Marcelo Bielsa: Leeds boss' The Best FIFA Coach nomination is a scandal, says Andre Villas-Boas

ByEurosport

Updated 28/11/2020 at 11:18 GMT

The Argentine, who has taken Leeds up from the Championship to the Premier League, has been named on the five-man shortlist alongside Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, Sevilla’s Julen Lopetegui and Bayern Munich’s Hansi Flick. But the former Chelea boss Villas-Boas believes Bielsa should not even be considered for the award.

Andre Villas-Boas (L) and Marcelo Bielsa (R)

Image credit: Getty Images

Marseille boss Andre Villas-Boas believes it is 'scandalous' that Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa has been nominated for The Best FIFA Coach Award.

The Argentine coach got Leeds back up into the Premier League last season with a first-placed finish in the Championship, ending their 16-year wait to return to the top flight of English football. The Championship title was the first European trophy Bielsa has won as a coach. This season, the Yorkshire club sit 14th in the table.

Former Chelsea head coach Villas-Boas, who famously won the treble with Porto in 2011 and was the youngest manager to ever win a European competition aged 33 - the Europa League - sees Bielsa's inclusion on the shortlist for the prestigious award as farcical.

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"Bielsa? Bielsa has to win a prestigious trophy,” he told the media on Friday.

But he’s not among the best five coaches in the world in 2020. It’s a scandal. He won the Championship!

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The Portuguese manager also struggles to see why Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel is not on the list either.

"That Tuchel’s not in the top five coach is a scandal," he said. "FIFA are sleeping… Tuchel won four trophies and then got to the final of the Champions League."

Villas-Boas' Marseille currently sit seventh in Ligue 1 and are yet to pick up a point in the Champions League group stages this campaign.