The Return: Leeds United

Leeds United are a club steeped in tradition and silverware, however ever since the First Division got re branded to the Premier League they began to slowly fall through the league table and eventually down divisions too. However this year after 16 long years away from the top flight of English football, they are back and look better than ever. You all know the history of this great club, now let me tell you the story of this season and everything that led up to this season, the year Leeds finally made it back into the big time.

El Loco: Marcelo Bielsa

Leeds United becoming a Premier League team again is not down to one single person or event, the club has been working hard and getting close for a few seasons now but the biggest factor for me is their manager, Marcelo Bielsa. Otherwise known as “El Loco” back in his home country of Argentina, which translates to “The Crazy One” is a veteran coach and a football obsessive. He’s managed teams back in his homeland as well as the national team itself and also managed the national team of Chile and Sevilla in Spain where he lead them to two cup finals. Bielsa has a brand of football that he drills into every team he coaches and works with which is high intensity and pressing football to try and overwhelm teams.

The last few seasons Leeds have been nearly men, just missing out on promotion due to falling off at the end of the season, which is something Bielsa is known for throughout his career. However this season they stormed the Championship and won it by a massive ten points. However this was not through money and buying players but something else that Bielsa is known for which is that he works with what he has, giving youth a chance and improving the players in the squad instead of replacing them. Whether this tactic is going to work in the Premier League we shall wait and see but club is going in all the right directions to try and reinstate itself as a titan of English football once again.

Key Players

The Peacocks are a tight knit team and don’t solely rely on one star player to score all the goals and make things happen, however they have a couple of very talented players including some for the future. This season Patrick Bamford was the top scorer for the club netting 16 goals and grabbing 2 assists as well. He was the main man upfront, who being 26 years of age and having been around the block including spells at Derby and Middlesbrough with varied success means that he is fairly experienced and is a good option for Bielsa. Extremely hard working and a modern player with the ability to match he is exactly the kind of player likes and its easy to see why he is his first choice.

Pablo Hernandez has been at Leeds for 4 years now and in that time has become one of if not their most vital player and a fans favourite for his stylish play style and hard working ethic. Hernandez has lit up the championship in the last few seasons scoring vital goals and being the main source of creativity in midfield. This season he has registered 9 goals and the same amount of assists which is joint with his best ever goal involvements for a league campaign. However he is even more important than those stats say as his chances created have gotten better every year and in a Bielsa team he’s added the pressing to his game making him even more dangerous. The premier league may be a tough task for the club but the Spanish “Wizard” has the technical level to play at the highest level even though he is entering the twilight of his career being 35. He may become more of a super sub over the coming seasons but he will always be a threat to teams when on the field.

The Future

To conclude Leeds United are an amazing club and are heading in the right direction. With a little backing from the owner who seems to love the club and hard work on the pitch from players and staff i’m sure they can have a very successful first season back in the promise land and will hopefully provide a financial and football foundation to grow the club back to its former glory. The sky really is the limit.

Make sure you leave your thoughts in the comments down below or use the contact us tab and let me know how you think Leeds will do in the Premier League. Thanks so much for reading!