The team, which was promptly eliminated from the FA Cup and the League Cup, was in 16th place and had been two points from relegation as a result of its 5 wins, 8 draws and 13 losses with a record of 29 goals scored. favor and 60 against!, the most scored in the Premier League.
It was there that the Italian owner of Leeds, Andrea Radizzanitold Rosario enough and a few days later he hired the American, former Leipzig from Germany, Jesse Marsch, who in the first days of work (debuts this Saturday against Leicester as a visitor) praised the work of the former coach of the Argentine team.
Rosario’s cycle at the helm of the club located in the center of England accumulated a total of 170 directed games of which the team won 81 (48%), tied 30 times (18%) and suffered defeat 59 times (35%). ). But Bielsa was much more than a coach for Leeds: the fans name him as a refounder of the city and a transformer of the citizens. Therefore, this untimely exit left them stunned and hurt.
“Thank you for contacting us in these sad times”began by saying Paul Downer before Ámbito’s call and with that simple answer he faithfully marked the feelings of each Leeds fan. Next, the 53-year-old man who commands the rock from Essex, a county located in the south of the island, showed his disagreement, and that of all the members, for the Rosario’s departure from the substitute bench.
“I would have liked to finish this season with Marcelo, especially now that it is beginning to be clear that it was his last year here. He deserved another farewell.”argued the man who did not miss a single Leeds game this season despite living 320 kilometers from Ellan Road, the home of the Bielsa exclub.
“The campaign was very mediocre, but Marcelo shouldn’t have left like this, without being able to say goodbye to the Leeds fans who love him and all the football lovers in general who enjoyed his attacking game and constant pressure”he continued.
They were three and a half years of great intensity, of living the games with emotions on the surface. In that aspect, downer try to summarize the cycle Bielsa: “In 1972 I became a Leeds fan and in 1983 I started going to the pitch. Since the 90/92 season (the last great team that achieved the third league in its history) that our football has not been enjoyed so much. The level of some players during promotion and the first year in the Premier League is equal to that of our old legends.”
Finally downer recognized in Bielsa to a man who united the city with brave football. He described him as honest, humble and a gentleman “who never ranted against the referees, the VAR or made an excuse for the multiple injuries” that the team had in this last season.
“I would thank you for helping us love football again, for taking us to the top after 16 dark years”he explained. “It re-established Ellan Road as the home of football for all fans of any club. His legacy will stay here forever.”he concluded.
Thousands of miles away, on the Welsh border, Gary Sleet organize the Shropshire Whites, Shropshire County’s Leeds fanatic community. The city is located about 200 kilometers from Leeds, something that does not prevent sleat follow his team as he does “since 1979”. The regret over Bielsa’s departure is the same as Downer’s.
“We are very sad and disappointed with the leaders for the departure of Marcelo. We had a string of bad results but half our team is injured and he was with us for three years where he took us to the Premier League after 16 seasons.”he began explaining.
“He deserved to have the contract respected”he added angrily. “During his cycle we have seen the best football played in a long time. It made us feel proud of our team and our city”agreed with Downer in his assessment of what Bielsa meant to Leeds.
“He went out of his way to make the fans, players and families of the city love the club and take care of each other”he remarked to explain the affection that the fans showed Rosario every day on the field, on the street or wherever they crossed paths.
“His time in Leeds was impeccable. He brought us all together”said the man who is in charge of almost a hundred fans in one of the subsidiaries that the club has throughout England.
What stood out the most sleat It was the nobility of the resources used by the team (as Bielsa likes to explain) to achieve victory: “There were no advantageous players, cheats, no time was made or cards were requested to harm the rival. I just play fair to try to win.”he remarked.
“He truly is like a father to all the Leeds fans. And for that we will love him forever. No one came even close to generating everything he generated.”he told bluntly.
Sleat finally lent himself to Ámbito’s game and answered the question “what would you say to Bielsa if you had him face to face?”
“Very sad,” he simply said as he thought of the words. Words that came out instantly with a simple but forceful “Marcel, we love you. You will always be with us”.
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Mark Jordan is responsible for organizing Leeds fans who live in Blackpool, a city in the northeast of the island, located 135 kilometers from the Premier League team’s stadium. He doesn’t like Bielsa’s departure either, but much less how it happened.
“Several of the fans are very sad about how they handled the situation. Communication failed and the news was scarce before the announcement of his dismissal. He should have stayed until the end of the season”argument.
“The last three seasons were a journey back in time to the happiest years where all efforts were focused on football and the coaches had integrity and passion for what they did, which is why they were loved by the fans. Marcelo brought all that back to Leeds.”he explained.
Finally he spoke to Bielsa: “I would tell him to be proud of everything he achieved, that the fans are grateful for life for all his effort. He can walk away with his head held high. We will never forget the love and appreciation he showed the fans.”.
Since 2018 in every corner of leedsa city of more than 700,000 inhabitants, the surname Bielsa it is foreign to no one. Rosario earned an important place in the hearts of fans who do not hesitate to name him as a “God”.
Leeds United they are not a minor team in England. Far from being super powerful, he was able to win three leagues, European cups and was even runner-up in the European Cup (current Champions League) in 1975 when he lost the final against Bayern Munich. The team from the center-north of the island has a history and within it is already Marcelo Bielsa.
Greetings from fans and players
It is said, Bielsa He was much more than a coach for Leeds and that is why his departure was not like any other. Since the news of his departure was known, fans invaded the streets to cross paths with his idol and take one last photo or take a souvenir such as his signature.
Seeing so much uproar, the club opened a web page (https://gracias-marcelo.lufctrust.com/?v=2) where the fans left their greetings to the Argentine coach. In three days he touched the 11,000 messages that still do not stop.
In addition to the fans, many players decided to fire him on social networks. Three pillars of the squad, all injured, were no exception. Liam Cooperdefender of the team, highlighted the “unity he achieved in the club and the city”, thanked “everything you did for me and my family” and named him “a legend of our era”.
midfielder Kalvin Phillips it was a weakness Bielsa throughout its cycle. Rosario fought a lot for this player, whom he not only made a fundamental part of the team’s machinery, but also, with his level, he became a national team player.
Philips thanked him with some emotional words: “You saw things in me that even I couldn’t see. You helped me grow as a player but fundamentally as a person”said the footballer who was about to be released during Bielsa’s first year at the helm of Leeds.
Finally, the questioned scorer, patrick bamford. Rosario sustained him in bad times and that wait paid off as the lanky striker repaid him with goals for his confidence.
bamford He chose to say goodbye to Bielsa with a brief but firm “thanks to the man who changed everything for everyone”.
Bielsa cycle numbers in front of Leeds
The coach from Rosario signed with the English club in the European summer of 2018 and already in the first season he showed the bold and committed game that he is used to in the world of football. But he was not enough and with a physical and football decline in recent dates, he left the direct promotion positions and was in the league for the third promotion, where he fell in the semifinals against Derby County.
Despite that disappointment, the idyll between Bielsa and the Leeds crowd was already unshakable. The fans celebrated being back in the big conversation and were excited about returning to the elite of English football, to the best league in the world.
And that happened in the second season. The team showed a maturity that led him to better manage his attributes and, also, his weak points. For this reason, the long-awaited promotion arrived, and with time to spare.
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The third year of the Bielsa cycle continued to rise and was the happiest of all for the fans. Leeds United finished the Premier League in ninth place and was only three units away from qualifying for the European League of Nations, the third tournament organized by UEFA at club level. He added 59 points as a result of 18 wins, 5 draws and 15 losses and entered the Top 5 of the best promotions in history to the highest category with 51.8% effectiveness. Rosario was chosen the coach of the season.
But in this last tournament things changed. Promptly eliminated from the FA Cup and the League Cup and with a short squad, injuries played a trick on Rosario who did not want to change his way of playing and suffered the consequences of a decimated defense that converted him, with 60 goals , in the team with the most goals in the first 26 dates. This led him to be two points from relegation and that the end, which seemed to come in July, was brought forward to give a swerve that could save them from the Premiership.
A Bielsa authentic toured England. With the usual virtues and mistakes. What can be assured is that Rosario, as in every club he steps on, did not go unnoticed.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
