Leeds United were caught up in a spying controversy last season after it emerged that manager Marcelo Bielsa had sent a staff member to spy on Derby County’s training sessions ahead of a Championship clash in January.
The Elland Road outfit were fined £200,000 by the EFL – which the Argentine paid out of his own pocket – but it couldn’t be established that Leeds had broken any specific rule.
As a way of apology, Bielsa held a 70-minute long press conference which could pass for a tactical masterclass, admitting that he had spied on the training session of every league team he had faced in 2018-19.
Leeds have since apologized to Derby, and it has been revealed that club owner Andrea Radrizzani wasn’t happy with Bielsa’s decision to hold the ‘Spy-Gate’ presser.
The Whites chief reckoned it would have been more appropriate had the Argentine only revealed all to the EFL.
“We should not be in this position. We could easily not be in this position because the press conference of Marcelo was unnecessary,” the Italian said in Amazon Prime Video documentary for Leeds ‘Take Us Home’, as revealed by The Sun.
“So, he could have done this to explain to the EFL representatives or the FA representative. But I think it was pointless to do it publicly in my opinion.
“Unnecessary. I mean he could have explained the same content to the federation and league – why to the public?”
Leeds United went on to win the clash 2-0, but both sides met again during the promotion play-offs, and despite winning the first-leg away from home by 1-0, they lost 4-2 to Frank Lampard’s men at Elland Road, missing out on the finals and a chance to earn Premier League promotion.
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