Breaking: Marcelo Bielsa admits to spying on all Leeds opponents

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has admitted to spying on all of his side’s opponents, in an extraordinary press briefing this evening.

After a member of the Argentine’s backroom staff was caught observing a Derby County training session ahead of Leeds’ victory over the Rams last week, Bielsa admitted to being solely responsible for the affair.

Moments ago, the coach spoke from the Whites’ Thorp Arch training ground in a briefing called a day ahead of his regularly scheduled pre-match conference. “I observed all the rivals and we watched all the training sessions of the opponents before we played against them,” he admitted. “My goal is to make the investigation [of the Football League and FA] easier.”

Bielsa remained defiant in explaining his behaviour, stating: “Many managers and ex-footballers said my behaviour was not respectful. The league, after a complaint made by Derby County, decided to open an investigation over my behaviour, so they will evaluate if I behaved bad…

“Regarding what I have done, what I have done is not illegal. It’s not specified and it’s not restrained. We can discuss about it. It’s not seen as a good thing but it is not a violation of the law. I know that not everything is legal is right to do. Because you have many things that are legal but they’re not right. All the wrong things that you do are not done with bad intentions.”

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The 63-year-old went on to admit that he had to “adapt to the rules that are linked to the habits of English football”, but claimed that the information gained from a training session was not sufficient to allow his side to “neutralise” their opponents.

Bielsa’s frank and unorthodox briefing will undoubtedly raise a number of additional questions as the FA and Football League continue their investigations into whether Bielsa and Leeds broke fair-play regulations.