Bielsa may go if Leeds’ bid fails
MARCELO BIELSA has refused to confirm whether he will stick around for a second tilt at promotion to the Premier League with Leeds if his initial attempt cannot be resurrected.
Ahead of today’s visit of Aston Villa, the 63-year-old raised doubts about his future in charge of a squad he says is not capable of replicating their efforts of 2018-19.
‘It’s not up to me and I don’t have any more response to that. It’s not a decision we have to take now and it’s not the right time to give my opinion,’ said Bielsa.
A break clause in the two-year contract he signed last summer means that only ending Leeds’ 15-year exile from the top flight will guarantee that he remains at the club.
Leeds have the option to retain him but two factors will be crucial; how much investment there would be and whether one of world football’s most revered coaches retained the appetite after a season in which he believes fate has conspired against him.
Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani has provided major cash injections over the past two years and Bielsa is paid £3.4 million annually. But it is to be remembered that the journey to the upper echelons of the league has been undertaken with scant use of the cheque book for new signings. This is the same Leeds squad, more or less, that dwelt in mid-table this time 12 months ago.
To provide the funds for new blood, Radrizzani might have to look for further investment from outside. In May of last year he sold a 12 per cent stake to 49ers Enterprises, an investment entity affiliated with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
One of the questions Leeds fans are asking after consecutive defeats by 10-man Wigan and Brentford altered the complexion of their season is why the club did not pursue a prolific goalscorer in January.
Bielsa has regularly referenced the inability to convert chances throughout their recent nosedive and promotion rivals Norwich, Sheffield United, Aston Villa and West Brom all possess strikers who have broken the 20-goal barrier.
In mitigation, injuries have restricted the appearances of both leading scorer Kemar Roofe, who misses today’s game through a hip problem, and Patrick Bamford, and Bielsa did attempt to add an attacking edge in the new year with a failed pursuit of Swansea winger Daniel James.
Sporting director Victor Orta lined up a £1.5m loan deal with a view to a £8.5m permanent deal this summer only for then Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins to prevent it.
‘I don’t have any criticism to make, everything that could be done has been done,’ said Bielsa.
‘The club did everything it could do, even more than what it could do, to find the solutions. But with James or without him, we should have finished first or second, without any doubt.
‘The game against Wigan illustrates the trend that the team has been suffering all season because we have had many games that we deserved to win and didn’t win. It was not our destiny to finish first or second and we can’t explain it, or maybe we could; we need twice as many chances as our opponents to score.’
But tellingly he added: ‘Remember what I am going to say right now: you won’t have one single player of our team who would re-produce the same performance, being that constant, in another season because we have been very demanding with them and they gave everything.’