Brendan Rodgers has claimed that Marcelo Bielsa will be a massive loss for the Premier League ahead of Leicester City’s clash with Leeds United.
Saturday’s match at King Power Stadium will be the Whites’ first league game since May 2018 without the Argentine in charge.
Jesse Marsch will be in a Premier League dug out for the first time as he looks to start his new side’s ascent away from the relegation zone.
However, especially in the away end, there will still be plenty of talk about Bielsa and that was the case in Rodgers’ pre-match press conference where he fielded a question about the great man.
“I think it will be different. Marcelo is a big loss to the Premier League, as much for the human qualities he showed,” said the Leicester boss.
“It’s a big loss for the city, he was a father figure. He was admired there, and by managers. I spent some time with him while he was here.
“The game is a circus now, but he brought old-school values. He was not taken in by everything that goes around the modern game. It was what football used to be like.
“He will be a loss. Leeds will go again. Jesse has taken over a great group of players, who have been very good. He will want to lift them and challenge them to stay up. His style will be zonal.
“Marcelo was an outlier in terms of man to man [marking]. They will be more traditional in terms of their pressing.”
After paying tribute to the departed manager, Rodgers was asked whether his side are unlucky to be Marsch’s first Premier League opponents.
To which he replied: “No, I don’t think there will be too much that we don’t know. It takes time to put in place your ideas. They will be physically in good condition.
“They have talented players, and some very good British players who have formed the foundation of their success. It will be more traditional. Jesse has said himself, it will be more zonal pressure.
“There’s so much footage now, so you have a good idea of how they will work. He will want to impose his own signature on the team.”
Rodgers also provided updates in terms of team news with James Maddison looking set to miss out on Saturday’s early kick-off with a problem in his lower back.
As expected, Ricardo Pereira also looks as though he will be unavailable after he was withdrawn at half-time in Leicester’s 2-0 win at Burnley midweek.
However, the one man that Leeds fans will not want to see in the team seems likely to be involved from the start.
Jamie Vardy, who came on from the bench and provided a goal and an assist against the Clarets, will be expecting to be named amongst the starting XI for the first time since the end of December.
“Whether he will last the whole game or not, it remains to be seen,” said Rodgers. “But he’s fresh. We've missed that movement, and that energy, that cuteness in the game.
“He’s a natural goalscorer. He works at his game. He’s very astute. He studies the game, He’s very clever, he picks up on things in his game. He’s sharp, he has a bright mind.
“He’s looking for ways to get in. He’s got a lovely soft finish if he has to. There’s no doubt he has been one of the world’s best over these last few years.”
It will have been particularly bittersweet for Leeds supporters who saw Vardy make the difference against their relegation rivals on Tuesday evening.
They will be worried about the former England striker repeating his heroics at the weekend against a backline that is likely to be missing Diego Llorente.
Arguably the biggest first test Marsch faces as Leeds boss is to find a way to nullify the lively Foxes frontman’s threat.
