Elland Road was a very toxic place to be at the full-time whistle on Sunday as Leeds United slipped into the Premier League relegation spaces.
Leeds weren’t completely abject against Aston Villa, but football is a game of fine margins, and Unai Emery’s travelling side just about managed to get the better of the Whites in the 2-1 loss, to hand them their fifth defeat from their last six Premier League games.
That is the sort of dire form that gets you sacked, with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” even being hurled Daniel Farke’s way as he continues to remain on very thin ice in the Leeds dug-out.
Names are beginning to emerge that could replace the under-fire German, too, as a dismissal begins to feel somewhat inevitable…
Who could replace Farke at Leeds?
The Mirror has speculated on a couple of contenders who could come into the relegation-threatened hot seat if Farke is to be put out of his misery soon.
Indeed, Carlos Corberan is named as one possible replacement for the ex-Norwich City boss, with the Spaniard previously calling West Yorkshire home with Huddersfield Town, alongside also formerly being on the coaching staff at Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa’s revered tenure.
Moreover, the Mirror also throws Marco Rose, Brendan Rodgers, and Ange Postecoglou into the mix, with the high-energy football Bielsa used to serve up no doubt coming back to the forefront if the out-of-work Australian were to take on another Premier League vacancy.
Yet, he isn’t the only face that holds some similarities to the enigmatic Argentine, who could soon be Leeds’ saviour. Thiago Motta is certainly another name that catches the eye.
The report states that he models his game on Bielsa, and the ex-Bologna manager has been previously linked with a switch to England, so this could go down as a match made in heaven.
How Motta could be Leeds' next Bielsa
Amazingly, Motta’s name has been floating about as a candidate to be the next manager at Elland Road since April, with the time now looking right for Leeds to swoop in and win their next boss, as he remains out of work and Farke remains on a precarious tight-rope.
As per The Athletic, the former Italy international is a disciple of Bielsa, with both his Bologna and Juventus teams being structured around playing the same vibrant, fast, forward-thinking football that the Uruguay manager became known for during his memorable stay in West Yorkshire.
Games managed
195
Wins
84
Draws
52
Losses
59
Goals scored
302
Goals conceded
249
Points accumulated
304
That is seen looking at the table above, with 302 goals put away in some tense environments in the Serie A at the helm of both Bologna and Juventus.
While he did get the sack from the Old Lady, Leeds fans, in particular, will look at his Bologna stint with plenty of promise as to how he could transform the relegation-doomed outfit’s fortunes.
From his two seasons at the helm of the Serie A side, he turned the usual relegation strugglers into an easy-on-the-eye watch heading for the European positions.
Motta secured a ninth-place finish and a fifth-place finish during his two seasons at the club, which included Champions League football coming on the menu, much like Bielsa managed to steer Leeds to an unexpected ninth spot during the 2020/21 season, right after promotion.
Serie A expert James Horncastle would even go out of his way to label the 4-2-3-1-focused manager as “special” for his achievements in Italy, with Bielsa no stranger to similar latherings of praise when he was still in West Yorkshire, as murals even ended up being dedicated to the transformative South American.
Bielsa also managed to be a breath of fresh air that was desperately needed after Leeds had struggled for some time. Could Motta be the same spark in the here and now that finally allows the Whites to be seen as a team capable of survival and far more in the Premier League?
Of course, it would be an almighty gamble to throw in a manager, no matter his reputation, into a relegation dog-fight, in a country he isn’t all too aware of.
But, Bielsa instantly hit the ground running in the Championship, and if Leeds want to be bold and try something new away from the defeats currently piling up under Farke, Motta might well be their desired man.
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