Pep Guardiola lavishes praise on ex-Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa
Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on former Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa, claiming he would get the club relegated if he took over as boss.
Bielsa was sacked in February as the Whites battled against relegation, but Jesse Marsch has since come in and steadied the ship to move the side nine points clear of the drop zone.
Despite the poor form before his exit, Leeds fans have maintained their support for the club legend who earned them promotion to the Premier League and guided them to safety in their first season back, something much-lauded Guardiola told Telemundo Deportes he couldn’t do.
“Give Marcelo Bielsa the opportunity to coach my Barcelona and you will see how he wins many trophies there,” he said.
“Give me the opportunity to coach Leeds and I would likely relegate with them to the Championship.”
Legend
Leeds fans know that Bielsa is a legend at Elland Road, but we’ve all heard that the Argentine boss is regarded as a legend among his peers too.
Guardiola is regarded as one of the best managers of all-time because of the way his playing style has influenced the entire footballing world since he burst onto the scene with Barcelona in 2009.
But it says a lot that he regards Bielsa as one of his idols and doesn’t believe he could even lace the boots of the former Chile and Marseille boss.
Bielsa’s playing style and stubbornness for his philosophy often got criticised at Leeds because it meant he often got soundly beaten, but the quality of player was never what Guardiola had at his disposal.
The reality is what the Man City man says. If Bielsa ever worked with world class players and was given the platform that the Catalan icon has had, he would be held in even higher regard across the world than he is now.
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