Credit: Imago

Cameron Smith

Thu 26 March 2026 19:40, UK

Leeds United fans will love Marcelo Bielsa’s latest comments as they battle for their Premier League survival.

The Argentine is back on English soil this week, as his Uruguay side prepare to take on the Three Lions in an international friendly on Friday.

Bielsa remains loved at Elland Road, after guiding Leeds to the Premier League in 2020, playing some of the best football across the country during the process.

He would lose his job in West Yorkshire in 2022, replaced by Jesse Marsch, before the Whites were relegated back to the Championship a year later.

With Leeds now fighting for their top-flight survival once again, fans will love their former manager’s latest claims, showing his adoration for the club.

Marcelo Bielsa love for Leeds shines through as England take on Uruguay

Following his Leeds departure in early 2022, he would take over as Uruguay manager a year later, following a disappointing World Cup.

Since then, he has guided La Celeste to this summer’s competition with relative ease, while his side picked up a third-place finish in Copa America 2024, after being beaten by Colombia at the semi-final stage.

Speaking ahead of Uruguay’s trip to Wembley, Bielsa’s love for Leeds was made abundantly clear.

“Well, of course I want Leeds to stay in the Premier League, which is where they belong,” he said, as Daniel Farke’s side battle for their future in the division.

He would also describe his time at Elland Road as “one of the most beautiful memories that football gave me.”

The Argentine’s tenure in West Yorkshire will always remain a hot topic, with the argument there to be made that it was too short.

However, Bielsa was a figure that will be remembered not just by Leeds fans, but across the nation.

Marcelo Bielsa was the perfect fit for Leeds

Following his appointment in 2018, Leeds and Bielsa were a match made in heaven.

While the idea of ‘getting a club’ can seem cliche, the simple fact of the matter is that the experienced boss simply got what it meant to be in charge of the Whites.

A team that simply did not stop running, with some beautiful high-octane football alongside, Bielsa’s side were a worthy watch for any fan week in and week out, while his personality always shone through.

At the time of his appointment, the club had been in disarray for too long.

Managers came and went like the wind, while early-season promotion hopes were often dampened fairly quickly – as seen just a year before his arrival, with Thomas Christiansen sacked in December after a sensational start to the campaign.

Bielsa arrived and quickly took the Championship by storm. And after the play-off heartbreak against Derby in 2019, the Whites bounced back and became even stronger, before the same style of play stunned the Premier League with a ninth-place finish.

Alongside his elite-level coaching experience, he was an honest man who had the ability to simply say the right thing at the right time, and as mentioned, he just ‘got’ Leeds.

Despite his Uruguay side taking on England on Friday, fans will no doubt love seeing him back on the touchline.