In 1980, after retiring from playing in football, Bielsa decided to start a career as a football manager. His first job was coaching the youth divisions of
Newell's. In 1990, he was given the task of managing their first team, where he would go on to win the
1990 Torneo Apertura and the 1990–91 Torneo Integración, defeating
Boca Juniors on penalties. Bielsa managed the squad that competed in
the final of the
1992 Copa Libertadores, losing to
São Paulo on penalties. Weeks after the Libertadores defeat, Bielsa and
Newell's won the
1992 Torneo Clausura. After a period in Mexico, he returned to Argentina and won another league title – the
1998 Clausura – while coaching
Vélez Sarsfield. Despite this, Bielsa stayed on his position as Argentine manager. The
Albicelestes were runners-up in the
2004 Copa América and won the
2004 Olympic Games' gold medal. With the latter, his team became the first
Latin American team to win the
Olympic title in football since 1928 (when Uruguay beat Argentina in the final), the first Argentinian Olympic gold medal in 52 years. Bielsa, however, resigned at the end of 2004, being succeeded by
José Pékerman.
Chile national team Under Bielsa's guidance, the
Chile national team underwent many positive and negative historic firsts. For the first time in its history, Chile was able to earn a point playing
Uruguay away in
Montevideo. Chile also suffered their worst defeat ever when playing at home during qualifiers losing 3–0 against
Paraguay. This historic low was repeated with a Chile loss of 3–0 against
Brazil, which also marked the first home loss against Brazil in a qualification game in nearly 50 years. On 15 October 2008, however, Bielsa masterminded a 1–0 win over his native Argentina, Chile's first win ever over Argentina in an official match; Argentina's loss prompted the resignation of its coach
Alfio Basile. Chile soundly beat
Peru 3–1 in
Lima, a location where they last won in 1985. Bielsa then led Chile to a 2–0 win at the
Defensores del Chaco Stadium against hosts Paraguay, obtaining an away triumph on this location for the first time in almost 30 years. The team continued the road to the
2010 World Cup with a victory over
Bolivia, 4–0. After a 2–2 tie against
Venezuela in
Santiago, and travelling to Brazil to lose 2–4, Chile finally achieved qualification to the World Cup after defeating
Colombia 4–2, a result that was also Chile's first ever away win against the Colombians. By helping Chile qualify for a World Cup after two tournament absences, Bielsa attained great popularity there. His appointment brought about visible changes in the Chilean set-up, with the fast-tracking of young talents and a more attacking mindset away from home. Due to the rumors that Bielsa would not continue to lead Chile after finishing their campaign at the World Cup, Chilean fans campaigned for him to remain as coach, with the movement titled "Bielsa is NOT leaving!" Chile reached the round of 16 of the World Cup, where they were eliminated by Brazil. On 2 August 2010,
Harold Mayne-Nicholls,
President of the Chilean Football Board, announced that Bielsa would remain with the Chile team until 2015. Bielsa, however, stated that he would leave his position if Jorge Segovia was elected as the new President of the Chilean Football Board. He followed through on this threat, despite Segovia's election being annulled, and resigned in February 2011. According to
Hermógenes Pérez de Arce, President of Chile
Sebastián Piñera had a personal long-term interest in removing Mayne-Nicholls from the Presidency of the Chilean Football Board and pushed for him to be replaced. Bielsa subsequently made headlines for his brief and cold greeting to Piñera in the farewell before the
2010 FIFA World Cup.
Athletic Bilbao manager in 2012 On 8 July 2011,
Josu Urrutia announced
Athletic Bilbao would appoint Bielsa as manager after Urrutia promised the appointment of Bielsa in his campaign to become president of the club. On 18 August 2011, Bielsa took charge of his first game at
San Mamés, drawing 0–0 against Turkish side
Trabzonspor in the
UEFA Europa League play-offs. On 3 October 2011, Bielsa, a devout
Roman Catholic, visited the
Poor Clares of
Guernica, Spain, alongside his wife. He wanted them to pray for his team, which they continued to do. The players began to adjust to the changes as the season progressed, and following an away victory at local rivals
Real Sociedad. Athletic Bilbao produced a good run of autumn form which included wins over
Paris Saint-Germain,
Osasuna and
Sevilla, as well as credible draws with
Valencia and
Barcelona, then only to drop points at home to newly promoted
Granada. The team also finished top of their
UEFA Europa League group and defeated
Lokomotiv Moscow in the
last 32. Athletic then drew
Manchester United and in impressive style won 3–2 in the
first leg at
Old Trafford, going on to knock them out of the tournament with a 2–1 victory at home. In the
quarter-final, they went to
Schalke 04 and won the
first leg 4–2, despite being 2–1 down after a
Raúl brace on 72 minutes. Athletic drew the
second leg against Schalke 2–2, going through to the semi-finals with a favourable aggregate score of 6–4 to face
Sporting CP. After Athletic lost the first leg of the semi-final 2–1 in
Lisbon, they overturned this result in the return leg and ran out 4–3 winners on aggregate when
Fernando Llorente scored the winner in the 88th minute. This set up a match with
Atlético Madrid in an all-
Spanish Europa League final. Athletic, however, would lose 3–0 in the final, played on 9 May at the
Arena Națională,
Bucharest. On 25 May 2012, Athletic also lost the
Copa del Rey Final against Barcelona at the
Vicente Calderón Stadium, falling 3–0. The
2012–13 season was a major disappointment for Athletic: the sale of key midfielder
Javi Martínez to
Bayern Munich, and striker Fernando Llorente being frozen out of the club over contract disagreements, led to the Lions' performances faltering. After finishing only in 12th place in
La Liga, on 7 June 2013 Athletic's president revealed that Bielsa would not be offered a new contract. When it expired on 30 June 2013, he left the club.
Marseille in 2015 On 2 May 2014,
Marseille president Vincent Labrune announced the hiring of Bielsa as his team's coach on
RMC, a French radio station. Labrune had previously confirmed an agreement in principle had been reached after the club's 0–0
Ligue 1 draw with
Lille on 20 April. Bielsa signed a two-year contract set to begin after the
2014 World Cup, thus becoming the club's first Argentine coach. He led them to the symbolic title of "autumn champions" after they beat
Lille on Matchday 19 (on 21 December 2014) of the
2014–15 Ligue 1 season before they faded to finish fourth in Ligue 1 at the end of the season. On 8 August 2015, after Marseille lost their opening
2015–16 Ligue 1 match against
Caen, Bielsa announced his resignation due to conflicts with the club's management, stating that changes had been made to his contract.
Lazio On 5 July 2016, Bielsa was appointed manager of Italian club
Lazio of
Serie A. However, just two days later, on 8 July, Bielsa quit as the club's manager, prompting Lazio to issue legal action against Bielsa for
breach of contract, suing him for €50 million. Bielsa later explained that the club had been unable to recruit the players he had wanted by the deadline he had given to the club and did not feel that his needs would be supported during the transfer window.
Lille On 24 May 2017, Bielsa was unveiled as the new manager of Ligue 1 club
Lille on a two-year contract. Upon joining, Bielsa wanted to bring a more youthful side to Lille's squad and before the season started he informed 11 experienced players, including
Vincent Enyeama,
Marko Baša,
Rio Mavuba and
Eder, that they could leave the club. Then-Lille player
Éric Bauthéac revealed that Bielsa informed the players he wanted to leave in a conversation before pre-season had even began. Bielsa then signed younger 'promising' players such as
Nicolas Pépé,
Thiago Mendes,
Thiago Maia,
Kévin Malcuit,
Fodé Ballo-Touré,
Luiz Araújo and
Edgar Ié. On 22 November 2017, Bielsa was suspended as coach after just 13 games in charge, with Lille announcing he had been "suspended momentarily as coach" pending further announcement. After Bielsa's initial suspension, Lille appointed a four-man 'technical coaching unit' of Fernando Da Cruz, Joao Sacramento, Benoit Delaval and . On 15 December 2017, Lille announced Bielsa's contract had now been terminated.
Christophe Galtier was named as Bielsa's replacement as manager on 29 December 2017. Sporting adviser
Luis Campos said after Bielsa left that he felt the decision to let some of the experienced players leave was the key to the departure.
Leeds United 2018–19 In June 2018, Bielsa became
Championship club
Leeds United's new head coach to replace
Paul Heckingbottom, signing a two-year contract with the option of a third year. He became the highest-paid manager in Leeds United history. Bielsa won his first three games, becoming the first Leeds manager to do so since
Jimmy Armfield in 1974. This extended to four games following victory over
Rotherham United, making him the first Leeds United manager to record four consecutive wins at the start of their tenure. He went on to lead Leeds through the first six Championship rounds unbeaten and to top of the league, and was awarded Championship Manager of the Month for August 2018 by the
EFL. Bielsa's unbeaten start was ended on 22 September with a 2–1 home defeat, inflicted by
Birmingham City, despite the home side having most of the possession and chances. Bielsa's Leeds had to endure an extensive injury list with several of his squad picking up injuries within the first few months. However, with Leeds still in the Championship
automatic promotion positions at the start of December 2018, Bielsa was praised for his integration of
United academy players to cover the gaps and over the course of 2018–19 he gave 10 players under 21 their senior debuts. On 23 December, after a dramatic late 2–3 win against
Aston Villa, half-way through the season, Bielsa's Leeds side sat top of the Championship, despite continued injuries. Bielsa was nominated for the
Championship Manager of the Month award for December 2018, but lost to
Hull City's
Nigel Adkins. Before a 2–0 victory over
Derby County on 11 January 2019, which increased Leeds' lead at the top of the table, in the match build-up Bielsa admitted he had sent a spy to the Derby training ground, after reports emerged that a man was spotted the previous day outside their training ground. Derby manager
Frank Lampard was critical of Bielsa's method. On 12 January, Leeds United released a statement.
Tottenham Hotspur manager
Mauricio Pochettino described the incident as "not a big deal" and commonplace in Argentina.
Manchester City manager
Pep Guardiola, when asked about Bielsa due to his scouting methods, described him as "the best" and said "everyone who works with him is a better player and the teams are better. That's why he's a special manager and special person". On 15 January, the EFL announced they would be investigating. With intense media scrutiny on what was coined 'Spygate', dividing opinion, on 16 January 2019, Bielsa announced a press briefing, where he gave an analysis of his research, detailing his meticulousness, thoroughness and preparation over his opponents, with some journalists describing it as a 'coaching masterclass' and 'genius'. Bielsa's 'Spygate' saga was resolved on the 18 February, when Leeds were fined £200,000 by the EFL for breach of a portion of Rule 3.4 of EFL Regulations ("In all matters and transactions relating to The League each Club shall behave towards each other Club and The League with the utmost good faith.), with the EFL announcing a new rule, that teams could not watch opposition training up to 72 hours before a game. With Leeds in second place with just four games to go, and thus in the
automatic promotion position ahead of rivals
Sheffield United, on 19 April, Leeds lost in a shock 1–2 defeat against relegation-threatened
Wigan Athletic, with Leeds playing 70 minutes against ten men after Wigan had
Cédric Kipré sent off. The result proved costly, as Sheffield United overtook them on goal difference. On 28 April 2019, Bielsa made one of the most contentious managerial calls of the Championship season in Leeds' penultimate league game against Aston Villa, at Elland Road. In the 72nd minute of a tight game between teams jostling for position in the playoffs, albeit with Leeds still mathematically able to gain automatic promotion, Villa's
Jonathan Kodjia was injured and remained on the ground, Tyler Roberts passed the ball up the line to
Mateusz Klich who took it up the left wing and put the ball into the far corner past
Jed Steer. The goal – the first of the game – sparked pandemonium, with Villa's
Conor Hourihane,
Ahmed Elmohamady,
Neil Taylor and Leeds'
Patrick Bamford caught up in a fracas with Klich at its centre, which involved additional players from both sides and was eventually broken up by referee
Stuart Attwell, Elland Road stewards and other players. In the immediate aftermath, Attwell sent off the peripherally involved
Anwar El Ghazi with a straight red card and Bielsa's response to his players was, in the interests of fairness and after consulting with Villa boss
Dean Smith, that his team should allow an unchallenged equaliser to be scored; Bielsa can be seen shouting "Give the goal! Give the goal!" from the touchline. From the restart,
Albert Adomah essentially walked the ball into net unchallenged by 10 Leeds players, with only a frustrated and disbelieving
Pontus Jansson giving chase and nearly dispossessing the forward. The game remained 1–1 and put the second automatic promotion spot mathematically out of reach for Leeds and saw them enter the play-offs. Bielsa and the team were awarded the 2019
FIFA Fair Play Award in September 2019, for their actions, with the FIFA citation noting that "The game finished 1–1, ultimately allowing their promotion rivals Sheffield United to guarantee their automatic spot in the Premier League, at Leeds' expense. What was at stake makes Bielsa's act of sportmanship all the more remarkable". At the end of 2018–19, with Leeds missing out on automatic promotion, Bielsa said he refused to blame the club for missing out on signing winger
Daniel James, whose deal fell through dramatically on deadline day in the 2019 January transfer window, but said "I'm not underlying the importance of the absence of James". Leeds finished third and qualified for the playoffs, Leeds had key players out injured for their playoff campaign. In the semi-final playoffs versus sixth-placed
Derby County, they were beaten on 3–4 aggregate over the two legs. Despite taking a 1–0 win at Pride Park into the home leg at Elland Road, Bielsa's Leeds lost 4–2 in an encounter that saw both teams reduced to 10 men and Derby progress to the final against Aston Villa. With Bielsa denying the narrative of 'Bielsa Burnout' (journalists' theory that his sides tire in the second half of a season), Bielsa said one of the big reasons Leeds failed to gain promotion was their profligacy in front of goal, saying that statistically Leeds needed more chances to score compared to their league rivals.
2019–20: Promotion to the Premier League ,
West Yorkshire, following Leeds United's promotion to the Premier League On 28 May 2019, Bielsa and Leeds jointly exercised the option on Bielsa's contract to continue as Leeds head coach for the following 2019–20 season. After Bielsa had signed his new contract, Leeds announced the signings of
Hélder Costa,
Ben White (loan),
Jack Harrison (loan),
Jack Clarke (loan),
Illan Meslier (loan) and
Eddie Nketiah (loan) in their bid to get back to the
Premier League in the
2019–20 EFL Championship season. Defender
Pontus Jansson was told by Bielsa to return to training later than the rest of the first team squad in order to give him time to find a new club, with him no longer in Bielsa's plans for the upcoming season. Jansson was subsequently sold to
Brentford. After beating Yorkshire rivals
Barnsley on 15 September 2019, Bielsa's Leeds side remained top of the
Championship after seven games during the
2019–20 EFL Championship. Leeds continued to impress throughout November and Bielsa won the EFL Championship Manager of the Month for November. Bielsa's side returned to top of the league on 29 December 2019 thus ending the decade at the top of the Championship after a 4–5 victory in a dramatic win against
Birmingham City. On 1 January 2020, Leeds drew with then-second-placed
West Bromwich Albion in a 1–1 draw. The result kept Leeds on top of the table on goal difference. However, after the game it was revealed that Arsenal had recalled Eddie Nketiah. Bielsa had also lost loanee Jack Clarke who had been recalled by
Tottenham Hotspur, with Bielsa stating that he would be looking to replace both players. The club secured replacements for both players during the January transfer window, signing
Jean-Kévin Augustin on loan from
RB Leipzig and
Ian Poveda on a four-and-a-half-year contract from
Manchester City. After the English professional football season was paused in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the season was resumed during June. Under Bielsa, Leeds United secured promotion to the Premier League on 17 July 2020 with two matches remaining of the 2019–20 season and also became the EFL Championship Champions for the 2019–20 season, finishing 10 points ahead of second placed
West Bromwich Albion. On 18 July, after Bielsa had delivered promotion, a street in Leeds city centre was renamed 'Marcelo Bielsa Way'. After the achievement of being crowned Champions of the Championship and guiding Leeds to the Premier League after a 16-year absence, on 27 July 2020, Bielsa was named the
LMA Championship Manager of the Year 2020. On 31 July, Bielsa won the Championship Manager of the Month award for July. On 11 September 2020, Bielsa signed a new contract to stay at Leeds for the 2020–21 Premier League season.
2020–21 On 12 September 2020 Bielsa's first game as head coach in the
Premier League ended in a 4–3 defeat at
Anfield against reigning champions
Liverpool. Conversely the first Premier League game at Elland Road for 16 years saw Leeds come out 4–3 victors against fellow promoted club
Fulham. These two games set the tone for a free scoring, free conceding first half to the season, earning Bielsa and his team many plaudits for their style of play and culminating in Bielsa placing 3rd in
The Best FIFA Football Coach award on 17 December. As if for emphasis, the two week period following the awards witnessed a 5–2 home win against
Newcastle United on 16 December, followed by a 6–2 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford; only for the year to end in a 5–0 away victory at West Brom nine days later. Despite the New Year starting poorly with a 3–0 away loss to Tottenham, and an ignominious 3–0
FA Cup defeat to
Crawley Town, Bielsa's Leeds ended the campaign strongly. They lost just one of their last 11 games while securing impressive results against the league's top sides. This included draws at home against Manchester United,
Chelsea and defending champions Liverpool, as well as victories against Tottenham at home and champions-elect Manchester City at the
Etihad Stadium (despite playing most of the match with just ten men). Leeds United eventually finished ninth; securing more points and scoring more goals than any other promoted side for 20 years.
2021–22 On 27 February 2022, Leeds and Bielsa parted ways after a streak of four consecutive losses across which Leeds conceded 17 goals, leaving them 16th in the table, two points above Burnley and one above Everton, both of whom had two games in hand on Leeds.
Uruguay national team On 15 May 2023, the
Uruguay national team announced Bielsa as their new manager, becoming the second foreign trainer after another Argentinian coach,
Daniel Passarella, was appointed in the year 2000. After the poor performance of Uruguay in
2022 FIFA World Cup, Bielsa decided to rejuvenate the team by calling 14 uncapped new players against the friendly matches of
Nicaragua and
Cuba, leaving the veteran players who participated in the World Cup four times (
2010,
2014,
2018, and 2022)
Edinson Cavani,
Fernando Muslera, and
Luis Suárez out of the squad. On 14 June, Bielsa started his cycle as Uruguay's coach with a victory over Nicaragua by 4–1 in the
Estadio Centenario, six days later in the same venue, another victory arose against Cuba by 2–0. Controversially, Bielsa decided to once again not to call the veterans in his next set of matches, the press was specially concerned by the absence of Cavani and Suárez, and also by his team conformation, with
Sergio Rochet being the oldest one in the squad. On 8 September, Bielsa managed to get a home victory over
Chile in the
2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers debut by 3–1. Four days later in
Quito, Uruguay lost against
Ecuador 2–1 despite leading the score at the end of the first half.
Darwin Núñez was substituted at halftime, and Bielsa declared to the press that the reason behind was preventive since the player arrived to the squad with "muscular difficulties". After drawing against
Colombia 2–2 in
Barranquilla with a late penalty equalizer by Núñez, Uruguay obtained a historic victory on 17 October against
Brazil by 2–0, with Núñez scoring with a header and
Nicolás de la Cruz securing the triumph in the second half. The victory was important since it ended a 22-year streak of Brazilian dominance over Uruguay in all official competitions and friendly matches, accumulating a total of 12 bouts without wins after the match of 1 July 2001 for the
2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. It was also Brazil's first loss in qualifiers since 2015 after being defeated by Chile, ending a 37-match streak unbeaten. On 16 November and with a returning Suárez on the squad after an excellent season with
Grêmio, Bielsa's team got another historic triumph over world champion holders
Argentina in
La Bombonera.
Ronald Araújo scored the first goal in the minute 41, after a crossing ball with the possession being stolen by
Matías Viña against defender
Nahuel Molina on the side of the home field, and the second goal was done by Núñez after a fast-paced counterattack that started when
Rodrigo Bentancur managed to steal a ball from
Lionel Messi close to Uruguay's goal area near the end of the match. The victory was lauded by the press and fans, just like the one against Brazil it ended a 10-year streak of Argentina supremacy, with the last defeat coming from the
2014 qualifiers on 15 October 2013. It also ended the 25-match streak without defeats in qualifiers, the last one coming from
Bolivia in 2017, and it was the first defeat of Argentina as world champions, with the last match loss against
Saudi Arabia at the
group stage. The icing on the cake was the fact that this was the first-ever Uruguay victory over Argentina as home-away for qualifiers. Days later they secured another home victory of 3–0 against Bolivia, with Núñez scoring a brace to end 2023. ==Coaching style==