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Bielsa: Litter-picking & watch...

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Bielsa: Litter-picking & watching every 2017-18 Leeds game - a recipe for success?

98FM
98FM

08:25 14 Aug 2018


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Marcelo Bielsa's is the most astonishing managerial appointment made at Leeds United - and that is a crowded field.

His first few weeks have marked him as a consummate professional, dedicated to the smallest aspects of the club being correct - according to BBC Radio Leeds' Adam Pope.

Adam joined Off The Ball to discuss the Argentine's impact and their chances of promotion. He started by telling us how he is opening up to the local journalists a little more after the kerfuffle around his appointment died down. In particular, one story of his far-from-ordinary methods sticks out:

"To show you his attention to detail, he wanted some changes made to the training ground. When he got there, he was a bit like your mother-in-law, running his finger across the surfaces with a glove to see if there was any dirt!

"In terms of the football, he watched all 51 videos of the Leeds games last season before committing himself to the club, so he knows everything about every player. It was quite incredible."

Even more incredible is a story emanating from the Leeds United training ground at Thorp Arch.

"He won't admit this, because he said that it was a private matter, but he wanted the players to understand what it was like to work for the price of a ticket. So, allegedly, he had them picking up litter around the training ground for three hours which was the time that it takes to earn what it costs for a ticket at Elland Road."

"He is starting to open up a little bit more, and he is absolutely fascinating because you can actually speak to him about the football in depth, and you can talk to him about how he wants to play and what his philosophy is."

But the philosophy is working on turning some of the most jaded Leeds fans into believers that this could finally be the season that they return to the top table.

"Seasoned fans that have been here for ten, twenty, thirty forty years, all through the great times and the difficult times, and they are saying 'we have never seen a start like this' - that's when you know maybe something could be beginning."

But the more pessimistic Whites fans will be encouraged to hear that Bielsa is taking absolutely nothing for granted. 

"He has totally dismissed the idea that they should be named favourites for promotion after just two games. He said that anyone asking that question doesn't believe it either!"

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