Football journalist Phil Hay has praised highlighted one of the standout Leeds United matches under Marcelo Bielsa.
After their latest defeat, the Argentine manager was subsequently fired. Having been at the club since June 2018 – taking the club back up to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years during that time – there has understandably been much reflecting on his reign since the news came in.
Leeds fan and Twitter user @bethgabriel_ shared an image of her tickets from Bielsa’s very first game – a 3-1 win over Stoke City. She added the caption: “The start of something so beautiful.”
Hay, Leeds correspondent for The Athletic, saw the post and commented: “This game was like a wave of the wand. Utterly astonishing.”
TIF Thoughts on that first Marcelo Bielsa game…
That ‘astonishing’ match was indeed the first game of the Bielsa era and it certainly seemed to foreshadow what was to come. Goals from Mateusz Klich, Pablo Hernandez and Liam Cooper were enough to give the Whites a comfortable 3-1 win.
After the game, Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross conceded that the Potters were ‘miles off’ the level required to match Leeds, but he wouldn’t be the only player to feel that after facing a Bielsa team over the next few seasons.
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Indeed, the following season, the West Yorkshire club would win the division and stun the Premier League with a ninth-place finish in England’s top tier a year later.
While there are no doubt many memories from Bielsa’s time in charge, it’s nice to see the very first game being reflected upon by Hay and others.
In other news: ‘Forever grateful’ – Mum of Leeds ace sends Marcelo Bielsa heartfelt message