West Brom boss Carlos Corberan name-checks Newcastle's Eddie Howe in comments about Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan has name-checked Newcastle United's Eddie Howe and Brighton's Roberto De Zerbi in comments about Leeds United favourite Marcelo Bielsa and the coaches he admires in English football.

Corberan worked under Bielsa during his time with the Whites and is set to return to Elland Road for the first time as an opposing manager tonight when the Baggies travel to face his former club.

Carlos Corberan at Leeds United

The Spaniard arrived at Leeds in 2017 when he was appointed as the replacement for U23s boss Jason Blunt.

Corberan's side won the Professional Development League in 2018/19, beating Birmingham City in the final after finishing top of the Northern League, but his talents had already been recognised by Bielsa as the Argentine quickly made him one of his assistants after his arrival at Elland Road in 2018.

The pair would go on to end the Whites' long wait for Premier League football but the 40-year-old struck out on his own in the summer of 2020, joining Huddersfield Town.

Speaking to Birmingham Live, Corberan has emphasised the importance of learning under Bielsa as he prepares to return to Elland Road.

"Bielsa is a genius," he said. "Genius means genius. When you are working with a genius you can only learn. I tell you this because it's true. He's a genius because the way his team plays is totally different to every single coach in the world. Many people after start to replicate work he put in first time.

"His level of commitment to football is not normal, he gave his life for football and keeps giving his life for football. The respect for this is unbelievable. The way he leads one team and the football ideas he has...only his mind can develop. Not many managers in the world can do what can appear in his mind. This is something you can only know when you are working with him.

"The idea he is now moving in the national team he is working are ideas only he can implement - because he's someone not following the routine of everyone. He's doing what he thinks is the best, his mind arrives to points only his mind can arrive to, no other in the world, that's why Marcelo is totally different.

"More than the shape he uses, the aggressiveness he is or whatever, it is not only about football, it is about what is (seen) in the back, what nobody watches or can see, is what makes him more special, only you can see this when you work with him. That's why there is no money to pay for my two years with him, if you want to be a football coach. This happens with only a few coaches."

Carlos Corberan on Eddie Howe

Corberan then name-checked Howe, De Zerbi and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola as he discussed coaches that he admires.

He said: "Guardiola for me is a genius, a different one. There are more but my lack of knowledge doesn't allow me to know more. De Zerbi is one proving his ideas are fantastic too, the Newcastle coach is showing this, Emery is doing things very well. This country now, we don't have the best players in the world, they don't want to be here, but still the best coaches in the world are in this country in England, this is very positive for the level of football in the country."