Marcelo Bielsa gave Leeds United fans some of their best years as a club. He guided them back to the top fligh after decades away, and brought an exciting brand of football to Elland Road.
The Argentine was known for a lot of things during his time at the club. Bielsa was a big part of the community, and always had time for fans in and around West Yorkshire. On the pitch, the former Leeds boss was innovative, he gave fans his brand of ultra attacking style of football that took them up to the top flight.
Raising this team beyond its quality was not easy; Marcelo Bielsa had to resort to a lot to get the team to play good football. From introducing his ”murder” ball training sessions, to embedding young players early and changing the position of some first team stars to make his tactics tick. Some players experienced a turnaround in their career like Kalvin Phillips, Stuart Dallas and Patrick Bamford.
Leeds star reveals past incident with Marcelo Bielsa
Another Leeds man who owes a lot to Bielsa in his career is Pascal Struijk. The defender came up through the ranks at Elland Road, and was given his first chance at first team football by the Argentine. In a recent interview on the Official Leeds United podcast, Struijk recalls how he made it to the first team, including an unforgettable moment with his former coach. He explained that he was sent away from training after not performing well.
“[Bielsa was] amazing,” Struijk said.
“Very intense, but skills-wise I feel like he’s the best I’ve worked with for developing players. You could see where we started as a group – I was there from around the first training session – he was very strict on how we performed in training as well.
“There was this drill and if you didn’t do it well enough, especially as an Under-23s player coming over to train with the first-team, if it was not good enough he’d just say ‘Pascal, finished’, and I’d have to go back to the Under-23s again. This was a big part about how you get that mental strength and resilience from.”
Pascal Struijk has become a big part of the club
He started out as a young player on the fringes of the first team, and his introduction to the lineup was rough. Struijk even ended up playing left back and midfield in his early years with the club. But since then, he has developed into a very solid player. His partnership with Joe Rodon has been a massive part of why the Whites are in the Premier League. Marcelo Bielsa has done a lot for Leeds; producing great players for their present and their future – Struijk is one of those players who has served the club well and is continuing the legacy.
| Season | Games Played |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 5 |
| 2020/21 | 30 |
| 2021/22 | 31 |
| 2022/23 | 31 |
| 2023/24 | 25 |
| 2024/25 | 37 |
| 2025/26 (Current) | 29 |
