Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford says that Marcelo Bielsa does not often regale the squad with tales of the players and characters he has come across during his 40 years in coaching – but has used one anecdote to prove a point about his current side’s professionalism.
Patrick Bamford said : “I remember one team meeting he said to us we’re relatively easy to manage because we don’t try and bring a large group of girls back to have a party the night before in a hotel like Batistuta did. That’s the only one he’s really told us. We kind of hear about all the myths and legends that everyone associates with him.”
Batistuta, of course, was one of the finest strikers on the planet during the 1990s and began his career at Newell’s Old Boys, where he would go to play under Bielsa, before the pair reunited at the Argentina national side.