Re: Bielsa appreciation thread

[LeVersacci]

!!!!!

[Mr Nick09]

Dis Coach

i was right to get on the bandwagon

haters

[Milanchenko]

Bilbao!!!!!!!

[BarrileteCosmico]

Does Bielsa even have haters? Does he even have doubters? the only one I can think of is Free, but only because he is "unproven" lool.

[izzy]

Dis Coach

i was right to get on the bandwagon

haters

Isn't xcx his only hater?

[EarlyPrototype]

Uncle Flo are you watching?

[Mr Nick09]

Yes he does BC, halamadrid is one of them i think (unless im wrong)

some other madridisatas doubting his greatness when i said he would be a great coach for us.

[Milanchenko]

and again!!!!!!!!

[The Franchise]

"There are 36 different forms of communicating through a pass." He watches thousands of games, building a footballing taxonomy, like some kind of botanist. If a player does something new, he labels and stores it, learning from it. Teaching from it, too. Few are so didactic: he once drew on his shoes to show players exactly which part of their foot to use, wearing them for days after. Video sessions can last five hours and players joke that they do not dare make a mistake lest the green laser rest upon them and Bielsa demand a convincing explanation.

. The circulation is constant. One exercise involves eight squares: two players cannot occupy the same space; if a team-mate enters your square, you vacate it. Crossing and shooting exercises, following specific, interchanging "passageways", do not end with the shot but with players sprinting back into their starting positions. Defence and attack are not separate.





If I could spend a week with 1 person learning, it would be him...cant believe im saying it, over Cryuff and Pep.

[Senor Penguin]

Time to replace Mourinho

[BarrileteCosmico]

"A few weeks ago, Bielsa was stopped by a group of kids who asked him to sign their sticker album. He said no, he had a better idea. He took the album off them and told them to meet him the following day, same place, same time. When he turned up 24 hours later, the entire team had signed the album. Not just any team: El Loco's team, the most exciting Athletic have had in three decades."

Bielsa

[izzy]

Yes he does BC, halamadrid is one of them i think (unless im wrong)

some other madridisatas doubting his greatness when i said he would be a great coach for us.

With all the crazy that is around Madrid, he'll fit right in.

[Mr Nick09]

cool picture of Fergie and Bielsa in the same coaching box after half time, Fergie forgot he was in the wrong place.

[Mr Nick09]

Another ode to Bielsa from Richard Jelly

El Loco, or the Mad One, appears the default nickname attached to some of South America's more eccentric characters, applied to a wide-range of badly-behaved, crowd-pleasing footballers. It is shared by one obsessive Argentine manager. Not all madness involves alcohol and arrests, firearms and flare-ups, and Marcelo Bielsa, who famously took 2000 videos to the 2002 World Cup, left Manchester United looking like a team from the Betamax era.


GettyImages
Marcelo Bielsa is considered one of the brightest coaches in world football
For Athletic Bilbao, his is a beautiful craziness. This most idiosyncratic of coaches has a futuristic blueprint that turned the Theatre of Dreams into an arena of the unreal. In a season when United have lost 6-1 at Old Trafford, no side has outplayed them on their own patch quite like Athletic Bilbao. In a campaign when United have been abject in Europe, they have never been tortured as excruciatingly or as exquisitely. "I don't think there's any doubt Bilbao were the better team," was Sir Alex Ferguson's understatement off the pitch following his side's underachievement on it.

Normally Barcelona are La Liga's experts in eliminating United, but the baton has been passed from Catalonia to the Basque country. Only a man from Madrid, David de Gea, stood in Bilbao's way. Only he and Wayne Rooney ensured there will be a meaningful match at the San Mames next week.

But the most decorated manager in the business was overcome by perhaps the most dedicated. These are contrasting figures. Stylistically, Ferguson is not a visionary but an entertainer who has found a way to win with unparalleled longevity and relentless consistency. Bielsa does not have the silverware, but has a growing band of disciples with understandable devotion.

This was total football with a twist, passing of perfect precision, played at breakneck speed. Its architect hovered on the touchline, dressed like Brian Clough in a cagoule, crouching like Andre Villas-Boas, managing like Pep Guardiola, but with added impediments. Bielsa does not have Barcelona's budget, nor their scope to recruit whomever they want.

But no team is more aptly named. These Basques represent the city of Bilbao. "By having that principle, it gives them a cause all the time," said Ferguson. "They are fighting for who they are. It's very worthwhile what they do." Meanwhile, no side is more athletic. They never stopped running, swarming forward with interchangeable excellence. There was always an overlap, invariably an option, inevitably a man with the skill to spot it. United were out-thought, outclassed and, in an indictment of Ferguson, outnumbered in the middle. "They overloaded in midfield," said the Scot, who took an hour to rectify that.

There is a temptation to suggest Help the Aged should be contacted, given the cruelty of selecting a footballing pensioner against them in the centre of the pitch. At least Ryan Giggs contributed when United, as has become their wont, took the lead against the run of play.

It was palindrome of a move, constructed at pace as a trio of players surged into the Bilbao box. Rooney found Javier Hernandez who, in turn, moved the ball on to the accelerating Giggs. After the return pass the Mexican's low shot was parried by Gorka Irzaizoz for Rooney to sweep in the rebound.

The lead flattered United. Markel Susaeta accelerated beyond a stationary Jonny Evans to chip De Gea, but missed the post. He redeemed himself by crossing for the excellent Fernando Llorente to level. The striker doubled up as target man and technical talent, far too good a blend for a struggling United defence.

They were spared humiliation by the insurance policy. De Gea denied Llorente and Iker Muniain in an inspired display. It required controversial goals to add justice to the scoreline. After Ander Herrera scooped a pass over the United defence, Oscar de Marcos - offside, according to Ferguson - placed a shot into the far corner. Then Phil Jones' poor header allowed De Marcos to shoot. De Gea parried but, with Rafael da Silva dozing, Muniain stole in to score. Distracted as well as defeated, United were upset that the most reliable member of their slipshod back four, Patrice Evra, had been penalised after losing his boot.

"The referee said to the players you can't play without a boot," Ferguson said. "The real rule is you can but when play stops you have to go off the field." It was a technicality on a night of Bilbao supremacy.

In any case, German referee Florian Mayer allowed United to reduce the deficit as Rooney completed his brace with an injury-time penalty. "It is an indication of how good our opponents are that they did not need to create too many chances to score two goals," said Bielsa, offering a novel slant to United's struggles.

While Bilbao's defence were breached twice, they instigated attack after attack. At their heart was Javi Martinez, stopper and creator in one, as though Xabi Alonso had been redefined as a centre-back. In he and Jones, there were Spanish and English interpretations of young colossuses, one the playmaker, the other the powerhouse. The United man began in midfield and ended at the back, looking raw in either position. His Bilbao counterpart was a model of composure.


GettyImages
Athletic Bilbao celebrate with their fans up in the Gods at Old Trafford.
It left Ferguson pondering whether to parachute the rested Rio Ferdinand into the Europa League, United looking likely to exit two continental competitions in the space of three months and Bielsa savouring the praise of the manager he has described as the greatest ever.

"It's excellent and admirable when your work is recognised by someone of such importance in the game," he said. It was a night when El Loco was El Hombre at Old Trafford. There are times when the line between madness and genius can be thin, but Bielsa, the scholarly mastermind of Bilbao's brilliance, seems firmly on the right side.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Iker Muniain - Brought energy and excellence to his day job on the wing and wherever else he popped up. In an outstanding team performance, however, it could just as easily have been Llorente, or Martinez, or De Marcos or Herrera, or Susaeta...

MANCHESTER UNITED VERDICT: "The defending was very loose in the first half in particular," Ferguson said. Indeed, it was a match to enhance the reputation of the unused substitute, Ferdinand, but not the four who started at the back. Rafael, in particular, was shocking, and both Da Silvas have regressed last year. The bigger problem, however, is in the middle of defence: there is a lack of leadership when neither Ferdinand nor the long-term absentee Nemanja Vidic plays. In the heart of midfield, Giggs and Jones seemed a strange choice and Michael Carrick, belatedly brought on to restore order, was much missed. But as previous defeats to Spanish sides show, United have long lacked a world-class defensive midfielder.

ATHLETIC BILBAO VERDICT: Superb. Fast and fit, skilful and stylish, they are a side on the up. In the Copa del Rey final, perhaps heading for its Europa League counterpart and progressing up La Liga, they are one of Europe's form teams. It is easy to see why.

[BarcaLearning]

Lovely articles, and Its fasinating, Im on the Bielsa bandwagon too~!

[Albiceleste]

[BarcaLearning]

KNOCK MAN U OUT TONIGHT~!!!!!!!! PLSSSSSSSSS

[Doc]

"A few weeks ago, Bielsa was stopped by a group of kids who asked him to sign their sticker album. He said no, he had a better idea. He took the album off them and told them to meet him the following day, same place, same time. When he turned up 24 hours later, the entire team had signed the album. Not just any team: El Loco's team, the most exciting Athletic have had in three decades."

Bielsa

You have no idea how this made me smile. If I were one of those children, I probably would have cried through sheer joy...

[Mr Nick09]

Bielsa is brilliant, if Bilbao's finishing was better, they would have scored 5 on Utd.

[Patrick Bateman]

[BarcaLearning]

WOOO HOOOO~!!! 2-1 to win the leg, that means completely outplaying MAn U (which dont happen often in any comp, except by Barca of cos ), and won me my correct score bet winning both legs and really really showing Man U their limitations.

Bilbao just played superbly in both legs and Im a bit surprised Man U did so bad, they never could get back into cos Bilbao were just too strong and determined.

I think I along with many are becoming fans of the clubs and Bielsa for good now

Hope they get into the CL and strength in the summer.... although thats limited by their local only policy....otherwise they could become one of the top clubs!

[urbaNRoots]

Brilliant coach - Athletic are very lucky to have him.

I'm officialy a fan.

[Pedram]

Can i join the bandwagon ?

[VanDeezNuts]

brilliant. and the story about bielsa and the fans who wanted autographs

pure

[Mr Nick09]

[BarrileteCosmico]

Bielsa is simply a fantastic human being

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