LEEDS’ harrowing 7-0 loss to Manchester City on Tuesday was the biggest defeat of Marcelo Bielsa’s career.
Back in 1992, when the Whites boss was managing Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina, his side were smashed 6-0 by San Lorenzo in the Copa Libertadores.
Afterwards, he said he ‘dies after each defeat’ – and ‘El Loco’ seemed ready to do just that when a group of angry Ultras confronted Bielsa at his home in Rosario.
The book ‘The Quality of Madness. A life of Marcelo Bielsa’ detailed how he came to the door to confront the 20 or so supporters dressed in his pyjamas armed with a hand grenade
“If you don’t go now, I will pull the pin”, he told them before the fans quickly performed a U-turn and scarpered.
One of those intruders told Kaiser magazine: “The madness sparkled in his eyes. Nobody could look at Bielsa, only at the grenade in his hand. We imagined he would face us with a shotgun, not a grenade.”
After that humbling by San Lorenzo, the Argentine said: “I die after every defeat. The week that follows is hell.
“When the mistakes are of such a grotesque magnitude, the conclusion has to be that the manager is responsible.”
And Bielsa was in an equally melancholic mood on Tuesday after Leeds were put to the sword by Pep Guardiola’s City.
He said: “City plays like this all the time, or similar to it, but we have never played so badly in these four years.
“And I insist that the message is that what I proposed and what the game needed, was not good enough.
“You can deflect the attention when some things work and some things don’t but when nothing works, it is the decisions of the one in charge that defines what happens.
“As there’s nothing to take from it, it’s inevitable I have to take responsibility for a defeat of this type.
“There is nothing positive to take away from our performance. I can’t find anything that can be valued.”
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sportingexcitement.com/football/premier-league/man-utd-star-mason-greenwood-emerges-as-shock-arsenal-transfer-with-barcelona-and-juventus-also-in-race
