Marcelo Bielsa

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.

Argentina national team

In 1998, Bielsa was given the job of manager at Spanish La Liga side Espanyol, but he soon left after being offered the management of the Argentina national team later that year, taking over after a four-year period by Daniel Passarella as manager. At the 1999 Copa América, Argentina were beaten 3–0 by Colombia in a game where Argentina forward Martin Palermo missed three penalties and Bielsa was sent off. On Bielsa's post match reaction, Tim Vickery of the BBC wrote:In the press conference he sat staring into space, refusing to make eye contact with anyone – his usual stance. He was asked what he had made of the referee's performance. If the question was predictable, the answer was anything but. "One doesn't usually have the habit of commenting on referees, but…"…

Hailed as one of the most influential coaches of all time, introducing a third wave ideology in Argentine coaching, previously influenced by César Luis Menotti and Carlos Bilardo. In 2017, Pep Guardiola described Bielsa as the best coach in the world. He has been a strong influence on his former players, many of whom later became coaches, including Mauricio Pochettino, Diego Simeone, Andoni Iraola and Marcelo Gallardo. Bielsa's signature formation in his squads is the 3–3–3–1 formation, which he became known for during his coaching tenures with the Argentina and Chile national teams and with Marseille. Although the 3–3–3–1 and its variations the 3–3–1–3 and the 3–4–3 "diamond" were occasionally used by other managers at UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup level before Bielsa – including by Johan Cruyff at Barcelona, by Louis van Gaal at Ajax, by Guus Hiddink at PSV Eindhoven and Australia, by Vicente del Bosque at Real Madrid, by Ottmar Hitzfeld at Bayern Munich, by Frank Pagelsdorf at Hamburger SV, by Ivica Osim at Sturm Graz, and by Russia – it was Bielsa who first made it his standard formation and popularized it worldwide during his tenures with Argentina, Chile, at Marseille, and occasionally at Athletic Bilbao. For this formation, the players are: three defenders, three midfielders (one central midfielder with two wide players / wing backs), three attacking midfielders (one No.10 and two wingers) and one centre-forward. The 3–3–3–1 allows quick transitions from…

Player

Individual

CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament Ideal Team: 1976

Manager

Newell's Old Boys

Primera División Argentina: 1990–91, 1992 Clausura Copa Libertadores runner-up: 1992 Vélez Sarsfield

Primera División Argentina: 1998 Clausura Argentina

CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament: 2004 Copa América runner-up: 2004 Argentina U23

Summer Olympics: 2004 Athletic Bilbao

Copa del Rey runner-up: 2011–12 UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2011–12 Leeds United

EFL Championship: 2019–20 Uruguay

Copa América third place: 2024 Individual

IFFHS World's Best National Coach: 2001; runner-up: 2004 South American Coach of the Year: 2009 LMA Championship Manager of the Year: 2020 EFL Championship Manager of the Month: August 2018, November 2019, July 2020 FIFA Fair Play Award: 2019 (shared with his club Leeds United) The Best FIFA Football Coach: 2020 (3rd place) IFFHS CONMEBOL Team of the Year Manager: 2020