Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has expressed his hope that Leeds United can get promoted out of the Championship.
The Whites certainly captured the imagination during the early stages of the summer as they announced that Bielsa would take over from Paul Heckingbottom as head coach. Bielsa is clearly one of the most well-respected coaches in world football, with many top managers citing the Argentinian as a key influence.
Pochettino is one boss who looks up to Bielsa, having played under El Loco at club and international level during his career. And ahead of the new season, the Tottenham manager insisted that he hopes to see Bielsa inspire Leeds to promotion out of the Championship.
“Of course all my words will be positive for him and my desire and my wish and I hope he changes the reality of Leeds, bring to the Premier League and do a fantastic job there. Of course that is my wish. Of course he’s a great coach. Always I love him and we love him because he was a very important person in my career.”
Given Bielsa’s track record, it appears set to be an incredibly exciting season for Leeds – though, it is probably fair to say that there may well be as many people expecting the 63-year-old’s tenure to end in tears as there will be those expecting the club’s top flight exile to finally come to an end.
It has been an interesting pre-season. Some of the results have been underwhelming, and the performances have not exactly made it clear what Bielsa’s Leeds are going to look like when they host Stoke City in the season curtain-raiser on Sunday.
But with Leeds now coming to life in the summer window with some exciting signings – including striker Patrick Bamford and wing-back Barry Douglas – it would be little surprise if there are a lot more optimistic supporters than there may have been when Leeds lost a pre-season fixture away at Oxford United and had just two loan signings through the door.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
