The Codfather of Leeds has promotion on his bucket list
EYE contact in an audience with Marcelo Bielsa, the only boss whose bucket list contains an actual bucket, is a rarity.
Studious and bespectacled, he absorbs each question with eyes down like pensioners at a bingo club.
But when the man from Mirror Sport asked Bielsa if he had found time to take in Yorkshire’s culture and explore fish and chips, it was a light-bulb moment. Full house at the bingo hall.
The Leeds United manager looked up and almost broke into a smile. Well, almost.
Yes, he enjoys the ambience of God’s own county and, eureka, he likes haddock and chips. Next stop mushy peas.
In football, not every visitor appreciates English cuisine’s signature dish. Huddersfield’s German defender Chris Schindler, for example, virtually squealed after sprinkling salt and vinegar on his first taste of a fish supper served in newspaper.
“Much of this region is rural and I am a country man at heart,” said Bielsa, who lives on Yorkshire’s rustic fringes. “And yes, I like fish and chips... but I enjoy steak from Argentina even more.”
Bielsa, 63, may be dabbling with the lifestyle of a country squire, but he will never be a soft touch.
His regime is more demanding, but infinitely more reputable, than the daily schedule of residents at HMP Wealstun, across the road from Leeds’ Thorp Arch training ground.
Bielsa even had a bed installed in his office so he could stay, deep into the night, studying opponents’
weaknesses – and fault lines in his own team – on DVD.
There is also a new sleeping block for his squad to grab a power nap. Not for nothing are Leeds regarded as sleeping giants.
Players take no liberties with Bielsa. He is, as Northern Ireland wing-back Stuart Dallas confides, a “serious” man, who sets demanding standards of fitness.
Bielsa’s preparation is exhaustive – but he is wary of
‘Apart from football I can’t do many things. My life is football and family’
thoroughness turning to obsession. He said: “Apart from football, I don’t know how to do many things. My life consists only of football and my family.
“But football has taught me that to understand it more, it’s better to watch a good movie or read a good book than fixating on one topic.
“When you spend too much time watching football in an exaggerated way, you make many notes, but you don’t improve.
“Obsession is sometimes described as a virtue because we identify it with work. But when I am too obsessive about my work, I know I am close to failure.”
Before taking charge at Elland Road, Bielsa’s work permit was subject to the FA approving his appointment as “exceptional talent” – a box-ticking charade for a former national coach of Argentina and Chile.
His former players include Mauricio Pochettino and Diego Simeone, now two of Europe’s most sought-after coaches.
And it was Tottenham boss Pochettino who supplied the FA with a glowing reference for his old mentor.
Bielsa’s high-tempo football has been a big hit with Leeds punters, as has his preferred vantage point from the technical area – an upturned blue bucket, which provides a better view than a dugout.
“It’s just a bucket,” he explained after its first sighting at Elland Road. “Nothing more to add.”
Eyes down, the man perched on a bucket is in the driving seat.