Marcelo Bielsa enjoys the status of hero at Leeds United and his performances in charge of the Whites have now been recognised extremely highly.
The experienced Argentine guided Leeds back to the promised land of Premier League football last season and has shown this term that they will be no pushovers.
Leeds have already claimed some impressive scalps this season and made quite the impression in their return to the top-flight, earning plenty of plaudits along the way.
Now, in ESPN's annual run-down of the best players and managers in world football, Bielsa has been ranked sixth on the list - and ahead of some significant names.
Bielsa was placed ahead of Everton's Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane, Sevilla's Julen Lopetegui and Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone.
In fact, only Julian Nagelsmann, who guided RB Leipzig to the semi-finals of the Champions League, Atalanta's Gian Piero Gasperini, who has caused a stir, Manchester City's Pep Guardiola, Bayern Munich's Hansi Flick and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp have been ranked ahead of him.
Of them, it's difficult to push Bielsa much higher - although there is definitely a strong argument that Bielsa should be ranked ahead of Guardiola based on 2020 alone.
On Bielsa, ESPN wrote: The man whom Mauricio Pochettino calls "a genius" and "special" guided Leeds United back into the Premier League for the first time since 2004. He is now the darling of West Yorkshire, and this season further cemented his place in managerial greatness with his Leeds team showing zero fear and attacking the top flight with wonderful ambition.
Bielsa is arguably the most fascinating coach in world football: nicknamed "El Loco," Pep Guardiola says of Bielsa, "nobody can imitate him and that makes him special," and that watching Bielsa during a game is entertainment enough. He sits on his specially made bucket like a coiled viper, but often stays relatively calm, meticulously watching every ball being kicked and planning his next move.
Together, he and Leeds spent £96m in the summer to prepare for the season, but he's still kept the spine of the team that got Leeds into the Premier League. The biggest compliment one can pay him is how universally he's respected and adored by the coaching community; even players past and present adore him. "He's God. He's the special one," former Leeds captain Lucas Radebe told ESPN.
