'Taught me to be a better person' - Godoy Cruz boss Diego Flores on working for Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa - YEP 2/9/21
Newly-appointed Godoy Cruz boss Diego Flores says working for Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa taught him to be a better person.
By Graham Smyth
Flores was unveiled by the Argentine top flight club this
week. They sit 21st in the 26-team Primera Division, after nine games of the
season and although the 40-year-old acknowledges that results will be key, he
wants to build a long-term project in Mendoza.
Having worked with Bielsa, a former head coach of Argentina
and a figure of fascination not just in his home land but the world over,
Flores was faced with questions about his experiences on the staff at
Marseille, Lille and Leeds.
The man who took on the role of Bielsa's translator at
Leeds, on top of his coaching and analysis duties, was only too happy to
divulge how he has been prepared for the job of a manager.
"At the age of 24 I decided that I was going to be a
professional coach," he said.
"I studied languages and in 2014, life surprised me,
when I had an approach to the coaching staff of Marcelo. I worked with people
who taught me to be a better person and gave me a very interesting professional
training, where detail, work capacity and the search for perfection are values
that represent it."
The opportunities afforded to him as part of Bielsa's
technical staff, particularly on the training ground, have helped him make the
step up into a new job,
“I experienced more than 400 training sessions with
different groups, in different cultures, with different players and from
different leagues," he said.
"I think that I come nourished with experiences that
contribute to the role that I have to perform today."
No transfer window ends all smiles and this one was no different.https://t.co/BcrczLj6Ha#lufc
— Leeds United News (@LeedsUnitedYEP) September 2, 2021
Having celebrated promotion from the Championship with
Leeds, Flores departed Thorp Arch before the Whites hit the Premier League.
There was no hint of acrimony in the split, sources at the club suggested he
merely wanted a break after an intense period of work, and to spend time
travelling with his partner.
Now, an ambition to eventually strike out on his own has
been realised.
And although his talk of prioritising a solid defensive
structure might sound like a departure from Bielsa's relentless attack-minded
football, Flores evidently still carries the influence of his former boss.
He and his staff forewent sleep between their appointment
and the first training session in order to hit the ground running and make as
prompt a start as possible.
Hard work lies ahead of the players of Godoy Cruz.
"I don't think the system defines the way of play, but
it does define the way the team works," he said this week.
"What we are going to look for is to structure it
defensively. We know that if we achieve solidity we will have more offensive
freedoms, to be able to risk the ball more and quickly try to get it back.
"We are going to be ambitious and intense,
protagonists, we are going to try to athleticise the players and adjust
everywhere.
"We are going to give up our lives for this club."