Marcelo Bielsa to hold talks for new job less than one month after Leeds United sacking
It doesn’t seem as though it’ll take long for Marcelo Bielsa to bounce back from his sacking at Leeds United last month.
Bielsa, 66, was axed by the Whites after a rotten run of Premier League form and has since been replaced by Jesse Marsch, who’s won both of his last two games to steer the Yorkshire club away from the Premier League relegation zone.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, sacking Bielsa may have been the correct move but it still doesn’t cover up the fact that the Argentine’s exit hurt the Leeds fanbase and also, no doubt, hurt him.
However, it doesn’t look as though Bielsa’s had to wait long to potentially find himself a new job with the Bolivian FA set to hold talks with the former Elland Road boss.
As quoted by Sunday Mirror’s print edition on 27 March, [page 74], Bolivia FA president Fernando Costa confirmed that Bielsa is someone who the South American team has been in touch with.
He said: “I won’t deny that we are in touch with him.
“We have not yet had a meeting, but we are close to speaking with him.”
It would no doubt be a challenging job for Bielsa if he was to accept the role in charge of Bolivia.
The South American nation hasn’t qualified for a World Cup since 1994 when they were dumped out of the group stages with just one point out of the nine available.
World Cup qualifying usually sees Bolivia as the continent’s whipping boys. In the current qualifying stage, they’re ninth of out 10 teams with four wins in 17 games and 38 goals conceded – more than any other team.
As far as Copa American goes, Bolivia’s qualification is always guaranteed but since being runners-up in 1997, they’ve got out of group stages just once in nine attempts.
It would be a tough job for Bielsa – but so was Leeds.
In other Leeds United news, a club is in advanced talks to secure a massive signing from the Whites in the summer.