The biggest news in football this weekend is that Leeds United finally returned to the Premier League after 16 long years of anguish in the lower leagues. The debate started immediately over whether or not it’s good from a Liverpool perspective that Leeds is back, but we can all agree that having Marcelo Bielsa in the Premier League is entertaining.
It seems a bit of a bromance is brewing between Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Bielsa. In June, when football restarted in England, Bielsa had this to say about Klopp and Liverpool.
“This season Liverpool and Klopp have been the benchmark for everyone in football,” he said. “You always have teams and managers that appeal to you and you want to copy them. Human beings always want to copy those who win. In this case, I have seen many positive things.
“We have examples like Liverpool and we also have opposite examples. We have seen that the teams score a lot immediately and others that have needed a game to start. “
Last December, when Liverpool were in the midst of their unprecedented win streak in the Premier League, the Leeds boss praised the Reds.
“The best team is always the best team because they always understand that they can improve,” said Bielsa. “When a team stops developing, the consequence is that they get worse. If you watch Liverpool for a long period, they are neither better nor worse, they always play well.
And finally, this is what Klopp said about Bielsa in January.
“Bielsa is an outstanding coach, an outstanding role model,” said the Reds boss. “When I came in, I hadn’t seen 51 Derby games to be honest and he’s obviously very good and ready. I respect him a lot, but it’s still not how it should be. I think we all agree on that. “
