“I remember after that[Johan] Cruyff also came out and said ‘that’s the new total football - what Bielsa’s doing in this World Cup is far above anyone else’. It was extraordinary and that’s why the Chilean football fans and Chile absolutely love him,and rightly so. He completely changed the landscape.
“I went some years later and saw his work at Lille and spoke to he and his and staff and it was put to him,some years ago,as to whether he would come[to Australia],and he seemed amenable to it.”
Foster described Bielsa as a “spiritual guide” of football whose work ethic,tactical nous and unique sensibility could have a profound impact on the sport here.
“Australia needs something special,we need something different,we need better thinking. Small nations like us,we can’t be the same. He has the strength to be able to do that,” he said.
“We’re not just talking about coaching the national team,we’re talking about us trying to prepare for the next 15 years on to try and do something very special.
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“He also brings that sense that football is everything. When he was at Chile,he lived at the training ground - he just moved in there,and he taught the under-23s and the under-20 coaches,he taught the young kids. For him,it’s just everything,and I think we could really do with a very big dose of that right now in Australian football - someone coming in who’s lived it all around the world,who’s been a leader spiritually in a coaching and courageous sense,but also,that’s just his whole life.
“Imagine him in press conferences for Australia,talking to Australia. He’s unique,he is 100 per cent football. There would be nothing better than putting him in front of Australia.”
Lars Sivertsen,a Norwegian writer and broadcaster and Stan Sport contributor,said he could see Bielsa matching up surprisingly well with Australia.
“You might think,Marcelo Bielsa,he’s an Argentine,they play fancy football. But in terms of culture,what we saw at Leeds was he fitted in really well because the culture of Yorkshire,the culture of Leeds,is a culture of hard work,” he said.
“If you look at Bielsa’s football,the one thing you demand above all others is effort. The players have to work incredibly hard and really,everything else,you can fix.
“This might be me regurgitating certain stereotypes but when I think of Australian athletes,you’re a hardworking bunch,you guys. Whatever technical shortcomings your footballers might have on a global stage,you produce a lot of really hard-working and tough and determined athletes. It seems like culturally he would be an interesting fit for you guys.”
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