Occasionally you have a week that reminds you why you fell in love with football but also why you grew to despise the way it is run.
Let’s start with the bad guys. Had Gianni Infantino not caved in to widespread revulsion at his cowardly refusal to isolate the dictator who awarded him the Russian Order of Friendship, then FIFA would have followed Vladimir Putin into global pariah status.
Forget what Infantino ended up having to do when countries told him they had no intention of playing against Russia while civilians were being shelled, and focus on what they wanted to do: Allow Putin’s mob to compete under a rebranded name while they threw out stomach-churning platitudes about FIFA’s mission to bring nations together through “The Beautiful Game.”
Just as they will in November when the football calendar gets turned on its head so FIFA can be feted and grow richer in Qatar, a nation that has worked migrant builders to death in the name of sportswashing.
But if those at the top were all that football was about, most of us would have binned it years ago. Fortunately it’s also about the ability of special individuals to lift our spirits, inspire us and make us feel proud.
Anyone hearing Leeds fans describe their sadness about their Argentinian manager being sacked and their deep gratitude for what he gave them, was reminded how that feels.
Sometimes a football manager is much more than a figurehead who once kicked a ball. They become a father figure and a spiritual guide who offer communities pride and hope: a Shankly, Busby, Clough or Robson; a Ranieri, Keegan or Jack Charlton; Marcelo Bielsa was undoubtedly one of those rare men who sprinkle magic on lives.
He treated fans and the general public as his equals, not as inconveniences to be avoided. Whether sitting on his bucket, walking home from training in the rain, living in a flat above a sweet shop or holding coaching meetings in Costa Coffee, he was the essence of down-to-earth.
He never moaned about referees, VAR or his opponents, and if he stepped out of line, such as over Spygate, he insisted he paid the £200,000 fine out of his own pocket. He showed us an honesty we thought had died out when he invited Aston Villa to equalise after Leeds had scored while one of Villa’s players was down injured.
And then there was the football. Ever since Don Revie’s time, outsiders have found it hard to warm to Leeds; Bielsa changed that. Most fans wanted to watch or play his teams because they knew it would be the kind of frantic, end-to-end stuff you used to enjoy on the playground. It was the game at its most primitive and all the more loveable for it.
As for Bielsa’s ability to motivate players, Kalvin Phillips summed it up with the words: “You saw in me what I didn’t even see in myself.”
Time may show that Leeds were right to sack him. Watching the last two maulings against Liverpool and Spurs, you almost wanted their trainer to throw the towel in. Injuries to key players had killed his small, overworked squad, the board’s refusal to spend in January hinted they had lost confidence in the 66-year-old, and you sensed Bielsa was hurting at his inability to change things. But most Leeds fans still believed in him, even when he couldn’t buy a win.
What is undisputed is that the man with the mural goes down in folklore as a saviour who brought romance back to Elland Road. A man who had principles in life and in football which he stuck to, right until the end.
Oh for more of his decency and humility in a game run by grasping charlatans.
Away days take FA Cup to new heights
I have decided the best thing about the FA Cup is not the giant-killing, the absence of replays or the fact that those who can’t afford subscriptions can watch games on terrestrial TV.
They’re all good, but it’s the sound produced by away supporters with their bigger allocation and the raucous response that can draw from the home crowd that’s making it this year.
There have been some cracking ties, not least Middlesbrough knocking out Spurs at an electric Riverside.
At a time when it’s rarely felt grimmer staring at the TV, the FA Cup has reminded us what a lifter it can be.
Klopp's keeper call a mark of the man
Jurgen Klopp’s decision to play reserve goalkeeper Caiomhin Kelleher in the League Cup final split fans.
Although he is rated very highly and hasn't let Liverpool down when he’s had to step up, some felt it was a no-brainer to play your best keeper in a final against Chelsea.
The memory of Loris Karius gifting Real Madrid two goals in Kiev four years ago still haunts Kopites. But Klopp was adamant.
He had promised the young Irishman he was playing in every League Cup round and he was sticking to it. It was a high-risk strategy but the fact he kept a clean sheet and scored the winning penalty meant Klopp's call was spot-on.
That act of faith and loyalty showed why he is one of the best man-managers in the modern game and why players love to play for him.
Ref chief in danger of flip-flopping like PM
Mike Riley was technically right to apologise to Frank Lampard for Chris Kavanagh’s inexplicable refusal to award Everton a penalty against Manchester City.
But he’s set a dodgy precedent. After most games now managers will demand a similar gesture, which if forthcoming, will sound less sincere by the week; meaning Riley will have to make his apologies “unreserved” and basically turn into Boris Johnson. Don’t go there.
Sending "mad" Putin a simple message
Here's a nice postscript to UEFA moving the Champions League final out of St Petersburg. A friend booked a room in a hotel in the city hoping his team would be there in May, but cancelled it as soon as the tanks moved into Ukraine.
The hotel replied, asking if he’d cancelled due to “personal reasons; he’d found alternative accommodation; he’d changed the date of his trip; he was unable to travel due to illness, or other.”
He replied “Other. Your president is a mad b******.”
