West Ham United missed out on the best manager in the world according to the man widely regarded to hold that role, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
The Hammers ditched Sam Allardyce back in 2015 as they aimed for more than merely Premier League survival with a vision of bringing back entertaining football.
The East Londoners were linked with a plethora of managers including Rafa Benitez, Unai Emery and Marcelo Bielsa before eventually appointing Slaven Bilic.
Benitez was reportedly close to putting pen to paper as the first choice of co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold but was instead understandably lured to Real Madrid and has since ended up at Newcastle while Emery eventually ended up at Paris St Germain.
Maverick Bielsa was heavily linked with the Hammers job and in the end it was between him and Bilic for the role with the fact the former Besiktas manager used to play for West Ham proving decisive.
Argentine Bielsa ended up staying at Marseille before later joining Lazio but left after just two days and was appointed manager of Lille on Sunday.
Now Pep Guardiola, the man widely regarded as the best manager in world football, has revealed the former Marseille coach is the man he regards as the true number one.
The former Barcelona boss was very complimentary when asked about Bielsa in a press conference on Monday.
Marcelo Bielsa was a target to replace Sam Allardyce at West Ham
“My admiration for Marcelo Bielsa is enormous as he manages to make the players better,” Guardiola said, as reported by the likes of Sports France.
“In my career I have never met anyone who did not speak well of him.
“For me it is the best in the world.”
The 61-year-old has plenty of experience and used to manage both Argentina and Chile.
‘El Loco’ Bielsa
Nicknamed ‘El Loco’, Bielsa is something of a footballing eccentric who is famous for deploying a 3-3-3-1 formation with an aggressive pressing style.
Known as a strict disciplinarian, his preference for all out attack has endeared him to fans, but he has also been criticised at times for being too inflexible and naive.
Most Hammers fans will be happy with the job done by Bilic since his arrival, though.
The Croatian led the club to their best ever Premier League points total and a first positive goal difference since 1986 in his debut season and has turned their fortunes around this term after a troubled first half of the season.
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