'El Loco' Bielsa won’t go easy on Wanderers

It will be as much about the coach as the team when Leeds United descend on Australia next year to help Western Sydney Wanderers christen their glistening new Bankwest Stadium home.

Source: AAP

All eyes on Saturday 20th July will be on eccentric Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, who is in the process of awakening the English football giants from a deep slumber, with promotion to the Premier League beckoning at the end of the rainbow come May.

Tickets to watch “El Loco” and his team - among the most followed English clubs in Australia - go on sale on Tuesday, and a 30,000 sell-out is anticipated.

With Leeds sitting second in the Championship, the 63-year-old who was linked with leading Australia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia is working a minor miracle at Elland Road.

The prospect of returning to the Premier League for the first time in 14 years has brought the heartbeat back to a club tired of living on past glories.

And it’s all down to Bielsa, and his unorthodox ways, according to Leeds’ Swedish World Cup defender Pontus Jansson.

Leeds don’t possess the stars of yesteryear when Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Paul Okon were the resident Aussies involved in UEFA Champions League campaigns, but they are the fittest and best drilled team in the second tier.

And possibly the team with the most attuned social conscience, as Bielsa, seen as a trend setter by the likes of Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, follows his unique path.

“He had the boys picking up rubbish during the pre-season because he cares about other people and wants to show us how good we have it in being able to play football and do the things we love,” said Jansson, who was part of the Swedish team which reached the last eight in Russia.

“He talks about other things than just football and we have reading sessions a couple of days during the week where we read books, and it makes us feel like normal people also, so it’s good.”

But an obsession with pressing opponents - the hallmark of Leeds’ success since Bielsa took charge this season - means a grueling training schedule for the Whites.

“The team worked incredibly hard in the pre-season, and the training sessions are still very intense,” added 27-year-old Jansson.

“We are full of running and hopefully we can be more clever also this season and come to Australia as a Premier League team in July.

“We know we have a lot of fans there, and it’s an adventure for us. But, if you ask the manager, it will be all about football and training.

“We have long days and the coach is very tactical.

“He had the team doing three sessions a day for five weeks while I was at the World Cup, I was happy I wasn’t there because of the work load.

“It’s all about high intensity and running at maximum velocity and it’s been paying off. If we don’t train hard that’s when things go down.

“And he prepares differently for every opponent. He anticipates almost everything that can happen in a game, he’s really adaptable to every situation.”

Bielsa only gives interviews through translators, and communicates with his team the same way, though Jansson professes a rudimentary understanding of Spanish.

But the message is clearly coming across loud and clear with Leeds only a point adrift of leaders Norwich City 21 games into the season.

Jansson’s Swedish national teammate Ola Toivonen has reported favorably of life in Australia as he settles into the A-League with Melbourne Victory.

“He’s liking it a lot ... even though I think the football there is maybe not so good for him because he’s still a very good player,” Jansson observed.

“But he’s getting older and it’s easier than in France where he was before.”

Up to 4,000 travelling Leeds fans from the UK, Asia and throughout Australia are expected to conjure a carnival atmosphere for the clash.