Marcelo Bielsa is preparing for his second season at Leeds United having come agonisingly close to securing promotion out of the Championship last year.
In comments reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, Victor Orta has suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s way of working is so different to anything Leeds are used to that the Whites should improve further during the Argentine’s second year in charge at Elland Road.
Leeds came agonisingly close to securing promotion out of the Championship during Bielsa’s first campaign in charge. They were in a fantastic position in both the automatic-promotion race and then in their play-off semi-final, but could not get across the line on either occasion.
Bielsa handed the Peacocks a huge boost ahead of the summer by confirming that he planned to stay in charge for another year. And Orta insisted that there is every reason to believe that there is more to come from his tenure.
“There are a lot of examples in the past – [David] Wagner, Aitor Karanka, a lot of foreign coaches that in the second year were really successful,” he said, as reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post. “We arrive with Marcelo Bielsa, one of the best coaches in the world, with this new methodology. It’s really different than what we are used to in this country. It needs time to introduce the methodology.
“After one year he broke all the records. He made an amazing season with the team. And now we want to use our weapon as continuity. That can be the best strategy for the Championship this year.
“I think there are a lot of changes in another year for other clubs. With Marcelo, the continuity for me can be one of the keys in the possibility of the fight for promotion.”
Of course, Leeds fans all too well how previous records tend to count for little where the Whites are concerned, having become the first team in a long time to not win promotion after being top at Christmas and the first team ever to lose a play-off tie after winning the first-leg away from home.
But Orta does make a very valid point regarding how the continuity should help the club. The players regularly noted how working with Bielsa is nothing like anything they had experienced before, so the more time they have with him, the better.
If the Leeds hierarchy can ensure that Bielsa has all of the players that he wants, then the Whites have to be thought of as one of the favourites for promotion during the coming campaign.
And perhaps the pain of last season will be what gets the club across the line this time around.
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