Leeds United have become a topic of discussion for one Marcelo Bielsa supporter outside of Elland Road.
Bielsa managed the West Yorkshire club for nearly four years, from 2018 to 2022, and led them to Premier League promotion after winning the Championship in 2019-20.
The Argentinian tactician is still renowned at Elland Road, but it appears individuals who worked with him also look back at their time with the Whites warmly.
Diego Bermudez was part of El Loco’s backroom staff, working as an analyst for Leeds between 2019 and 2022 before joining him in the Uruguay national squad.
Diego Bermudez reflects about Leeds United.
Bermudez viewed Premier League football as “rapid” in retrospect, but conceded that he felt a “brutal sense of belonging” in West Yorkshire.
The expert went on to say that the Leeds fans are some of the best in the world, and he was overjoyed to help them get promoted to the Premier League in 2020.
“Leeds has one of the best fans because it is one of the few big cities with only one team,” Bermudez told Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia (10 February, p. 7).
“Furthermore, they had not played in the Premier League for many years, first we promoted them and then made the top ten [in the Premier League].”
Marcelo Bielsa missed at Elland Road.
Andrea Radrizzani and Victor Orta saw Bielsa’s appointment as manager of Leeds United in the Championship as a great coup.
The master tactician’s efforts appear to have paid off, as he brought the Whites back to the Premier League after 16 years in the Championship.
In their first season back in the top flight, the 69-year-old guided them to a decent ninth place finish, with many fans and analysts astonished by what Leeds had to offer.
The Elland Road club gave defending champions Liverpool a run for their money at Anfield in the first game of the 2020-21 season.
Those are times that Leeds fans remember fondly.
There is no doubt that Bielsa would be pleased with his time in England, having played 170 games for Leeds, the most he has ever done for any club.
While Leeds have had four permanent managers since Bielsa’s departure in February 2022, he is still missed at Elland Road.
Daniel Farke is the man tasked with what Bielsa did four years ago – take the club back to the Premier League, although some argue the German has a better squad at his disposal.
