How Leicester’s Brendan Rodgers’ and Marcelo Bielsa’s styles compare

It will be a case of mastermind versus apprentice, as Brendan Rodgers takes his Leicester City side to Elland Road to face Marcelo Bielsa for the first time in his managerial career.

There’s not many top managers in football that Brendan Rodgers is yet to face throughout his club career, after spending many years parading the European competitions with Liverpool, Celtic, and now Leicester City. The same argument could be made, that’s there’s not many managers more influential on the sport, than current Leeds United boss, Marcelo Bielsa.

The Argentinian is an anomaly. If you’re a football fan, devoted to understanding and enjoying the finer details of the sport, Bielsa is your cup of tea. In fact, his obsession with the sport his ludicrous. Recounting an anecdote, Bielsa once admitted to analysing a Championship club’s third choice goal-keeper – even though the first two choices were still fit, just in case. He did eight pages of analysis, purely on this goal-keeper – eight. I’d anticipate most clubs wouldn’t have more than two pages on their oppositions first choice goal-keeper, so this is quite the differential.

Rodgers has already acknowledged his appreciation for Bielsa, stating that he’s one of the few “pioneer’s” representing the sport, according to LeedsLive. Quite the accolade, especially from a well-respected manager such as the Northern Irishman. But, let’s look at the abundance of similarities between Leeds United under Bielsa, and Leicester City under Rodgers – as there’s a few to unpack.