Adrian Maladesky
07/20/2020 - 21:20
- Clarín.com
- sports
When Marcelo Bielsa, a month after turning 41, first stepped into the city of Leeds, he did not imagine that years later he would live there some of the happiest moments of his coaching career.
In those days of June 1996, he was accompanying a group of Spanish journalists, among whom was his friend Jorge Valdano, who were covering the European Championship in England. They followed the red team led by Javier Clemente and who played all three of their group games at the Elland Road stadium, a sign of fate that no one could interpret at the time.
With Fernando Hierro, Juan Antonio Pizzi and Luis Enrique in the team, among others, Spain tied 1-1 with Bulgaria and France there and beat Romania 2-1. Bielsa was one of the group : he went to training, to games, traveled to other venues, always with a low profile.
The adventure ended in London: La Roja lost at Wembley against the local, 4-2 in the definition on penalties after 0-0 in regular time. As soon as she reached the English capital, Bielsa asked what could be done there: museums, shops? No: I wanted to find a circuit to run. Green spaces were left over in London. More than now, English was not his forte; he ran for hours anyway and fumbled for them to buy some fruit on the way. The two obsessions continue to accompany him.
He was directing in Mexico, where he had emigrated to "moderate the trait" , according to his particular explanation at a time when he accepted interviews. He was no longer proud of Loco's nickname . He was trying to tame that Newell's Bielsa with whom he had debuted at age 35 as a First Coach on August 19, 1990 with a 1-0 win against Platense. That first goal was the work of Gerardo Martino.
The 27-year-old Tata who met Bielsa was a dedicated player. But the young DT who came from directing the leper Reserve wanted more than the benchmark. In Rosario they say that Martino did not like running much and that he chose the shadow side to play. The current coach of Mexico said at the time: “Changing a guy who has been in Primera for a year is easy, I have almost ten ... My thing was not to change but to add. Maybe I'm in a hurry, because he's only been in Primera for just six months, but I think he's going to be one of the most successful coaches in the country. ” It was December and Newell's won the Apertura that would entitle him to a final, in mid-1991, against Boca de Tabárez. That of the penalties in the mud that completed the title.
Leeds United's most celebrated goal in recent times was Pablo Hernández's goal at Swansea City last Sunday, July 12, at 89 minutes, when the promotion was still at risk. The Spanish midfielder, talented as Tata , met Bielsa at 33 years old after a career that started at Valencia, he traveled through other clubs and even Qatar, with a fleeting time with the national team. Contemporary with Iniesta and David Silva, he barely had a chance at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa. “Soccer crosses paths and I have been lucky to meet Bielsa. He came to my career at the age of 33, who you think you do not have much more to learn as a footballer or progress, and with Marcelo you learn every day. Without going any further, last season I think it was the best of my career ”, explained Hernández before achieving the title and the ticket to the Premier League.
Between the Madman of Newell's and the Madman of Leeds there are 30 years apart. That first Bielsa wore jeans and a shirt, the current one is seen wearing sportswear even in the supermarket. That Bielsa said: "Winning is a passport to express yourself" and "I watch videos to attack, not to defend". He had ideas and concepts that he wanted to share.
Leeds Bielsa says: "This title does not change much the unfavorable percentage that I have" . He still has plenty of ideas and concepts, but he is no longer interested in the media as a transmission vehicle.
When he took over the Argentina National Team, after the 98 World Cup, he decided not to give individual interviews to express himself only in press conferences. And it fulfilled. Another of his decisions at that time had to do with businessmen and representatives, including his own, his friend Ricardo Giusti. " Gringo , if I grab the National Team I pretend that I fall into a blind well and come out in four years ... That means that I will not answer the phone ...", he said. It also fulfilled.
It was six years, actually, with the hardest hit in between. Those who know him most assure that the stage in the National Team not only changed his relationship with journalists, he also hardened him with respect to the whole environment, especially leaders. From his relationship with Grondona, of mutual mistrust, a volcanic crossing in Stuttgart remained, in April 2002, when Don Julio wanted to change the conditions of his contract.
Everything is known about his time at the National Team: a dream tie, a 2002 nightmare World Cup. But he also left some pearls, as when in his third game, against the Netherlands in Amsterdam, he made Andrés Guglielminpietro enter by Ariel Ortega to start the second half and then he took it out in 36 minutes to put Hernán Crespo. Or like when on March 28, 2001, by Playoffs, he put together an unpublished tactical drawing: 2-4-1-3. Yes, two defenders (Pochettino and Samuel), because Venezuela played with only one forward. He won 5-0.
Another famous fight was Velez , with José Luis Chilavert. A witness assures that "they were two buffaloes face to face", but denies that it ended in blows as the urban legend tells. Of course, from that shock the team took off to the title with the 3-3-1-3 drawing that Bielsa took from Ajax by Louis Van Gaal and that he had imposed on a squad that resisted after having won everything with another system . Today Chilavert speaks highly of Bielsa.
In that Vélez the coach showed another of his facets: the audacity to give wings to a boy unknown to almost everyone. This time it was Lucas Castromán, whom he raised from the fifth division, at 17, to put him on the right-back. In his first Newell's he had put together a central duo with Fernando Gamboa (20 years old) and Mauricio Pochettino (18), against all the manuals in a team that started the championship stuck to the calculator and harassed by the ghost of the descent.
That same courage was shown this season , by transmitting absolute tranquility to the French goalkeeper Illan Meslier, 20, when the experienced Kiko Casilla was suspended for 8 dates at the decisive moment of the Championship. The Bielsa from Leeds is the one that arrives on foot or by bicycle (he has a small car, which he hardly uses) from his not luxurious two-story house in Wetherby to the Thorp Arch estate to meet his 17 collaborators, with whom He maintains a certain guilt because sometimes he leaves late, but a little earlier than them, and with the squad, which controls his weight every day. They are his pride: the champion reflects the passion and mobilizing amateur spirit that Bielsa has always pursued from Newell's onwards.
Luciano Becchio, the other Argentine idol of the team (he played 5 seasons, 213 games, and scored 85 goals), says: “I was eight months ago at a club ceremony that invited me and they were all crazy with Bielsa. Last year it didn't happen, but thank God this year it did. ”
Leeds' return to the elite of English football resembles a revolution and as such received Pep Guardiola's blessing: “Bielsa is very special. I think it will be amazing to have him in the Premier League next season. ” The Manchester City coach does not forget how and when he met him, in mid-2006, in a Marcos Paz field. The talk lasted from 12 noon until 10 at night, with chairs playing as players. One more madness.