‘I’ve loved Bielsa from way back’ – Rival PL manager ‘delighted’ when Bielsa moved to Leeds
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers said that he has admired Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa for a number of years, ahead of Monday night’s clash at Elland Road.
Leeds have made an impressive start to life in the Premier League and sit four points adrift of second-place Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand.
A win tonight over Leicester could see Leeds move as high as third in the table, leapfrogging their opponents in the process.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Rodgers spoke glowingly of the Argentine coach, who he said he has followed since the 1990s.
“I’ve loved Marcelo Bielsa from way back,” he said (via Leicester City’s official website).
“I started coaching back in the ‘90s and when I was looking into different managers and styles, he came onto my radar at Argentina. I’ve followed his progress from back there, from when he was at Argentina into Chile, where he did an exceptional job, and then back into club football, at Athletic Bilbao.”
He added: “I’ve been an admirer of his work for a long time and I was delighted when he went to Leeds, a great club with a great tradition here in the British game who’d been out of the Premier League for such a long time.”
Revolutionary
Bielsa has long-held a reputation for fast-paced attacking football and his Leeds side have been an embodiment of this over the last two and a half years.
With three wins and 12 goals already in the Premier League, the Elland Road side sit fourth in the league in terms of expected goals (via FBRef).
Rodgers has previously looked to emulate the kind of football that Bielsa’s sides like to play, but have introduced a more defensive style so far this season.
In impressive away wins over Manchester City and Arsenal, the Foxes averaged 28.3% and 43.7% possessions respectively, but came away with all three points on both occasions (via WhoScored).
We’re expecting Leeds to dominate possession tonight but they will need to watch out for Jamie Vardy.
In other Leeds news, MOT View: How Bielsa found the perfect role for out of position Leeds United star