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The Leeds coach returns to the Theater of Dreams on Sunday for the first time since his Athletic Club team beat the Red Devils in 2012.
During Sir Alex Ferguson’s 27-year tenure as coach, it was rare for his Manchester United team to feel ill-prepared, especially for a home game.
The unrivaled success of the Scots was based on turning the Theater of Dreams into a fortress, and almost every side that visited M16 did so with some level of fear and awe.
That was, however, until Marcelo Bielsa arrived with his Athletic Club team in 2012.
Bielsa returns to Old Trafford on Sunday as Leeds United manager for the rivals’ first league game since 2004, and the Argentine is hoping to repeat one of the most remarkable away performances the stadium has seen.
Athletic reached the Europa League round of 16 tie as a big loser against the continental colossus that was Ferguson’s United, but put on a first leg display that saw the Red Devils defeated 3-2 and thanked David de Gea for keeping the score respectable.
“It’s a very strong memory,” Bielsa said in his pre-game press conference ahead of Leeds’ trip through the Pennines. “The memories are many.
“Initially, the players who produced the performance, and for the 8,000 Basque fans who attended the game. The image of them on my right side, I have installed in my memory.”
Although United were not in full force for the match, Ferguson was still able to line up a team that included De Gea, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernández, with Michael Carrick and Nani both introduced from the bench on the bench. second half.
But after Rooney opened the scoring, they were literally blown away by a team Bielsa had only taken over six months earlier.
The former Argentina coach quickly got down to business to instill a philosophy that focused on increased work rates, intense pressure and fluidity from players operating in a variety of different positions.
Ferguson had no answers.
“It was an outstanding performance from them, not only in their ability, but their energy was incredible,” Ferguson commented after the game. “The highest stats of any team that has played at Old Trafford in the last 10 years, in terms of distance covered. That’s a huge credit to the team’s desire.
“They are very determined and organized, with great confidence in themselves. That is the hallmark of their coach. He has instilled these qualities in his team.”
By reliving the match by Sky sports Recently, former United defender Gary Neville agreed with his former boss, saying: “I remember talking to (club analyst) Tony Strudwick a few days after that game. and I think he said he had to look at the stats three times to believe them.
“He said they were off the scale in terms of race statistics, he had never seen anything like this at Old Trafford.”
However, to attribute the victory solely to the race statistics would be a disservice to Bielsa and Athletic.
Tactically they were excellent, with continued pressure from the visitors matched by their willingness to change positions as full-backs Andoni Iraola and Jon Aurtenetxe raced down the flanks.
The Bilbao side were rewarded for their efforts with goals from Fernando Llorente, Oscar de Marcos and Iker Muniain, before a last-minute penalty from Rooney gave United hope for the second leg in Spain.
“I think maybe Manchester United took the game a little lightly and were a bit confident,” says Spanish journalist Álvaro Romeo, who attended the game in Manchester eight years ago. objective. “The most remarkable thing was how Athletic completely surpassed them.
“His victory was due to Bielsa’s tactic. The brilliance of some players, they worked in six positions, was something that greatly disturbed Manchester United. I think Marcelo Bielsa was the catalyst for that victory and also for his season ”.
A 2-1 victory for Athletic at San Mamés in the second leg was enough to send them to the quarter-finals, and the Basque side eventually reached the final before losing 3-0 to Atlético de Madrid.
They would also lose the Copa del Rey final to Barcelona, and Bielsa’s team, one of several of their teams, will suffer from exhaustion in the final weeks of the campaign as the relentless nature of their training began to take its toll. .
Regardless, the 65-year-old still appreciates the praise he received from Ferguson after his first and only visit to Old Trafford.
“I have noticed that being in the presence of Ferguson is like receiving a medal, but in relation to the game we played, he gave a compliment that I never forgot,” he explained on Friday. “He said that he was not surprised that Athletic had won, that it was within the possible and he was not surprised by how much the team had run to be on equal terms with them.
“What did surprise him was on game day, in the morning, my team had trained an hour and a half the morning of that game. I never forgot that comment from him.”
If Ferguson was caught off guard by Bielsa in 2012, then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should at least be well prepared after having been able to observe the striking mansion in which Leeds has come to life in the Premier League after the Championship promotion.
There will also be the element of rivalry between the two clubs to deal with, and the Norwegian is eager to put his wits to the test against one of the most praised coaches in world football.
“I can not wait. It’s been too long of course (since Leeds was in the Premier League). I know how much it means to our fans and our club, ”said Solskjaer.
“It’s a different guy from Leeds to come with the coach who has really done a great job with them and will test us to the limit.”
United fans remember very well the last time Bielsa pushed them to the limit. Being poorly prepared cannot be an excuse this time.
