The Quality of Madness: A Life of Marcelo Bielsa

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I think he feels empowered by the incredible love he has generated at Leeds," says Mora y Araujo. "But I think the pressure of the Premier League, with its circus of money and power, is quite unlike anything he has experienced. Anything could happen." Marcelo Bielsa, ‘El Loco’, the Godfather of modern football, arrived as the new manager of Leeds United on 25 June 2018, the same day England thrashed Panama 6-0 at the World Cup in Russia. When Bielsa was announced as the new manager of Leeds, his appointment was met with fascination. How could a manager known as much for his eccentricity as his fast-paced, frenetic style of football, possibly succeed as this then unfashionable club, not least a club which is proud of its ‘northern’ English identity. The 25-metre bath was exactly that. Some Premier League clubs have pools that feature adjustable currents and moveable floors that can help with injury rehabilitation but the one at Leeds was simply a pool – ideal for Olympic hopefuls; benefits less obvious for footballers. Still, it was considered a good thing to have.

Under Bielsa, match preparation does not finish at the training ground. Lunari and Pardo were sent home with videos of rival teams and asked to present their observations on line-ups, tactics and set-piece routines. During the wedding of Newell's defender Dario Franco, Bielsa took the squad to a room in the hotel to watch their next opponent's previous game. The artist Irek Jasutowicz works on a mural of Marcelo Bielsa near Hyde Park in Leeds this week. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PAHe has a book of training drills and in the whole time we were with him we never once repeated a drill," says Pardo, who won 146 caps for his country. "After a drill, we would meet in the middle of the field and we could hardly breathe. He would be really happy to see us like that." It wasn't long before Lunari was being subjected to the arduous training methods that have become another Bielsa trademark. It's Bielsa's rigidity that works against him and after the first season we all thought: 'There goes Bielsa again, almost but not quite,'" says Mora y Araujo. "But now he has done it, and I think that's incredibly redeeming for him personally and for the club."

When Leeds bet on Bielsa two summers ago, they knew all about the work ethic, the intensity, the eccentricities but nothing truly prepares you for the reality of the Argentinian known as El Loco. Has he been demanding to a point that has sometimes led to exasperation? Yes. Has he been precisely what Leeds have needed? Absolutely. In my opinion, Klopp, Guardiola and Zidane are probably friendlier with the players," he says. "Marcelo Bielsa convinces the player about the system and gives us the tools, but the relationship we have as people needs to be close. He thinks players are machines, but we are humans as well."

Pardo believes Bielsa's aloofness towards players may explain a modest trophy haul of three Argentine league championships, one Olympic gold medal and the Championship title with Leeds. Some players, says the Mexican, need their manager to show them some love. Spain striker Aritz Aduriz, who spent a season under Bielsa at Athletic Bilbao, credits the Argentine's coaching for the remarkable late-career blossoming that saw him score 104 of his 158 La Liga goals after the age of 30.