It’s the history that has Bielsa hooked
David Lynch
HE may never have progressed beyond the competition’s third round, but Marcelo Bielsa is an FA Cup romantic.
The Argentine takes Leeds to West Ham today hoping to earn his first-ever win in the world’s oldest cup competition.
But, while results have not gone his way so far, Bielsa remains a passionate advocate for the tournament. He said: “Football has a history that is so important.
“It’s a homage to football that any team can compete against any other in this competition.
“The stadiums and changing rooms that haven’t been updated in 50 years, they have as much history as the stadiums and changing rooms that cost millions. The clubs have value, due to the experiences that they have been able to go through in their history.
“That’s why if you go into a library in England, you see more videos, books and information about football than in any part of the world. In my humble opinion, and with this being my fourth year here, I think this is the aspect that is so romantic about the game.”
Bielsa’s admiration for the Cup is behind his concerns that the scheduling of the competition does not allow for it to be shown the respect it deserves.
He added: “Every time it’s less important, every time it’s protected less.
Inevitable
“It’s always due to the same reasons. It’s not always possible to give every game the importance it deserves.
“It’s also inevitable due to the pandemic – but the impression I have is that the FA Cup is not being looked after. There are a lot of people that love English football due to the history all its teams have.
“That weight of tradition in all of the teams is being lost.
“But when I hear myself saying that, perhaps I’m not giving enough consideration to the current situation we are living in.
“Sometimes it’s very easy to criticise from my position, perhaps I have to be on the side of those who plan in the hope that there are solutions.
“What I am sure of from here on out is that, no matter what happens with the pandemic, it’s not possible to play so many games without deteriorating the quality of the play.”