Secrets of Bielsa Leeds revolution: From sleeping at training to picking litter

On arriving at Leeds railway station in the 1970s, commuters were greeted by a simple sign: ‘Promised Land — Delivered.’

If Marcelo Bielsa continues his marvellous start to life at Elland Road, there may be cause for the slogan to be restored.

Since relegation from the Premier League in 2004, those loyal supporters have longed for a messiah to restore former glories. The stories of relegations, administrations and boardroom chaos are well told but, under their Argentinian manager, Leeds are emerging from the wilderness, and at long last dreaming of top-flight football.

Leeds sit top of the Championship, a point clear of Norwich, but, more importantly, six clear of the play-offs. Should Leeds equal Norwich’s result this weekend against Aston Villa, the club will be top of the Championship at Christmas for the first time in their 14 years since relegation.

Under Bielsa, the highest-paid manager in Leeds’ history, belief is growing. This is arguably the most respected coach in world football: the man who discovered Mauricio Pochettino as a 14-year-old in Argentina.

When Pep Guardiola began his coaching badges in 2006, he spent 11 hours in Bielsa’s company in Buenos Aires. Zinedine Zidane made his own pilgrimage to study Bielsa’s sessions. ‘I would have liked to play under him,’ Guardiola said. ‘He is different from everyone else.’

Every morning, Bielsa and his assistants respond to letters from admirers around the world. When a Jewish Leeds fan wrote to invite Bielsa to a traditional Friday night dinner at their family home, Bielsa phoned to politely decline and spent time discussing football with the supporter’s Spanish-speaking nephew.

At Leeds, he has welcomed coaches from India, China and Norway. Those who visit encounter a man ferociously dedicated to his craft. He has a bed and kitchen installed for himself at the training ground and has requested sleeping areas for his backroom staff. Together they work into the small hours, studying thousands of hours of video.

Players suspect he has slept over at the training ground and he has been seen walking into the complex with his backpack to dodge any morning traffic. As manager of Athletic Bilbao, where he led the team to Europa League and Copa Del Rey finals, he was known to rise at 5am and scour the world’s sport pages and journals for fresh inspiration.

Players are matching their manager’s application. In August, they did not have a single day off. The team are weighed every morning, using a DEXA scan machine, which details lean mass, fat mass and bone mass. Those not considered to be in shape did not join the full squad until Bielsa considered them fit in pre-season.

‘Players used to get away with a beer or the odd Burger King,’ says one source. ‘Not any more.’

The players, mostly the same as the squad who finished 13th last season, eat at least two meals a day together and have individual diet plans, with most handed protein-heavy meals for the majority of the week while carbohydrates come in during the 24 hours before kick-off. Bielsa himself puts together the players’ gym routines.

He is obsessive over the length of the grass on the training pitches and goalposts are suspended off the ground as this, apparently, ensures all the turf receives the same amount of sunlight.

Double sessions are accepted and routines have lasted up to two and a half hours. High-intensity sprints enable Leeds to play a high-pressing game but there is also an emphasis on positioning. Many sessions do not involve players going up against one another but instead against mannequins, so Bielsa can explain, through a translator, exactly where a player should be with and without the ball.

Most clubs only rehearse set pieces after training but Bielsa asked: ‘What if we need to take a free-kick in the first minute of a game?’ So now a selection of players rehearse routines twice a week before training, taking three to five free-kicks, corners and penalties, and the player who hits the specified zones then takes the set-pieces during a game. Every margin is pursued, so training mirrors kick-off times, with sessions at 3pm ahead of a weekend fixture.

‘He is very strict, it is like being in the military,’ said midfielder Mateusz Klich. There is respect and admiration. Players stay together the night before all games. Bielsa and his staff invite each player in for a 15-minute individual session, in which they are shown clips from training sessions (all recorded) and games to fully understand their role. Players then study clips focusing on their direct opponent.

The statistics underline the control. Leeds have the best goal difference in the division, the most shots and only Middlesbrough have conceded fewer goals. Their possession statistics, with 63 per cent of the ball, are the best in the league and the only game that provoked dressing-room condemnation from the boss was, in fact, a 1-0 win at Sheffield United — the only time when Leeds had less of the ball than their opponents. It is not passing for passing’s sake, and Bielsa puts as much stock on creating more chances than opponents.

Players are by now used to his quirks, after being ordered to collect litter from the training ground during pre-season to help them relate to those who come through the turnstiles. And of course he famously sits on a blue bucket on the touchline during matches.

As Argentina manager, he once scribbled on his shoes to demonstrate to his players the part of the foot they should use to strike the ball. He continued wearing the shoes in the following days. At Athletic Bilbao, he visited a local nunnery, where he enquired about the sheltered convent life — not so different from his players’ monastic, communal existence — and then asked the nuns to pray for his team.

At Leeds, the early concern was burnout. Yet morale is high and players feel fitter than ever before, despite a succession of injuries that have seen youngsters promoted from the academy. Bielsa attends many Under 23 games and specifies training sessions for the development team.

The club physio, Rob Price, is highly rated and the Englishman was behind the decision to send captain Liam Cooper to have surgery in Italy, where Francesco Totti and Andrea Pirlo have previously been treated.

In January, a goalkeeper will be signed, but agents have been told to expect only outfield loan reinforcements.

Bielsa has long awaited an opportunity in English football. He came to watch matches during Euro 96 and has twice been interviewed for Premier League jobs. After recent travails — he walked out on Lazio after two days in 2016 and a year earlier, left Marseille after the second game of the season — he maybe also had a point to prove.

Now he and Leeds are halfway to the Promised Land.