Marcelo Bielsa opens up on 'beautiful' Leeds United memories in heartfelt and candid interview — YEP 27/3/26

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By Kyle Newbould

The former Leeds United boss was typically candid ahead of his Uruguay side facing England.

Marcelo Bielsa admits Leeds United provided one of his ‘most beautiful’ footballing memories as he prepares to lead Uruguay out at Wembley.

The much-loved former Leeds manager is back in the UK this week with Uruguay facing England in a World Cup warm-up friendly at Wembley this evening. The 70-year-old earned legendary status in West Yorkshire after ending the Whites 16-year wait for Premier League football in 2020.

Leeds finished ninth in the Premier League under Bielsa before a poor summer of recruitment and injury issues led to his exit in February 2022. But more than four years on, he remains a hero around Elland Road with many fans making the journey down to Wembley this evening just to see him in the flesh.

Bielsa has never returned to Leeds - at least not publicly - with plenty to keep him busy in South America while coaching Uruguay ahead of a World Cup. But in a typically candid press conference on Thursday, the Argentinian spoke warmly of the club he guided to Championship promotion.

“Well, of course I want Leeds to stay in the Premier League, which is where they belong,” Bielsa said. “I haven’t returned to Leeds mainly because the feeling of nostalgia is something that, at times, one resists confronting.

“Everything to do with my time at that club I experienced with nostalgia. I see it as one of the most beautiful memories football has given me.”

That Leeds fans with little interest in England will be heading down to Wembley this evening is a testament to the love that remains for Bielsa. Others have made much longer journeys, travelling halfway across the world to watch his boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina or catch his Uruguay side closer to their home.

“The power that English football has in the world, for me, is based on its fans,” Bielsa explained. “The structures and organisations have relied on the unconditional love of the fans to build a great league, but this English league wouldn't be what it is, if it weren't for the feelings of its fans.

“I've experienced that. If there's one thing that I have always considered justified, in the four years since my dismissal, I conceded 14 goals in a week - it is very difficult to survive that. During these four years, with a marked frequency and regularity, I always received messages from fans.

“I think it has nothing to do with me, but rather with what British fans feel, the way they love their club, which for me is the heart of the Premier League, something that survives any attempt at commercialisation or exploitation. It seems that the industrial development of the Premier League is what makes it great. But for me, what truly makes it great is that no commercial structure can overshadow or commercialise such a strong feeling as the one fans have for the badge.”

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