Last month Marcelo Bielsa did what his 14 Leeds United predecessors failed to do at Elland Road and lead the Whites back to the Premier League.
Leeds' promotion back to the top flight after a 16-year absence came after two years of hard graft for his squad, who had to get used to a very different methodology than they have been used to in their careers.
The hectic training schedule, regular 'murderball' sessions and strict diet plans that Bielsa and his staff introduced are all well known, as are some of his more unique methods, such as the Thorp Arch litter picking session that the squad undertook in the summer of 2018.
Whites forward Ryan Edmondson has now opened up on another strand to Bielsa's Leeds United masterplan.
“He made us do reading classes at one point. He said reading would give us a major psychological advantage," Edmondson told our sister title The Daily Record following his loan move to Aberdeen.
“He had all of the first team in the gym and he printed off the same book into a script 50 times and made us sit there silently and read for half an hour every day.
“I think the reading was to introduce relaxation to our training day. Sometimes we were in from 8am until seven at night doing triple sessions.”
Edmondson has struggle for game time under the Argentine, but was quick to praise the Whites head coach.
“He’s an intriguing character. When he first came into the club it was very different but the boys thrived off it.
“He was something different to what we were used to. It was like being at school and learning something new. You get kind of excited and we pushed on and thrived under his system.
“The way Leeds have performed this season is credit to him and to every single one of the players for buying into his methods and system. Sometimes it doesn’t go right and teams can give you a challenge.
“But Leeds stuck to their game plan and pushed on and had a very successful season.”
Edmondson finalised his move to Aberdeen last week and will remain north of the border until January. The 19-year-old made his debut on Saturday, coming off the bench during the Dons' 1-0 defeat at home to Rangers on Saturday, but insists his goal remains being a part of Leeds United's plans in the Premier League.
“The next big milestone for me is to play with Leeds in the Premier League," he added.
“It’s been every Leeds fan’s dream so hopefully I can come up here and make a difference and catch the manager’s eye.
“I haven’t had the chance to speak to the gaffer as this all happened at 100 miles per hour.
“It was sorted through my agent, the chairman and the Leeds directors so it was all very quick but hopefully I will get the conversation with the gaffer and the coaches.”
