer of 2018 (per Transfermarkt).
During his time with the Yorkshire-based outfit, Bielsa has overseen 105 matches of which Leeds have won 58, drawn 18 and lost 29 – leaving Bielsa with a points-per-game total of 1.83.
Prior to his appointment by the Whites, the Argentine managed a number of big-name clubs around the world including Athletic Bilbao, Olympique Marseille, Lazio and the Argentina national team.
During the latest episode of The Athletic’s Wolverhampton Wanderers podcast, The Molineux View, Hay made an appearance and discussed what Bielsa is like.
He said: “You adapt to [Bielsa’s] lack of English quite quickly. He’s such a deep thinker on all levels and I’ve never dealt with anybody quite like him.
“I’ve never dealt with a manager who’s as keen as he is to get into the finer details of his tactics and to actually talk tactics to you.
“I find with a lot of managers that when you try to take them down that route, they don’t really want to discuss formations, they don’t really want to discuss coaching methods or how they see the game.
“With him, that’s what kind of pushes his buttons, really, he’s not a tittle-tattle manager at all, he doesn’t like getting into that side of things.
“He will sit for hours and hours – literally hours, sometimes – and chat on to you about the fundamentals of the game and how he understands it and how his team has been built.”
TIF Thoughts on Phil Hay’s Marcelo Bielsa reveal…
As can be seen in what Hay had to say, he evidently believes that there are few managers in football that are like Bielsa, or at least of the ones that Hay has dealt with.
Does Marcelo Bielsa have the potential to be Leeds' greatest manager of all time?
No, he's not that good
Yes, he can be a legend
Leeds secured a return to the Premier League after a 16-year absence by winning the Championship last season and they are currently sat in eighth position after four games in the top flight, so it is clear to see that the Argentine manager’s methods are working.