ELLAND ROAD is hardly an ideal venue for Strictly.
Yet Danny Cowley heads to Leeds’ home applauding Marcelo Bielsa not only as a master coach but also as a maestro of dance.
Danny Cowley has had his players in all week to work on routinesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
For the Huddersfield boss says the Argentinian’s carefully choreographed moves have helped keep him a step ahead of rivals in terms of tactics.
Cowley has had his players in all week working on routines he hopes can force a stumble from opponents bidding to go back top today.
Talking about Bielsa, he said: “There are not many people who you would describe as a pioneer of football but he’s one of them.
“He creates masterclasses in keeping the ball, widening the pitch and how organised his teams are — Leeds are a great example.
“It is like they are on remote control.
“That comes from his quality of training and coaching if you look at their movement, their understanding of each other.
“He has added such value to that team. Even our greatest managers speak so highly of him and the way he gets his teams to play.
“It always comes from his coaching and his thinking, how he is training players into the right habits all the time on the pitch.
Even our greatest managers speak so highly of him and the way he gets his teams to play.
Danny Cowley on Marcelo Bielsa
“Players are ultimately kinaesthetic learners — they learn by doing.
“However many times you sit them in front of a video or you do work with them in meetings, players have to feel it.
And when you watch Bielsa’s teams, it’s almost like you are watching a choreographed dance.
“It comes from constant rehearsal but it’s not just about repetition.
“It’s about the intelligence in the planning and the training.
“I came up against him once this season and we had a chat but you’d love to sit down and pick his brains.
“For me it’s a privilege to be able to share dugouts with someone like that and pit your wits against them.”
While Leeds sit five points above the play-off places in second, the Terriers are four points above the drop zone.
After a bright start when Cowley and brother Nicky took over in September, a run of injuries made things look like murder on the dancefloor.
Now, after two successive league wins, Cowley is beginning to feel his team are finding their feet.
He added: “We are making small steps in the right direction and we have improved the culture within the club.
Danny Cowley has waxed lyrical about Marcelo BielsaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
“Injuries meant we had to tweak our style. That hurt us and maybe cost us our identity for a while.
“Now we are starting to get the group together again.
“We are trying to build in the right way — just as Bielsa has done.”
Wayne Rooney enjoys chat with boyhood Man Utd fan Brandon Williams, who grew up watching club legend
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
