Andrea Radrizzani makes admission about Leeds fans over Marcelo Bielsa sacking

Marcelo Bielsa will forever be a legend among the Leeds United fanbase.

It was not just the fact the Argentine great secured Leeds' return to the Premier League in 2020 after a 16-year absence.

It was the way Bielsa turned a squad that was middling around in the Championship into a swashbuckling, all-conquering juggernaut in the second tier.

Indeed, that translated initially into the Premier League, as Leeds finished ninth in the 2020-21 Covid-affected season.

However, former owner Andrea Radrizzani sacked Bielsa in February 2022 after a run of four straight defeats left the Whites hovering above the relegation zone.

The Italian, who sold Leeds to 49ers Enterprises in the summer of 2023, has now been reflecting on that decision.

Andrea Radrizzani lacked understanding of Leeds fans with Marcelo Bielsa sacking

On the one hand, you could argue Radrizzani made the right call as Jesse Marsch kept Leeds above water that season.

But that is a very narrow-minded way of assessing the situation.

There is nothing to suggest that Bielsa would not have kept Leeds up, and Marsch nor his football ever resonated with Leeds fans like Bielsa did.

It was the sort of short-term thinking that would really come to undermine Radrizzani's ownership of Leeds, and fans were more than happy to see him eventually sell up.

Speaking to SportsPro, Radrizzani conceded that he misjudged the feeling among the fanbase when it came to their priorities and Bielsa.

“I sacked Bielsa in a moment where I thought there was no other way to stay in the Premier League,” Radrizzani said.

“But I didn’t think most of the fans would have preferred to be in the Championship with Bielsa rather than me sacking him and stay in the Premier League.”

Radrizzani still misses the point with Leeds and Bielsa

Once again, these comments are not a fair reflection of Leeds supporters.

Yes, there probably is a large contingent who would have been happy to take relegation if it meant Bielsa would have stay at Elland Road.

But, it misses the point entirely, which is the fact Leeds were not guaranteed to go down if Bielsa stayed.

Yes, they were in a rut, but most clubs go through them.

Leeds were 16th in the table and still had three months to turn things around under Bielsa.

The unceremonious dismissal of a club legend, who helped get Leeds back on an upward trajectory, was a decision from which Radrizzani was never going to recover from.