Bielsa, An overrated Manager or a great tactician?

well he managed to take his team into two final this year but again they didn't have much to say in both Finals

Both teams he faced had WC players (Messi,Xavista, Falcao) while he can only play with Basque players. He Could have park the bus like Chelsea but play positive football

He is able to get players from a place the size of the state of Maryland (which gets picked over by other teams as well BTW) while every other team gets to scout the WHOLE WORLD for talent.

Think how thin this makes his squad, his team was exhausted at the end of the year and you could tell by the fact they had to basically give up in La Liga to try and win the Europa League.

Just the fact they are able to stay in La Liga is a feat in it's self, but to make the Europa League finals thrashing Man U and other very good teams along the way and the Copa Del Rey while the way they played football made them the darlings of Europe this year, I think Bielsa did a hell of a job and if we lived in a world where people took everything into consideration he should probably be coach of the year this year in Europe for what he accomplished.

Not to mention he lost to Barcelona and Atletico in the finals, two pretty good teams.

Nearly every player he has ever worked with has cited him as the major influence in their career. A good manager is one that improves the players he is given, and that's exactly what he does. He leaves his stamp in every team that he manages and inspires other managers to do the same. To me, his quality is unquestionable. He is also a great human being.

as I said from the very start and got much hate for it, over rated as all shit

He is overrated. Dont give me this all-Basque thing, that is Athletic's problem not his. Bilbao have a very good first team, with quality players. Bielsa has still a lot to prove.

Pedram wrote:Well we remember managers by the trophies they've achieved. after 50 years no one will remember how your team played when you finish the season 10th in the ranking and losing two finals with same result. this season has been a failure for Bilbao no matter how you try to paint it out.

Right, because no one remembers 1982 Brazil or 1974 Holland Style of play and quality are remembered.
In Bilbao they remember that the farthest they reached in Europe was playing the 1977 UEFA cup final, and the fact that Bielsa got them to equal that meant a lot for the people from the basque country. It's true that he got his tactics wrong in the first match, but for a manager working his first season as the manager of this club he had a successful season.

He didn't have a succesful season...

Last season they were in Europa League, this season they're not. I'll never in my life call that a successful season.

However, he did bring a quality style of football, which matters alot.

And no he isn't overrated. His problem is he either slaughters the opponent team or he get's slaughtered himself. Too creative for his own good imo

They're in the Europa League because he reached the Cup final, I believe.

They just didn't have the squad depth and experience to manage 3 tournaments until the end. They faded the last 6 weeks. Other than Llorente, you had a lot of young players that were key for them.

Depth and experience are a must when playing that many games and dealing with pressure.

And whose fault is it they choose to be too racist to properly scout? :vagi:

Bielsa is good with man managing and overall a good strategist, but to call him a great tactician is too much.

Overrated. His squad is talented and yet inconsistent as shit.

They're inconsistent because, as Sports mentioned, they're young and lack depth. But most importantly: they already qualified for Europe in February. Once they knew they had no chance left for the CL, they gave up and focused on the other competitions.

stunt wrote:Overrated. His squad is talented and yet inconsistent as shit.

maybe that has to do with the fact that they have no depth, they are young and inexperienced for the most part?

why are you lots assuming that he is working with WC players and is flopping? Bilbao is full of average players, maybe talented, but most are still average and highly under developed at this point, like Muniain. People raved about him after he destroyed Utd and decided he was a top player..you only need to see him in la liga to know that he has a LONG way to go.

Finishing 10 th with that squad is not a success and he did choke in the two finals they played.

Adit, they finished 10 because they lacked squad depth to play across 3 competition. The Europa League took a lot out of them, and you cant underestimate the emotional and physical stress.

when i talk about experience, i talk about the overall maturity of the team, and of the players in key positions. If you compare both sides, Falcao has a lot of experience and maturity playing in europe, same with Diego, a guy like Gabi in the midfield is not a kid, Godin. Now compare it with the likes of Ander who was playing for Zaragoza last year and still underdeveloped, they have De Marcos in the midfield, no one knew him last year, same with Iturraspe having his break out this year, and Javi in defense.

There is contrast in maturity/experience level between those sides. I think you guys underestimate the effort they made to reach such heights this season, that's why i give them credits. People are quick to make them stars, but i dont think that's the case at all.

you can say that they often go deep in copa, where they lost against Barca, frankly there is no shame to that, United took the same score. But they have never handled a season playing the Europa league so late as well, so the mental duress is quite important.

Some more comments:

1) He was hyped a lot because he played sexy football, not because of his ability to win.
2) To those saying "he finished 10th", what's the difference between finishing 7th and 16th if you still qualify for the EL?
3) He has the youngest squad in the league and got to 2 finals

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Some more comments:


2) To those saying "he finished 10th", what's the difference between finishing 7th and 16th if you still qualify for the EL?

what is the difference between finishing 2nd and 3rd for Barca? do you think they will take it equally?

hey they still qualifies for CL.

For Barca there is no difference between 2nd and 3rd, nothing counts but 1st.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:For Barca there is no difference between 2nd and 3rd, nothing counts but 1st.

or 6th

BarrileteCosmico wrote:For Barca there is no difference between 2nd and 3rd, nothing counts but 1st.

Not true at all lol

A coach can keep his job at Barca if he finish 2nd for a season but finishing third is a instant sack with current squad...