Leeds United manager has previously managed in Mexico.
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa’s connection with Mexican football has been examined in a fascinating article at Infobae.com.
Bielsa had a stint in charge at Mexican side Atlas between 1993 and 1995, before managing Club America for one season after that.
The impact he made in discovering players and laying the groundwork for scouting methods helped raise standards in the Mexican league.
He has been three times linked by the Mexican national team to be coach.
One of these was in 2018, when he was on a shortlist of candidates to take over after the World Cup.
By this time Bielsa was well down the tracks with negotiations at Leeds United and Mexico missed out.
Andres Fassi, vice-chairman of Mexican club Pachuca, voiced his frustration that the Mexican FA did not make more of a serious push for the Argentine.
Fassi said: “Mexico has had two very clear opportunities to sign Bielsa and it did not . And he had a third possibility (in 2018), but it is difficult to convince people who ultimately make decisions within Mexican football.”
He added that he felt Mexico had missed out.
Bielsa once refused to take a phone call from the Mexican FA in 2015, shortly after he had left Marseille.
He said this was because he did not want the two situations to be linked and make it seem like this was his reason for leaving the French side.
Bielsa has had mixed success at international level as coach.
His stint at the World Cup with Argentina was a disaster as they were eliminated at the group stages in 2002.
But he retained his job and had some redemption in 2004 when he led an under-23 team to Olympic gold, before quitting. The success helped launch Carlos Tevez’s career and many others.
His Chile side earned plaudits for their unique style at the 2010 World Cup and laid the groundwork for future Copa America victories.
Now Leeds are benefitting from his unique approach as they push to win promotion to the Premier League.
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