Spygate: Bielsa took Lampard to school and has nothing to apologise for

Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds have been caught in a spying storm with Derby, but on Friday night the Argentine showed them who was boss on the field…

By / Football News / 5 years ago

I’ll tell you who Marcelo Bielsa reminds me of – Alan Pardew.

And that’s not because they share the same painstaking characteristics – no, it’s quite the opposite.

Before we begin, this is very much an appraisal of the Argentine rather than a backing of the latter.

The so-called managerial merry-go-round that keeps newsdesks seething and football fans across the country bored senseless is little more than a ‘jobs for the boys’ campaign.

Say the right things in press conferences, try not to embarrass yourself and then as soon as you’re sacked, another willing club will take you on.

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The same group of Brits between the ages of 55 and 75 somehow manage to manage: Mark Hughes, Sam Allardyce, Alan Pardew, David Moyes, Roy Hodgson and Tony Pulis.

Marcelo Bielsa is coming under fire from all angles now because he broke some sort of code of ethics for having someone go to Derby and observe training.

As if players at respective clubs all over England don’t talk about tactical elements and b*tch about their sessions over wittily-named WhatsApp groups anyway.

There are football clubs all over the world in breach of Financial Fair Play rules, who are literally corrupting the sport from the inside-out and not an eyelid is bat at them.

If anything, this is a low-tech throwback to the golden age.

Leeds have battered Lampard’s lads 6-1 on aggregate this year. If anything, Lampard probably should have sent someone to Thorp Arch.

What would have been one hundred times worse was if Bielsa hadn’t come out and admitted it. But that’s not in his makeup, nor is it something he believes is inherently wrong.

This latest incident is just another example of everything gone completely politically correct; people vying for the torch of internet outrage so they can virtue-signal and act the big ‘un on social media.

That’s even taking for granted that anything was wrong in the first place. They sat a bloke on a perimeter fence at the training ground. They should employ stricter confidentiality arrangements going forward if they’re so precious about their tactical arrangements that are clearly lacking in the first place.

One thing you can be sure of, is that Bielsa isn’t robbing any patterns of play off Derby, given their display last night.

Darren Bent and Keith Andrews were quick to jump down his throat, citing his approach not being within the moral confines of the sport.

Bielsa is now going to improve legislation around fair play, he’s going to force other clubs to protect their own sessions that bit more and he’s showing us that, for once, not every manager in the country is as dull as the FA and Sky wish them to be.

Whatever about the morality of the situation, the actual actions will now be taken completely out of context and it’s going to be one hot take trying to surpass the outrage of the next.

Fair enough if the internet wants to do this, but for paid pundits to just talk nonsense like that is embarrassing.

Bielsa isn’t acting in the spirit of the game?

Either is a manager who sends his team out to kick lumps out of the opposition. Either is a manager who sends his team out to waste time.

Marcelo Bielsa tried to gain a legal advantage and when questioned, he actually admitted he did it; citing cultural differences.

This is a gorgeous example for media to fascinate over for the next few weeks, while big clubs progressing in the Champions League breach financial rules and turn the sport into a laughing stock.

What Bielsa did was little more than send a bloke to a training ground to take notes.

Try not to fall off your high horse, mate – David Moyes will be back to take another job soon, so you can get excited thinking about his post-match comments saying his side need to “push on”.

Marcelo Bielsa has brought colour to a footballing nation that’s been trending towards grey for nearly three decades.

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What do you think?