Pep Guardiola has been the latest manager to weigh in on ‘spygate’, praising Marcelo Bielsa as ‘unique’ for the amount of information he looks at for each single game.  

Leeds United’s head-coach has been at the centre of the controversy over the last week, after the EFL opened an investigation after Bielsa admitted to sending a spy to watch Derby County in training.

Since then, Bielsa has held a press conference, where he name-checked Guardiola and referenced a time when he presented him with the information he’d gathered on his Barcelona side, when he was himself managing in La Liga.

Adam Pope from BBC Radio Leeds has today brought Guardiola’s thoughts on the incident, with the Man City boss issuing the following message: “My respect remains the same (for Bielsa). He was clear in his statement. I admired what he did in the past, why should I change my opinion. It remains the same. I understand Frank Lampard’s (Derby boss) position too.

"It was impossible to look at us at Barcelona. The story is true. No manager has the amount of information he has for every single game every season. It is unique." 

The ‘spygate’ incident took the focus away from a very good Leeds performance last weekend against Derby, with the Whites beating Lampard’s side 2-0.

Goals from Kemar Roofe and Jack Harrison sealed the points for Leeds, who are now in a strong position to go on and secure automatic promotion.

Next up for the Whites is a trip to Stoke City tomorrow afternoon.

The Verdict

The respect Guardiola has for Bielsa is clear to see and this incident has not changed that.

Bielsa showcased the amount of work he does in his press conference earlier in the week, with Guardiola stating that is unique in football and not matched, despite what others claim.

Thoughts? Let us know!