Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has lamented seeing teams losing their local support around the world.
Bielsa is sorry seeing the globalisation of the game and the ever expanding influence and profile Europe's biggest clubs have on young fans across the planet.
"How can we be happy to see a boy with a Real Madrid shirt in Rosario, my city, or go to Africa and see a boy with a Bayern Munich shirt? Love has to be with one's own, with what is in place, with what is at hand," said Bielsa to DAZN, quoted by Mundo Deportivo.
Now everything is reduced, in the coach's opinion, to ten teams in the world, which sees the local fan moving away from the team near them to a club on the othe side of the world.
"So who is going to pay attention to their own?" he declared.
Although for Bielsa, England is an exception. The Argentine appreciates the support the fans in his adopted country show their local teams up and down the English football pyramid.
"The English public is not the general public," he added. "More than in love with the game, they are in love with the shirt they love."
Bielsa signed a new deal with Leeds this summer, so committing for the new campaign. It will represent the longest time Bielsa has been with a club in Europe.
He spent two years with Athletic Bilbao, while his other jobs in Europe never reached two seasons long.
On their return to the Premier League, Bielsa has guided the Yorkshire giants to a ninth place finish, winning their last four games in the process. They kickoff the new Premier League season this weekend against Manchester United.
- updated August 8
