Victor Orta struck gold at Leeds United in 2018, supporters will surely agree: View | OneFootball

After years of mediocrity in the Championship, Leeds United looked to put a stop to that in the summer of 2018 by making a huge statement of intent.

Sporting Director Victor Orta moved to appoint former Argentina boss Marcelo Bielsa, one of the most highly-rated managers in the game, an incredible coup for a Championship club.

Understandably, Leeds supporters were over the moon with this appointment given the number of managers they had been through in recent years, and it signaled a new era at Elland Road.

Having managed the likes of Lazio, Lille, Athletic Bilbao, and Marseille at club level, it's no exaggeration to say that it looked like Leeds struck gold with Bielsa's appointment, and as we all know, it didn't turn out too badly either.

Marcelo Biesla helped transform Leeds United

Leeds finished 13th in the 2017/18 Championship table and had gone through two managers, with Thomas Christiansen taking the reins until February, and Paul Heckingbottom leading the club from February until the end of the season.

Leeds were stuck in a vicious cycle of appointing new managers for brief periods of time, missing out on the play-offs and sacking them, not allowing them the chance to build a project.

In the summer of 2018, and with no manager, Orta made the ambitious move to target Bielsa, and in June 2018, he was announced as the club's new boss.

Despite minimal activity in the transfer window, Bielsa made a great start at the club, becoming the first Leeds boss to ever record four consecutive wins in their first four games, and at the halfway point of the season, the club were top of the Championship.

This allowed Leeds fans to dream, but the club fell off slightly during the second half of the season, finishing third and missing out on automatic promotion.

Despite this, Leeds were still favourites to win promotion from the play-offs, but a shock 4-3 aggregate defeat to Derby in the semi-final meant that they missed out and were consigned to another season of Championship football.

However, they bounced back in style, winning the Championship title in 2020, and less than two years after being a mid-table Championship side, Bielsa had transformed Leeds into a title-winning side.

Things continued to get better, and Leeds took the Premier League by storm during their first season in the top-flight, finishing 9th on 59 points, the highest points tally a newly promoted side accumulated in their first season since Ipswich Town's 66 points in 2000/01.

The summer of 2021 brought huge expectations, and Leeds supporters would have been confident of pushing on and challenging for European football, but it wasn't to be.

Bielsa was sacked in February 2022 with his side just too leaky at the back and in danger of being relegated, meaning they had to part ways with him.

It brought to an end one of the most enjoyable periods of Leeds United's recent history, and Bielsa will forever be idolised at Elland Road.

Sacking Marcelo Bielsa is still a controversial topic for Leeds United fans

The decision to sack Biesla was a tough one, but you can see why Leeds needed to do it.

At the time of his sacking, Leeds were 16th, and had conceded 17 goals in their last four games. Had they continued that run of form, they would have been relegated, and something needed to change.

Jesse Marsch was appointed, and he proved a relatively unpopular figure at Elland Road, particularly when compared to Bielsa, but he managed to keep them in the Premier League on the final day of the season after beating Brentford.

However, he was sacked the following season, and subsequently replaced by Sam Allardyce, with Leeds being relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but as Leeds were relegated the season after Bielsa left, there's an argument to be had that they would have been better off being relegated with the Argentinian in charge and would have been well-placed to make an immediate return, which they failed to do under Daniel Farke.

Bielsa, on the other hand, is thriving as Uruguay manager, after being appointed in May 2023. He has helped oversee a rebuild and brought through the next generation of players, having some success with wins over Brazil, Argentina and a recent 4-0 win over Mexico being the pick of the results.

This won't come as a surprise to Leeds fans, and despite how it ended at the club, Bielsa will always be fondly remembered at Elland Road.