BIELSA’S LEEDS WON’T JUST BE ALONG FOR PREMIER LEAGUE RIDE
IF anyone has been an unmistakable symbol of this fantastic Liverpool side, it is Andy Robertson.
Much-improved, relentless, humble.
Which is why – when talking to a man trying to do his job – you may think Robertson would treat him with an ounce of respect.
A week has passed since Robertson (above), aided by the post-match pitch presence of Jurgen Klopp, laid into referee David Coote after Liverpool’s home draw with Burnley.
“How the f*** is that not a penalty? You didn’t see f ****** anything. You didn’t see anything the whole game apart from f ****** booking them in the last minute. F*** me, what’s the point in having you in the middle? What’s the point? F*** me. Honestly.”
First things first, it remains a source of amazement that grown men such as Coote allow upstarts to abuse them like this.
Secondly, why didn’t Coote produce a red card? Thirdly, and most unforgivably, why hasn’t the FA charged Robertson?
Is this acceptable? They are on your case for inappropriate tweets, but rain obscenities down on a ref and you’re fine.
It is pathetic. And, by the way, the challenge that irked Robertson, from Johann Berg Gudmundsson, was a legitimate, perfectly-timed one.
The sort Robertson has had trouble making since Liverpool clinched the title. Maybe that’s why he got confused.
GETTING promoted to the Premier League is not all that it is cracked up to be. Ask Norwich City.
Has this season been fun down at Carrow Road?
Well, there was the fluke against Manchester City and a few other home wins, but that was about it.
Aston Villa have fared little better after their elevation to the land of milk and honey.
For most, the Promised Land of the Premier League is a place where finishing 17th is deemed a success.
Great product, great entertainment, great competition, blah, blah, blah.
It is also a competition where 50 per cent of the managers will consider it a success if they merely stay at the same level.
They were probably cracking open the champers in the Gold and Sullivan households after West Ham turned Watford over on Friday night. And why not? The mighty Hammers might even hang on to 15th place. Drinks all round.
But Andrea Radrizzani was entitled to a tincture or two, the Leeds United owner’s vision rewarded with promotion when West Brom were beaten by Huddersfield Town.
Radrizzani’s recruitment of Marcelo Bielsa (both below) verged on the audacious and that audacity has now been rewarded. Bielsa’s team will play
Premier League football next season – and they will not be playing for 17th place.
They might end up there, or even lower, but that will not be Bielsa’s initial target.
If Sheffield United can do what they have done this season, Bielsa will be aiming far higher than 17th.
The tales of his dedication at Leeds are already becoming the stuff of legend.
When many thought he would walk after the pain of play-off defeat at the end of his first season, Bielsa simply redoubled his efforts.
During lockdown, the regime he insisted his players followed
YOU could praise Lionel Messi for his honesty.
“I said it some time ago that, playing like this, we had no chance of winning the Champions League, and it turns out we didn’t even have enough to win La Liga. We have been a weak and erratic team.”
Or you may wonder what he is thinking when Barcelona have a Champions League second-leg tie against Napoli in three weeks and the match is finely balanced at 1-1.
Messi (above) is the GOAT – but hardly the world’s best motivator.
PIERRE-EMILE HOJBJERG wants to leave Southampton for a bigger club.
Everton are willing to offer Hojbjerg (left) very good money to switch to Goodison.
Arguably a bigger club, but, on current form, if Hojbjerg prefers Everton over Saints, he is going just for the dough. was gruelling. Leeds lost their first game after the restart, but have won five and drawn one of their next six matches.
They will go up champions.
Spygate is a scar on Bielsa’s tenure, but it did show an almost bizarre attention to detail.
Bielsa will not have to work on a dossier for each and every one of his Premier League opponents… he will have them done already.
There are many reasons why Leeds United returning to the top flight after an absence of 16 years is a feel-good story.
Their supporters have had to suffer some shocking stewardship of their club during that time.
And the promotion is particularly poignant in a year when we have lost Norman Hunter, Trevor Cherry and Jack Charlton.
What a fitting tribute to
as those legends. And when supporters are allowed back into grounds, when stadiums are full again, nowhere will be as raw and hostile as Elland Road – a throwback to the days when visiting a Premier League stadium was not just a tick on a tourist’s checklist.
But the most intriguing thing about Leeds United’s return to the top flight will be Bielsa’s approach.
On the face of it, the playing personnel at Elland Road do not look good enough to make a serious impact on the upper echelons of the Premier League.
But the obsessive Bielsa will have other ideas. It seems there are only a few English words in his vocabulary.
And you can bet seventeenth is not one of them.
The Premier League needs a new, exciting storyline.
One way or another, Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa will provide it.