After his experience at Leeds, Bielsa could return to the club he directed between 2011 and 2013. (Photo: file)
Marcelo Bielsa will return to being the manager of Athletic Bilbao after nine years if Iñaki Arechabaleta, one of the three candidates, wins the election for the presidency of the Basque club tomorrow.
The future of “Loco” will be defined when the elections that will take place at the San Mamés stadium with 43,325 qualified to vote between 9 and 21 local time are completed.
Bielsa has already confirmed that he will take over as manager if Arechabaleta prevails over Ricardo Barkala and Jon Uriarte, who have chosen Ernesto Valverde, former coach of Lionel Messi in Barcelona, for the position.
The winner of the elections will replace Aitor Elizegi, who after only one term has decided not to stand for re-election.
Arechabaleta’s card to win the elections is Bielsa’s returnwho left a fond memory of his first time at the club between 2011 and 2013.
Bielsa surprised and wants to direct again quickly.
The former Argentina national team coach reached the Copa del Rey and Europa League finals, which he lost to Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid respectively.
Bielsa stopped working at the end of February after leaving Leeds, where he completed his longest stint at a club with more than three years in the job.
For the last time, on time since Marcelino’s departure from the Basque bank at the end of May was confirmed, Rosario – who will turn 67 on 21 July – devoted himself to analyzing Athletic Bilbao.
The former coach of Messi, Ernesto Valverde, is the one chosen for the bench of the other list. Photo: Reuters
According to what was told in his presentation of just over an hour, Bielsa analyzed all the matches that Athletic played in the last season and carried out a detailed analysis of the squad.
Together with his team, he even watched the club’s youth matches and studied the rest of the La Liga teams.
Bielsa is a story that repeats itself in Bilbao
As now, Bielsa arrived at the Athetic Club after giving his word to the club’s then-candidate for president, Josu Urrutia. The madman took over on 7 July 2011. Nineteen dates cost him to host “Bielsa”, but when he adapted, Bilbao fought hard in every competition they played in and were even in Champions League positions.
In 2012, the Basques reached the Copa del Rey and UEFA Europa League finals. The Argentine team was slapped in both decisive games. He fell 3-0 against Diego Simeone’s Atlético de Madrid in Europe and with the same result against Messi’s Barcelona in local competition.
Bielsa renewed that year, but the scrapping of the squad plus the logical wear required by the intensity of Loco’s work (in a team that did not renew its forces) meant that that season did not have good results and his contract was not renewed. .
Up until his time at Leeds, the Basque team was the team he had managed the most games for, with 113 games across all competitions. Years later, in Leeds, he would bring that figure to 170.
Source: Clarin
