We arrived at the last part of The Marcelo Bielsa Chapter. Here are the previous parts for further reading:

The Marcelo Bielsa Chapter: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

The Marcelo Bielsa Chapter: How I Learned To Accept Myself And Never Compromise

The Marcelo Bielsa Chapter: How I Learned To Judge With My Own Eyes

The Marcelo Bielsa Chapter: How I Learned The Way To Push Myself To The Limit

Going into this chapter I was expecting I could prove once and for all that Bielsa is just a famous name for nothing but his attitude and temperament. Also, I was hoping I could answer the full reason why we haven't seen him in title contenders teams. Two things that left with answers I wasn't expecting.

Bielsa's Attitude

To think about it rationally, maybe he had one or two actions throughout his long career where his "Loco" side showed up. I don't want to go down memory lane to fetch those, but instead, I want to talk about the times when he was called crazy when he actually wasn't.

I haven't seen a single action committed by Bielsa that wasn't committed by Pep or Klopp just as examples. Klopp once had an angry, crazy look on his face while objecting because the ref didn't let his player into the pitch before Dortmund was scored against.

We've seen countless videos of Pep giving angry instructions. And I am not saying that there's something wrong with either, but they were merely two examples among literally everyone. Wenger physically pushed Mourinho, Mourinho poked Tito Vilanova's eyes. The only difference is that Bielsa doesn't have the titles to be considered "normal".

Why Has Bielsa Never Managed A Title Contender Team?

Although that was one of the main questions I started this chapter to answer, I soon found out it was the wrong one. The reason he hasn't is simple, he is a dreamer with a specific vision, a walking project, that wants to maintain that vision with the least amount of compromises. His vision doesn't even cost a lot of money. That vision doesn't go well in top clubs.

However, if there's one thing to take from Bielsa's journey with Leeds it would be the following.

The True Value Of Success

Charlie Phillips, a lifelong fan of Leeds wrote a beautiful article in The Guardian titled "Leeds are back after 16 years of misery, mediocrity and incompetence". He talks about what Bielsa did doesn't hold less value than all the managers who have won the Premier League with the team. This is coming from a lifelong supporter who talked about his misery and pain being a Leeds' supporter for the majority of the article.

That to me is the one thing to take from Bielsa's time with Leeds. If I was a manager and I have left that impression with fans and the history, I wouldn't care that much about the fact that I haven't managed teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Juventus, or Barcelona.

Of course, the curiosity would be still inside me to see how I would manage someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Mbappe, Neymar, Kevin De Bruyne, and see what that world would be like.

But, Bielsa is a dreamer. And being a dreamer depends a lot on your faith in your ideas. Once you compromise, you can't convince yourself of your ideas, let alone the players. So, Bielsa's actions make sense. He freed himself of those silly requirements many managers chose to submit to. His actions also make sense.

If I was a manager with Bielsa's vision and knowledge, what would force me to deal with a clown like Bartomeu, Woodward, Agnelli, and Kroenke? Why would I take them forcing their signings on me and picking assistants for me? And to top it all, if things go bad, I would be the one fired.

Why would I do all of that when I can simply be at a club like Leeds and accomplish something that is no way less valuable than winning a UEFA Champions League title? The only problem is that those accomplishments are happening elsewhere in the world from where most eyes are. I see no reason for deforming my vision and knowledge with someone else's.

And we could flip the equation, how much would Klopp, Pep, Tuchel, Zidane, Ancelotti, and Mourinho achieve with EFL mid-table Leeds? Would they go inches away from promotion with no new signings? Would they win it the next season WHILE making a transfer profit?

In Conclusion

Bielsa is an accomplished manager, even if you look at his Wikipedia page and find four titles that aren't really celebrated in the eyes of the world. He is a manager who won the hearts of the fans, and isn't that the greatest achievement?

Marcelo Bielsa is an inspiration, not just in the footballing world, but in life in general. His journey is an example of the importance of mastering your craft and looking at things in the right context.