That translator has earned his wage
When you hire someone to do a job you may as well get your money’s worth. You wouldn’t ask a window cleaner to clean just the window of your house, so if you hire a translator you might as well squeeze every last drop of value out of them.
Getting them to translate simple, everyday things is nice of course, but the real value is in getting them to translate painfully awkward and hilarious conversations live on television. That’s what dreams are made of.
Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa obviously think this too, if his interview after his side’s 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon is anything to go by.
Bielsa had just witnessed his side both lose at home and relinquish second place in the Championship to their Yorkshire rivals and, while the bitterness of this regional rivalry probably doesn’t make his blood boil, he was not in a particularly good mood.
With his trusted translator at his right hand side, the Argentine coach spoke to a Sky Sports reporter Jonathan Oates, who asked him why his side weren’t able to make the breakthrough in the game.
Seemingly put out by such ludicrous questioning, Bielsa said: “Do you think that we deserved to win?”
Bielsa chewing up and spitting out a Sky journalist after losing to Sheffield United. The ninja death stare right at the end is a thing of beauty. https://t.co/csc1ZRruN1
— Daniel Edwards 💚 (@DanEdwardsGoal) March 16, 2019
At this point, and it’s getting increasingly awkward and funny now, Oates states that Bielsa himself had said that Leeds deserved to win the game. Once translated, Bielsa insists he did not say this.
I cannot overstate how awkward this exchange is at this point.
Oates then attempts to move on, asking Bielsa how he feels about the promotion race after the result. He wasn’t having it though and instead said: “You’re not answering my question.”
Oates, cutting his losses, thanks the manager, at which point Bielsa asks if he’s interrupting the interview.
Then, to cap it off, he gives him a quite scary death stare.
