Leeds fans show Marcelo Bielsa INCREDIBLE show of emotion as legendary boss sends heartfelt message | OneFootball

Leeds fans have united in their appreciation for former boss Marcelo Bielsa as he prepares take charge of his first competitive game in England since being sacked by the Whites four years ago – and the iconic Argentine has already sent the club a touching message in return.

Bielsa touched the hearts of Leeds fans during a truly iconic three and a half year reign at the club that saw the Whites secure promotion to the Premier League after a 16-year absence, before then leading the club to a ninth-placed finish in their first year back among the elite.

And while he has sacked midway through his fourth season at Elland Road, the football he brought to the club, together with the charisma he showed off it ensures he will go down in the history books as one of the club’s greatest ever managers.

Now in charge of Uruguay, Bielsa is back on English soil and leads the nation into a friendly clash against England at Wembley on Friday evening.

The match is expected to be heavily attended by Leeds fans, who are travelling down to the capital to pay homage to the iconic boss.

And ahead of the game, fans have been paying tribute to Bielsa with some truly heartfelt messages.

When asked by UruguayFootEng for Leeds fans to send their messages across to Bielsa, which would then be passed on to media in the country, Leeds fans did not disappoint, with a selection of the best of them here.

‘How do we say thank you? You came along, understood the assignment and understood the fans. “The most valuable thing is the happiness that we are able to provoke in those that struggle to find happiness in other ways away from football.” It was like you had stared into my soul,’ one fan wrote.

Another added: ‘My Football God forever and ever, it was absolutely glorious, the rebirth of Leeds United. I’m forever indebted to him this World and the next for the joy he brought us supporters and got us out of Hell, truly did and back to Heaven and Earth.’

‘Bielsa was one of the best managers Leeds have had in my lifetime. He is massively missed, and we hope one day he will come back to Elland Road to see us all’, one fan wrote in reply.

Another stated: ‘Thank you, Marcelo, for everything you have given to football, especially your time at Leeds, where you genuinely united everyone, bringing life back to the club I’ve loved for nearly 60 years. My tribute was having a tattoo of you on my back.’

Heading down to Wembley, a fifth commented: ‘I’ll be there on Friday to show my love for you, you deserve it all after what you did for this football club, no words will probably ever begin to explain the happiness you brought back to the fanbase. You’re always welcome back to Leeds!’

Leeds United staff get involved in Bielsa tributes

Martin Sykes, the team’s security officer, also got involved, writing: ‘Put the pride back in Leeds, made us United, instilled a unique philosophy of Football, developed a Club where everyone was appreciated…LUFC…thank you for doing more for me in my personal life at the time without knowing it, simple, humble, detailed, respectful, a true icon.’

Perhaps the best message, though, should be left to Adonis Starr, who wrote a beautiful tribute to the 70-year-old.

‘Marcelo, when you came to manage Leeds United, the false dawns and false starts had become the norm. The brief moments of joy were exceptional respites during the decade-and-a-half away from the top-tier of English football – ‘the banter years’.

‘The club had been unloved and uncared for by many managers and owners on the spiral down the football pyramid. That is why – when you brought a seemingly inexhaustible amount of competence and passion – it was a revolution. No one knows what to expect before that first game of the season.

‘And like before every first game of every new season, we all held our collective breath. So when Mateusz Klich stabbed home that shot against Stoke on that sunny day in August 2018 – the Elland Road roar that preceded was an exclamation of disbelief as much as joy. What followed was the best football any of us might ever see our team play in our lifetimes.

‘What many of us would give to go back and live it all again. And how did you do it? Because you care. You care passionately about every small detail, every small moment – because you know that even the tinniest component of a football club is part of the foundation of the whole. So you adjusted the position of electric sockets on the walls of Thorp Arch; a dirty boot print in the hall never happened again; and the players picked up rubbish for an hour, because their integrity and understanding of what the fans have to do pay to watch them, was as important to you as their physical strength.

‘You watched a season’s worth of games for every one of our opponents, studying them meticulously until you knew every strength, every weakness, and what tactical changes they would make depending on the game state. You cared. You cared so much that your passion almost has its own gravity; it draws people in – and makes them care too.

‘You turned a mid-table Championship squad into a mid-table Premier League side – no one else could have done that. But more than that, you turned #LUFC – one of the most hated teams in the UK – into what some pundits at the time called “everyone’s second team” – by virtue of the most unbelievably exciting brand of football.

‘Every press conference was a philosophical lecture.

‘You lambasted modern football, football authorities, the press, agents and everything else that makes a mockery of the beauty of this game.

‘But you always praised the fans, you always praised your players, and you never, ever took credit. And while others jumped at the opportunity to lap up the applause for the fruits of your labour, you never puffed proud. Embarrassed, you even had to be goaded into lifting the Championship trophy.

‘You have left every single manager that followed in your wake an impossible task.

‘Your shadow lingers still.

‘You will be loved forever in this city in West Yorkshire, of which your face and words adorn murals 10ft tall. And we’ll never forget how your lessons of hard work, love and passion and belief and hope, transformed our club.

‘Even when the entire establishment tried to prise you off that pedestal they had so begrudgingly put you on – during the spy gate scandal – you simply dismantled the narrative with a tactical masterclass we will never see the like of again.

‘And you did it all in the most disarming way, while turning sport into art, and uplifting this community. You have personally changed the trajectory of my life, and those of countless others I know.

‘Thank you does not feel enough for the appreciation and gratitude we all feel. But it will have to do. Vamos Bielsa, Vamos Leeds Carajo! We will never forget what you did for us! Gracias, Marcelo!’

Bielsa reflects on ‘beautiful memories’ at Leeds

The modern-day Leeds, now managed by Daniel Farke, is currently locked in a battle for Premier League survival, though do have a four-point buffer on the drop zone with seven games left to play.

Predictably, Bielsa was asked about the club’s current predicament during his press conference to preview Friday’s clash, and the iconic boss had a warm message to his former side.

“I have not been back because of the feelings of nostalgia. Sometimes we have to resist the feeling of going back, and I want to keep those feelings of nostalgia,” he said.

“Being at Leeds gave me the most beautiful memories and one of the best gifts football has given me. The power that English football really has is based on the fans and the unconditional love of the supporters to build a great league. This English league would not be what it is if it were not for how their fans feel. For me, I was at Leeds for four years.

“But in three games, my team conceded 14 goals and it would be very difficult to survive that. I always understood it (getting the sack) as justified.”

He added: “I wish that Leeds will be able to stay up because that is where they should be. The club is an institution with resources and footballers good enough to keep them up.”

Leeds latest: Farke sack questions raised; Scottish wonderkid linked

Meanwhile, the future of Farke as Leeds United manager has once again been called into serious doubt, with one former Premier League chief explaining why he could be sacked by chairman Paraag Marathe at the end of the season.