Saturday evening was a tough watch. Arsenal cut through Leeds with more ease and frequency than Manchester City did in their 7-0 victory four days earlier, and if it wasn’t for Meslier – our phenomenon between the sticks – it would have been 7-0 by half-time. Many factors had combined to bring us here; loss of form, perpetual injuries, some bad luck and a brutal fixture list, nevertheless, this was the lowest point of Marcelo Bielsa’s reign. The Great Man says the Leeds fans are at their most ‘generous’ in adversity, and in the second half the Elland Road crowd emphatically proved him right, with a show of support that will stay with me for a long time. It could even define this incredible Bielsa era.

The atmosphere was electric at kick-off, and although the calamitous first half stunned the home fans into relative silence, in the second half they were awash with generosity. Marcelo Bielsa’s name rang around the stadium, initially to reassure El Loco that he has our full backing, then as Raphinha stepped up to take a penalty the chant went up again, as if to reinforce to the rest of the country that Leeds United has nothing but love for the Argentinian (they knew this would make it onto all the highlights reels). Once Emile Smith Rowe had sealed our fate for the second time in his career, love for Bielsa turned into love for his team, as ‘We All Love Leeds’ echoed around the ground for the final few minutes. It was a wonderful rendition, with scarves waving to accompany the incessant noise. It would have been touching enough to keep the chant going until the final whistle, but when the final whistle blew it continued unabated, only coming to an end when the last of the players disappeared down the tunnel after their completing their lap of appreciation (definitely not a lap of honour on this occasion). It was a truly unique gesture, a show of support that may never be matched, reflective of the regard in which Bielsa is held and the impact he has had on our club. ‘For the fans to not let go of the team’s hand was an act of love.’ Only Marcelo could have put it so beautifully. 

This brought me back to the Man City match, when Bielsa waited until all his players had left the pitch before following them down the tunnel. The consensus seemed to be that the manager was furious and trying to scare his players, but I wondered whether Bielsa just didn’t feel worthy of escaping the drubbing any sooner than his players; he had to suffer with them too. I am now convinced he was refusing to let go of the team’s hand, it was an act of love. 

Anyway, back to the important business of getting stuffed every week. Where do we go from here? I asked the same question after the City game, and it is getting more and more difficult to stay positive and optimistic, especially when the literal answer is Anfield. All season we have been waiting for Leeds to click into gear. We wrote off the Man U game and would start against Everton, then we wrote off the first six and would start against Watford, then we were waiting for our injured players to come back, then we were waiting for six points from Palace and Brentford. Now, in my head the season starts on January 1st against Burnley, but false start after false start is eating away at the confidence, and in a month’s time we may be pointing to Phillips’ return as the moment our season can finally start. Even if we are I will still believe. I still believe we are better than the teams around us, certainly the teams below us, and I refuse to believe that Marcelo Bielsa will lose a relegation battle against Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche and Dean Smith, no matter how many injuries he has. 

The solutions to resolve our issues live within the players, as The Great Man says, and there is nobody better to bring those solutions to life. Bielsa has performed numerous miracles in front of our eyes, and has proved the doubters wrong at every turn. He raised the team from the dead at the end of the 2018/19 season, and again during the 2019/20 season. They say love is blind, but my faith isn’t.

Rocco Dean - Author of Marcelo Bielsa vs The Damned United (order on Amazon)