Bilbao made it to two cup finals last season, but were
comprehensively swatted aside in both; losing 3-0 to Atletico Madrid in the
Europa League final and by the same score line in Guardiola’s final match managing Barcelona in the Copa del Rey. Their swaggering defeat of Manchester United
in Europe drew attention to the Basque region and the UK press took notice of
the man dubbed El Loco for the first
time after years of attacking football in Latin America.
United were beaten 5-3 on aggregate (and the three flattered United) and Bielsa’s uncompromising emphasis on attacking
football saw them beat Schalke 6-4 and edge past Sporting Lisbon 4-3 on aggregate.
In Fernando Llorente they had one of the form strikers in Europe and most
expected a close final in the all Spanish affair.
Atletico had other ideas, and Falcao in particular ripped
through the Bilbao defence to score two sensational first half goals, before
Diego hit Bilbao on the counter on 86 minutes to condemn Bielsa to a runner up
medal. Guardiola has gone on record confirming that Bielsa’s philosophy was an
influence on his own playing style as a manager and despite averaging
possession for 59% of the Europa League Final, Bilbao looked short of ideas and
were ruthlessly exposed by their opponents.
The trend has continued this season and Bilbao only have one
victory to their name in the league this season. A tally of 14 goals conceded,
the most in La Liga, and eight scored indicate that Bielsa’s high pressing and
possession based style is being exposed by other teams. Barcelona may have a
6-0-0 record in La Liga, but they have had to work for those wins and having
Lionel Messi in your team helps.
By contrast Bilbao have had to make do with the loss of two
of their best players over the summer. Javi Martinez eventually left to Bayern
Munich, for a massive €40 million, in a protracted transfer which lasted all
summer and Fernando Llorente has frequently expressed a desire to leave and has
only played one league game this season. He walked out of a recent training
session and ‘The Lion King’ looks set to leave for Juventus in January.
Bielsa went as far as to ask both players whether the
problem was him; implying the solution “if it is me, I’ll go”, but after a
breakthrough year in Europe which massively enhanced their own reputations is
it likely that they both wanted to use 2012 as a platform to move on from.
Llorente was considered so burnt out over the summer that Vicent Del Bosque didn't give the 27-year-old any game-time at EURO 2012, and the forward will
want to complete a ‘big’ move before his stock fades.
Further controversy engulfed the Argentinean coach over the
summer after Bielsa reported himself to the police for insulting and attacking
the site manager overseeing renovations to the clubs training base. Bielsa was
unhappy about promises not being kept and his reaction is indicative of the man
who is famous for his touch-line displays, squatting and turning in
exasperation like Andre Villas Boas on speed.
Bielsa has completely revolutionised the clubs identity,
style of play and assembled the finest collection of Basque players for
decades. When in full-flow Bielsa sides are a joy to watch, but Bilbao of
2012/13 look bereft of confidence and seem to still be reeling from their
double 3-0 reversals at the end of last year. Bielsa is a flawed genius and
another such genius, Bela Guttmann, lived by the moto ‘the third season is fatal’.
Bielsa is leading Athletic into his second season and his own idiosyncratic
approach may have proved too volatile for the club.
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