Victor Orta’s time at Elland Road will be fondly remembered for different reasons by Leeds United fans. His transfers and policies were confusing sometimes, but other times he deserved the credit.
One of his best decisions was bringing Marcelo Bielsa to West Yorkshire. The Argentine took Leeds to the Premier League, and gave Elland Road some of the best football in recent years. Orta had a say in some transfers during that era, with mixed results. Hits like Raphinha, Rodrigo Moreno and Illan Meslier made big impacts while the likes of Jean-Kevin Augustin were flops.
The former Sporting director also laid the foundation during his time in charge. His policy of buying and developing high potential talents saw the club produce Pascal Struijk and Crysencio Summerville.
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Former Leeds United employee takes light jab at Victor Orta
Credit: Imago Images
Angus Kinnear brought his Leeds spell to an end this year. He moved to Everton after eight years in West Yorkshire. Kinnear is now new club CEO after being recruited by The Friedkin Group.
In his first week in charge, the 47-year old praised the current structure of the club at Merseyside. His words seemed to have a subtle jab at the hierarchy at Leeds when Victor Orta was present as Sporting director:
“In my experience, the best structures are where you have individual experts leading the functions. There’s been a move in recent years to a single director of football model.”
This could have referenced Orta’s exit from Leeds in 2023, when Kinnear put together a team to replace the Spaniard’s duties.
“That can be challenging. We’re moving to a broader, flatter structure where we have experts in analytics, operations, recruitment and talent ID and trading. Delighted with the individuals we’ve been attracted.”
More decision makers is a great process
Sometimes, Victor Orta was great at his job. Bringing in the likes of Mateo Joseph, beating Real Madrid, is a very impressive feat. Other times, there was a scattergun approach in the transfer market leading to a huge number of flops at the club.
Since Orta left, there seems to be an emphasis on making very good signings instead of just targeting high profile ones.
