FC Bayern Forum

When he interviewed for the Vélez Sársfield job in 1997, he took with him 51 tapes to explain how he would make the side better. Having got the job, he demanded an office with a computer that would enable him to take screenshots from videos—commonplace now, but unheard of at the time.

He has apparently developed the ability to watch two games simultaneously. “I am a student of football,” he said. “I watch videos, read, analyze.”

He divided a map of Argentina into 70 sections and visited each one in the hunt for new talent, driving over 5,000 miles in his Fiat 147 because he was afraid of flying.

“I am obsessive about attack,” he said. “When I watch videos, it’s for attacking, not for defending. My football, in defense, is very simple: We run all the time. I know that it’s easier to defend than create. To run, for example, is a decision of the will. To create you need an indispensable amount of talent.”

For Bielsa, defending was the first stage of attacking. He didn’t set up his sides to sit back and absorb pressure but to win the ball back as high up the pitch as possible. “While the opponent has the ball,” he explained, “the whole team presses, always trying to cut off the play as close as possible to the opponent’s goal.