Marcelo Bielsa does not guarantee success for Leeds, only interesting times

Bielsa's tenure at Elland Road begins in earnest on Sunday and promises to be fascinating, whatever happens

One of the best-known stories about Marcelo Bielsa regards his evening in a Sante Fé hotel room in 1992, after a 6-0 defeat for his Newell’s Old Boys side, when he first seriously questioned the fundamental principles of his footballing philosophy. He came to understand that night, he has said, the full meaning of the phrase: “I want to die”.

What price that some 27 years later, he suddenly finds himself reacquainted with that same feeling all over again, only this time in a dimly-lit Premier Inn double overlooking a pawn shop in Rotherham? Certainly, if any club can drag their manager to the brink and back, making him question all he thought was good and true along the way, it is the modern day Leeds United.

The tenure of this most interesting coach at this most interesting club begins in earnest at Elland Road on Sunday, and the only guarantee is that it will indeed be interesting. More than likely, it will end in tears, with a fresh batch of bizarre anecdotes to add to the many Leeds have collected in recent years.

What if Bielsa is refused a signing due to his low rating on Football Manager, or if a director attempts to sack him at half-time while 2-0 down, or if, say, he elects not to travel on a post-season tour of a country implicated in, what the United Nations calls, “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”? If this experiment fails, he could always follow the path of Dave Hockaday and become a sixth-form tutor in Stroud.

But, then again, what if it works? There is a reason why Leeds were selling season tickets at ten times the usual rate a day after his appointment was announced. This is a world-renowned coach, possibly the most influential of his generation and a muse to the likes of Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino. His uncompromising belief in high-octane, possession-based, fluid attacking play promises football’s utopia.

To achieve it, Bielsa has made clear he requires a revolution and he will comprise the one-man vanguard. At his unveiling in front of the press five weeks ago, which lasted a touch over an hour and 20 minutes, the Argentine claimed that his new squad was 15 players too big. 13 senior players have since left, with Ronaldo Vieira’s move to Sampdoria this week the most surprising and perhaps disappointing departure.

The willingness to jettison an England Under-21 international, one who had only featured sparingly in pre-season, indicates Bielsa’s prioritisation of his system and style above all else. Lewis Baker, a loanee from Chelsea, will occupy what would have been Vieira’s position in Bielsa’s unusual 3-3-1-3. The system could extract the best out of the mercurial Samu Saiz. Patrick Bamford, a £7m capture from Middlesbrough, will lead the line and hope to justify his price.

Will it work? Many words have been spent detailing Bielsa’s approach - none match the stereotype of second-tier English football - but his philosophy is best understood by the four principles the man himself would outline: concentration, rotation, movement and improvisation. His players are asked to play intricately but quickly when on the ball, press heavily when off it and interchange positions while maintaining their shape.

If any of that sounds like a contradiction in terms, it is because it often is, and Bielsa's teams sometimes crumble under the weight of them. Such a style carries other attendant risks too. Former players remember not only their physical exertions but also mental fatigue. To describe Bielsa as demanding would be an understatement, and the sheer intensity of it all has been known to take its toll.

The drop-off at Newell’s after winning the 1990-91 Apertura under Bielsa was sharp and sudden. Athletic Bilbao's domestic form slipped on their run to the 2012 Europa League final. Marseille, in their one campaign under Bielsa, led Ligue 1 at the halfway mark then collapsed after Christmas and ultimately only narrowly qualified for Europe.

Elsewhere, and most notably at Lille last year, Bielsa has entirely failed to get his ideas off the ground. The Ligue 1 club was 19th at time of dismissal, which came after an unauthorised trip to Argentina to visit a dying colleague Luis Bonini. Despite being held in such high-esteem, he is yet to enjoy a major achievement in Europe. His last prize at club level came last century, with Velez Sarsfield in 1998.

Clearly, his arrival at Elland Road is no hall pass to promotion, but that only makes it an ever braver appointment. A Bielsa project has both a high ceiling and a low floor, but then what should that pose to a club who - relative to their history - have spent the best part of 15 years dwelling in the basement? Whatever happens, Leeds are due credit. It is sure to be interesting.