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Robbie Fowler expects Marcelo Bielsa exit from Leeds United
Robbie Fowler expects Marcelo Bielsa to quit Leeds United at the end of the season when his current contract expires.
Since arriving at Elland Road in 2018, Bielsa has only agreed to take on the job one year at a time but speculation is more rife than ever about him leaving at the end of this deal.
According to The Telegraph, Leeds are drawing up a list of potential successors for the Argentine, who’s failing to improve upon last season’s ninth-placed finish in the Premier League.
Fowler says that Bielsa hasn’t met expectations at Elland Road and feels he could walk at the end of the season.
“When you get Pep Guardiola saying you are one of the greatest coaches of all time, there’s huge expectation,” said Fowler in the print edition of The Sunday Mirror [20 February, page 67].
The BT Sport pundit added: “As for Bielsa, you look at his record and he hasn’t won much. He hasn’t stuck around long anywhere either – when the going gets difficult, he tends to move on. Watching Leeds at Everton last week, it looks like the going is getting very tough. They could be dragged into the relegation scrap.
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“Given he only signs one-year contracts, I wouldn’t be surprised if he departs Elland Road at the end of the season.”
What expectations?
What did Fowler expect from Bielsa?
Did he expect to get Leeds back to the Premier League? If he did, then that was achieved within two seasons at Elland Road.
Did he expect Leeds to introduce themselves back to the top-flight in an emphatic fashion? Bielsa did that too, securing a ninth-placed finish last season.
Did he expect Bielsa to take Leeds to challenging for a spot in European football within two seasons in the Premier League? If he did, that’s just ridiculous and no one can reasonably say that was a target for the Whites.
Yes, Leeds want to be back in European football in the near future but it’s not as though you can flick a switch and turn yourself into one overnight.
Look at Everton and how much money they’ve spent in the last few years. Farhad Mohiri has spent around half a billion on strengthening the Everton squad.
Bielsa saw Leeds finish higher than that expensively-assembled side that was managed by Carlo Ancelotti last season and yet again this term, we’re still above the Premier League ever-presents.
Bielsa has exceeded expectations, in our opinion. But that doesn’t mean we think Bielsa will definitely stay past this season.
He could leave, we’d be deluded to not admit that.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay says this low-earning Leeds player cannot force his way out of the club in the summer.