Marcelo Bielsa Opens Up On Relationship With Frank Lampard Since 'Spygate' Scandal

Marcelo Bielsa insists he still has a good relationship with Frank Lampard despite the 'Spygate' scandal during their time in the Championship.

Leeds United were fined £200,000 last January after Bielsa sent a member of his coaching staff to watch Lampard's Derby County side train prior to a game.

Lampard is now manager of Chelsea and will face Bielsa's Leeds for the first time as Blues boss on Saturday evening.

When asked about the saga, Bielsa replied per talkSPORT: "It's not bad and the relationship I have with him is similar to the ones I have with the rest of my colleagues.

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"It was resolved by the authorities at the time, how these actions need to be punished. They were analysed by people who needed to analyse them."

Bielsa ended up paying the fine himself and admitted he'd learned a lesson about English football during the incident.

"I know the spirit of English football and the punishment I received according to what the authorities deemed," he continued.

"This indicates to me that it shouldn't be repeated and this is an aspect that can be deemed as something I learned."

Former England international Lampard has guided Chelsea to third in the Premier League and made a number of big money signings in the summer.

Those include German duo Kai Havertz and Timo Werner as well as Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell.

Bielsa praised Lampard's coaching of Chelsea and commended his use of academy graduates like Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham.

"During last season he [Lampard] developed a lot of players that were already in the institution," the Argentine added.

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"This season he improved the composition of his team, choosing players for the positions he deemed he needed.

"This is shown by the way the team is playing well and the way individuals in the team are playing. There's many different types of component in his team.

"There's young players who have developed, there were signings with experience and signings with a big future."

Leeds are currently 12th but defeated Everton 1-0 last weekend.

Topics: Frank Lampard, Football News, Marcelo Bielsa, Derby County, Chelsea, Football, Premier League, Leeds United, championship

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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