Danny Cowley shares what Marcelo Bielsa told him after Leeds win

Add as preferred source on Google

Danny Cowley has shared with Examiner Live what Marcelo Bielsa said to him when the two managers embraced immediately after the full-time whistle when Leeds United beat Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

Cowley has made no secret of the fact that he is a big admirer of the Leeds boss. But he would have been disappointed to see Bielsa’s side live up to expectations in their most recent outing.

Goals from Luke Ayling and Patrick Bamford saw the Whites pick up a 2-0 win in a game that they dominated.

The full-time whistle signalled Leeds’s return to the top of the Championship. But it also prompted Bielsa to stop Cowley for a discussion on the touchline.

And in the wake of the game, Cowley has shared what Bielsa told him before heading down the tunnel.

“He just said he felt we had done an amazing job with how we have turned the team around,” he told Examiner Live.

“He was also complimentary about how the team have been playing, but he had won and he was happy!

“Obviously we have unbelievable respect for him and it was a great lesson for our young players and it was a great lesson for Nicky and I, for Mark (Hudson) and Clem (goalkeeping coach Paul Clements) – and we will take learning from that, for sure.”

It is a classy touch from Bielsa. But Leeds fans will insist that they would have expected nothing less.

He appears to have offered words of encouragement to a number of managers during his time at Leeds.

Many of those are, like Cowley, young bosses who are showing a lot of promise.

And Cowley’s comments help highlight, whatever happens this season, just how much of much of an impact Bielsa has had, particularly since arriving in England.