Andrea Radrizzani considers Leeds United hate and reveals Marcelo Bielsa's huge call for change - YEP 19/7/23
Andrea Radrizzani has revealed the huge Leeds United change proposed by Marcelo Bielsa long before his sacking and considered the “hate” he now feels from fans.
By Lee Sobot
Departing Whites chairman Radrizzani appointed Bielsa as the
third head coach of his tenure in the summer of 2018 and the Argentine took
Leeds back to the Premier League in style two years later as Championship
champions.
Bielsa then steered the Whites to a brilliant ninth-placed
finish upon United’s top-flight return but the promotion-winning boss was then
sacked just nine months later with Leeds hovering just above the drop zone in
February of the following season.
It was to prove the beginning of the end for Leeds who
turned to Jesse Marsch as Bielsa’s successor but Marsch was then sacked one
year later with the Whites in another relegation battle despite the American
coach having kept the team up on the final day of the previous campaign.
The Whites then turned to Javi Gracia followed by a last
chuck of the dice with Sam Allardyce but this time there was no saving United’s
skins and Radrizzani now exits the club with Leeds back in the second tier amid
the 49ers Enterprises Group’s full takeover.
Radrizzani, though, has revealed that Bielsa actually called
for a huge change after the club’s ninth-placed finish, advising him to change
either the club’s manager or players with the team’s ceiling at its limit.
As part of a major sliding doors moment, Radrizzani
persuaded Bielsa to stay for another year and hoped longer term that the
Argentine would become United’s director of football. Speaking in an interview
with Sky Sports News, Radrizzani admitted that he was aware many fans now
“hated” him for ultimately sacking Bielsa but says he was only begrudgingly
axed the Argentine due to the huge fear of the drop.
Asked if hiring Bielsa was the best decision of his reign
and said without hesitation: “Yes, among all the coaches, 100 per cent, yes,
not just because he let us enjoy the best football in Leeds I think in the
history of the football club.
"But also because of the way that he transformed the
club, the culture of the club, the ethical work, the dedication around the area
of the people of Thorp Arch.
"He was excellent. But as Marcelo has shown in his
career, after a period of time, this continued demand that he has on people
around him and from not only players but staff and everyone, it can become a
problem because it then becomes saturated and people start feeling stressed and
sometimes the pressure can become stress.”
Recalling the very moment when Bielsa recommended a major
change, Radrizzani revealed: “We both remember at the end of the first season
in the Premier League we ended up in ninth position which was a brilliant
season. I remember sitting down with Marcelo and actually he told me, he said,
‘you should change me or you should all change all the players because like
this we can go more than that (ninth).’
"He was aware that the situation was at the limit and
then actually I convinced him and we decided to stay one extra year with
potentially later becoming more a director of football on top of the coach.
"I wanted him to stay as long as possible for what he
did for Leeds. In reality we knew the risk, both of us knew the risk and maybe
that was the best time to change.
"But I wasn't brave enough to change after ninth
position in the league and I think also for him he wanted to enjoy an extra
season as a coach with the fans in the stadium because the season in which we
did very well because of Covid we couldn't enjoy with our fans.
"These are circumstances that we can always say if or
what but at the end I think we can keep the legacy. I know I am hated by some
fans because I have sacked Marcelo but it was hard for me too because I know
what he represented for the club. But in that moment, I believe I was doing
what was best for the club."