‘Quite a shift’: Phil Hay reveals exactly when Leeds lost faith in Marcelo Bielsa

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For Leeds fans, Marcelo Bielsa is now a manager of the past and it’s all going to be about looking forward under new coach, Jesse Marsch.

Bielsa lost his job last week with Leeds once again taking a hammering, this time at the hands of Tottenham. It proved a defeat too many for Bielsa, with Victor Orta taking the tough decision to move on from the Argentinian and bring in Marsch just days later as his replacement.

Leeds sit just two points above the bottom three ahead of facing Leicester this weekend. A win would be huge, especially given Burnley have a game in hand. And while many inside Elland Road never wanted it to come to Bielsa leaving in such circumstances, it appears it’s been on the cards for a while.

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According to The Athletic’s Phil Hay, things started to turn against both Everton and Newcastle. Ultimately, the Leeds expert thinks those are the games which led to Bielsa losing his job down the road.

“I think even going back three or four weeks, when the message at the end of the transfer window was that they felt the confidence in the squad was still there. They hadn’t made any additions to it, but Bielsa was confident they would survive and they were. The fact that they did do nothing in the window was almost a vote of confidence in what was there. Not that the squad was performing well, but ultimately that they would finish 17th or better,” Hay said on his podcast.

“I started to sense quite a shift after the Everton game. Looking back I think the Newcastle game was pivotal, in the sense that had they won that game you would have felt they were pulling away from the bottom three. That was the game, that and Everton were the two games which really felt like opportunities.”

Leeds, as we know, lost both of those games with a 3-3 draw at Aston Villa inbetween. Had they won either of those fixtures, you get the sense from Hay that we might still be seeing Bielsa in the dugout right now.

As it is, Jesse Marsch now has his chance and will be looking for a fast start in the Midlands this weekend.