From Spygate to Premier League promotion – Marcelo Bielsa’s time at Leeds

Marcelo Bielsa’s tenure as Leeds head coach is over, with the Argentinian shown the door in the wake of Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham.

The loss was Leeds’ fifth in their last six games, a run that had seen them concede goals at an alarming rate – 60 for the season and 20 in the month of February alone.

But it is a measure of the impact Bielsa had in his three and a half years in charge that the announcement of his exit was accompanied by news that the club plans a “permanent tribute” to him at Elland Road.

Here the PA news agency looks at the highs and lows of Bielsa’s reign.

Highs

Fair play

In April 2019 Leeds faced Aston Villa in a match between two sides still in with a shout of automatic promotion. Mateusz Klich put Leeds 1-0 in front in the 72nd minute at a time when Jonathan Kodjia was down injured, sparking a furious reaction from Villa’s players – with Anwar El Ghazi sent off. Bielsa responded by instructing his players to allow Villa forward Albert Adomah to score an unchallenged equaliser. The match finished 1-1, putting automatic promotion out of reach for Leeds. Bielsa and his players were subsequently awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award.

Return to the Premier League

Top-half finish

Lows

Spygate

Bielsa Burnout?

Second season syndrome