Marcelo Bielsa is the man English football needs right now.
Hell, Marcelo Bielsa may even be the man England needs right now. Leeds United’s game against Aston Villa on Sunday looked like it was going to disintegrate into recrimination and rancour before Bielsa came along.
His decision to order his side to concede a goal was hailed as the kind of moral integrity the game needs at this moment. Marcelo Bielsa is experiencing the other side of the moral righteousness that took hold after he admitted he’d spied on his opponents. Now the morality police are on his side, but it is equally bogus.
Maybe it’s irrelevant to wonder if Bielsa would have ordered his players to ‘give a goal’ if Leeds had a real chance of automatic promotion but just as he was unfairly traduced for ‘Spygate’ is he now being ridiculously overpraised for his role on Sunday?
More importantly, Leeds now face a difficult route through the play-offs if they are to get back to the Premier League.
On The Football Spin, Paddy McKenna and Dion Fanning discuss Bielsa’s moral force and consider the never-ending battle for the Champions League places in the Premier League. For all those who say they’re bored with the title race, is this what an exciting tussle looks like? The top six outside Liverpool and Man City have one win in their last 11 games between them.
On Sunday Manchester United and Chelsea demonstrated why the clubs below the top two are struggling with a game that was high on comedy, but low on quality. David De Gea’s mistake costing United again but the problems at Old Trafford go far beyond the goalkeeper.
Meanwhile two former Liverpool managers Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers will have a say in the title next weekend. Why are people talking about Liverpool reaching 97 points when they have a game against Newcastle which could alter everything?
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