Leeds United legend Marcelo Bielsa was a huge influence on AFC Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola during their time at Athletic Bilbao.
Andoni Iraola spent 15 years with Athletic Bilbao but four of those came as captain, including under Marcelo Bielsa over five years before he was ever Leeds United manager.
Iraola played under Bielsa for two seasons from 2011-2013, which included Bielsa leading the side to a win at Old Trafford in March 2012 against Sir Alex Ferguson. Iraola was captain at right-back that night.
Now a famous manager in the Premier League, Leeds wanted Iraola from Rayo Vallecano at one stage. In fact, Victor Orta reportedly flew to Spain for talks with Iraola. Nothing materialised and Iraola was surprised by links to Leeds.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola on Leeds United legend Marcelo Bielsa
In the end, Bournemouth beat Leeds to Iraola but that hasn’t stopped Iraola from having eyes on some Leeds players last season. He is already into his third season with the club, and they have started incredibly well.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 2 |  ArsenalArsenal | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| 3 |  TottenhamTottenham | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 4 |  BournemouthBournemouth | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 |  Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 6 |  ChelseaChelsea | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
‘Bielsa disciples’ are coaches and managers influenced by Bielsa’s philosophies, such as Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino, Diego Simeone, Jorge Sampaoli, but also Iraola. He has taken aspects of Bielsa’s directness into his management.
That has been prevalent at Rayo Vallecano but also Bournemouth, especially in terms of his directness and moving the ball swiftly in transition.
Kelly Somers spoke to Iraola for BBC Sport ahead of the game, with her asking if there are any managers in particular that have had a big impact on the Bournemouth manager’s career.
Iraola said: “Yes, in my case there is especially Ernesto Valverde — a very clear one because he was the one when I moved to Athletic Club at 16. In the Under-18s he was the manager, and he was also my manager when I was in the second team at Athletic Club.
“He was the first one who gave me the chance to have my debut. Even after that, he was my manager when I left the club around 13 years later — he came back after managing other clubs and has been really influential in my career and today still is our manager.
“Athletic Club is my team and for me he has been probably the key figure if we talk about a manager who has influenced your career.”
Somers then pushed him for another two names, with Iraola naming the enigmatic Argentine as one of his main influences, and explaining why.
He added: “I’ve had very good managers. Now a lot of people ask me about Marcelo Bielsa and I feel very lucky to have had him for two seasons.
“He is someone that watches the game in a different way, and I think it’s very useful when you are going to transition to the managerial career.
“I’ve never had him as a manager, but I’ve always liked when we faced Carlo Ancelotti. For someone who has been so brilliant, has won so many things in big clubs, he is very normal when you speak with him, when you face him.
“It’s someone that I always had a good feeling with.”
- READ MORE: What Andoni Iraola said made him not want to join Leeds United as Jesse Marsch’s replacement
Pascal Struijk’s view of Andoni Iraola amid Marcelo Bielsa comparison
Pascal Struijk admitted Iraola is a manager he likes in recent days, stating: “They’re a decent team, they’ve got a good coach, they’ve got them performing since last year and they’ve obviously started well in the league.”
Struijk broke through at Leeds under Bielsa, with Iraola also saying: “I was very lucky to play for him for two seasons as a player. I think he has another vision of football. They were two very good seasons for us, and, for me, it was a different knowledge.
“I use a lot of exercises from Marcelo that I learned from him. I use a lot of things, especially with the ball. Offensively, his teams are very dynamic. He is willing to make all the runs to the space. He is ready to accept this kind of disorder, offensively.”
It’s a tough test for both sides today, but Opta believe Bournemouth are strong favourites against Leeds.
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