Leeds United could be making a smart move if they were to replace Marcelo Bielsa with Ruben Amorim this summer.
Despite having done some incredible work at Leeds since his appointment at Elland Road – bringing them out of the Championship and guiding the Whites through a fantastic first season back in the Premier League – the future of Bielsa at the club isn’t looking 100% certain.
Leeds reporter Phil Hay claimed in December that he had ‘a hunch’ that this would be his last season, whilst reports in The Telegraph have listed some possible candidates to replace Bielsa, with the Brazilian press claiming Amorim is ‘well evaluated’ by the club.
And whilst it’s not confirmed at this stage that he will step down when his current one-year deal expires, logic dictates that a change is at least possible.
And speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Pete O’Rourke has stated that he thinks it would be quite the coup if they could grab Amorim, who is currently the manager of Sporting.
He said: “If Leeds could manage to persuade him to come to the club to replace Bielsa, if that was the case, I think it’d be a huge statement from the club as well.”
Here, we look at the two potential candidates for next season and what each of them would bring to the table.
Marcelo Bielsa
Bielsa in or Bielsa out?
In
Out
Whilst this season certainly hasn’t gone well for Bielsa, a lot of it has been down to the sheer amount of injures they’ve sustained, especially to key players like top scorer Patrick Bamford and ‘lynchpin’ Kalvin Phillips.
And whilst part of that could have been handled better – for instance, if he decided to have a bigger squad – it’s hard to think that they will suffer the same amount next season as well, so Leeds shouldn’t be looking at Bielsa to drastically fix anything, as hopefully that will all take care of itself.
Ruben Amorim
As noted in Breaking The Lines, it wouldn’t be too much of a system change for the Leeds players if they were to appoint the 37-year-old, as his Sporting side tend to utilise “an intense pressing style and attempts to win the ball back in the final third – even when the game is even or they are in a losing position”, which is not dissimilar to what the Leeds squad have been utilising under Bielsa.
Add to that, Amorim’s winning mentality and background of success from his days both at Braga and Sporting – something Bielsa can’t really show off himself – and he might just be the one to take Leeds from where they were last season, give them a fresh voice in the dressing room and push them further up the table.
Indeed, touching on Amorim’s winning mentality, he’s managed to lead his side to wins in 68 of his 92 games, achieving a 73.9% win rate (as per Transfermarkt). This is a brilliant achievement when you consider the fact that Porto, Braga and Benfica are in and around the Lions.
TIF verdict…
If Leeds United do decide to part ways with Bielsa this summer, Amorim does seem like something of a natural replacement to make. It may mean a little bit of a change, but not too drastic when it comes to moving away from a style that has worked so well for Leeds over the past few seasons.
And he’s an incredibly exciting manager given he’s just 37, with plenty of years to develop, while he has already been dubbed as the new Jose Mourinho.
Hopefully, he might bring in a few more players to bolster the squad so that they aren’t forced to scrape the barrel when it comes to putting out a team if a few injuries do occur.
In other news: ‘Surprised’ – BBC pundit claims Leeds will try sign £20m star ‘if they stay up’