Leeds United bounce back from last season’s nightmare and have made an emphatic return to the Premier League.
After failing to secure automatic promotion into the Premier League, last season ended in heartbreaks for Leeds United as they fell to Derby County the promotion playoffs semi-final.
On Friday, the Peacocks sealed a place in the Premier League for the 2020/21 season after West Brom’s 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield.
The fall of Leeds United
After reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2001, Leeds set into a steady and disastrous decline.
In 2004, they fell into the English Championship, but the worst was yet to come as they were hit by a heavy financial crisis. Forced in administration by 2007, the Peacocks fell further into the League One, the English third division.
After spending three years in the EFL League One, Leeds finally gained promotion back to the Championship in 2010.
The three-time Premier League winners then appointed a plethora of Head Coaches in a desperate attempt to break into English top-flight, all to no avail.
In 2018, the club announced the appointment of world-class coach Marcelo Bielsa, their 15th head coach in 14 years, and he would finally kick-start the club’s recent success.
Bielsa Magic
Marcelo Bielsa’s impact was tremendous as the club immediately became promotion favourites, spending most of the 2018/19 season leading the Championship table.
However, Leeds failed to push their momentum till the end of the season, losing automatic qualification spot and then painfully falling to Derby County in the promotion playoffs semi-finals.
This major setback did not discourage the Peacocks, with Bielsa trusting the process as he put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension.
On Friday, Bielsa’s men finally confirmed their return to the English top-flight league after a 16-year wait.
Both Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino have, in the past, heaped praises on Marcelo Bielsa for his technicality and managerial masterclass, with the later labelling him the best coach in the world.
Things To Come
His success with the Argentine and Chilean national team is proof that Bielsa can do it on the big stages and guide Leeds to glory.
With a talented squad with the likes of ex-Chelsea man Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Jack Harrison, Leeds United are a team of promise.
They would, however, need to dive into the transfer market if they hope to mount a serious challenge in the Premier League.
