Marcelo Bielsa’s position at Leeds United Football Club is definite.
In the history, and in the dugout.
He is, to me and many others, a god among mortals with the ability to pull those he coaches into the realms of legend.
Or something like that.
This one is personal.
There is a certain feeling being a Leeds supporter under Bielsa — one that I can only liken to living under a benevolent dictator.
It’s comfortable and exciting, but you know it’s his way or no way at all.
And you know what, I’m fine with that.
With all the despots that have attempted to take this club over the past two decades alone, having a professor lead us feels more like a scientific revolution.
Bielsa is who we are at the moment, and now, with rumblings of a potential departure, we see how attached we are to him, how we’ve defined ourselves by him. So much so, that it would be like an actual break-up; and as with any break-up, you come out of it not sure if you’ll ever love again, ever be able to adapt to anyone else… If they leave, it’s difficult to see yourself surviving the rest of the night, let alone the rest of the season. Or beyond…
But this is all hypothetical.
Leeds are in bad form.
Well, at first we were out of form.
Now, we’re out of position, out of luck, out of players.
We can’t take chances, or complete passes, Bamford can’t even walk.
I’ve never had less doubt that all of those players will run for the side until their shins are blue, but playing is a different matter.
Heavy and/or frustrating defeats have shown our vulnerability, and now a game against Spurs at Elland Road can join that list.
Unlike a team in bad form, who play with hopeful abandon, the Bielsa Leeds Machine at times resembles a rusty jukebox, playing the same Earth, Wind & Fire hits, not realising that disco is dead.
It’s still fun to dance along, but the world has moved on.
That prior feeling of comfort under Bielsa’s reign is replaced during matches with the feeling that our opposition are going to score every time they come forward while we retort with predictable manoeuvres that are easily sussed.
Manchester City, Everton, Liverpool, and now Spurs.
Our attacks are occasionally hopeful at best, and we seem to play is if we aren’t expected to score.
I keep the faith and believe that we are simple grossly out of form and that it will swing back, and I’ve never been more confident in a side and a staff to do just that, but I’m also not going to deny that I thought Bielsa was going to walk out at half-time in the name of it being the right thing to do for the club.
I am not qualified to even pontificate on what needs to change, unlike my dad, I subscribe to the belief that one should complete the course Bielsa-biotics — follow the trail and see where you end up — trust the process. There’s ingenuity yet in this side, because I’ve seen it, I know it exists, and I know Bielsa can find it again. There’s frustration now, but after sixteen years, I can stand sixteen days… And then some…
For me, it’s ‘In Bielsa We Trust’ and it always will be. That applies to all facets. I trust his tactics, his methods, and his decisions to be those that are in the best interest of this club I love so well.
MOT,
C.L.R.
