Alessandro
Barcherini

Yesterday, Alessandro was sat in Leeds United's technical area, watching a 94th-minute winner against Norwich. Today, he’s sat at Elland Road, making time to talk to us.

“I had no intention of going to university!” he says. “I came back from playing football in America when I was 22 and decided to go and find a ‘normal’ job.

“Then my auntie – who had also studied at NTU and now works there as a lecturer – explained to me that I ought to consider higher education and that I’d be classed as a mature student. So I went to an open day in August, liked the look of the [BSc] course, and started in September.”

Growing up in Bilborough, Nottingham, Alessandro had always loved playing football, but it was a long way from the premier league.

Was there a game plan?

“Well, all the time I was thinking, how am I going to become a premier league coach? I needed an in,” he says.

“That’s the reason I took the Masters. I figured that if I could get that, with a focus on performance analysis, that would be my route into a top club – maybe as an analyst. They’d then realise there were more strings to my bow, and I’d become a coach.

“I took a slightly different path in the end, but I still ended up working for Notts County full-time, with the under 18s. Then to Norwich, to Stoke, to Leeds – and all within the space of two and a half years.”

Does Alessandro wake up every morning and pinch himself, realising where he is and what he’s doing now?

“I quite often look back and think, blimey – four years ago I was sat at Clifton Campus, taking the men’s first team against Newcastle Uni – and here I am now working in the Premiership.”

You couldn’t really have a conversation about Leeds United without mentioning Marcelo Bielsa. Those who know will know. And for those who don’t know, there isn’t enough time to explain.

“The biggest take-home from my time under Marcelo was just how rigorous the regime was,” he says.

"Nothing was left to chance. Every possible preparation was investigated and fed back to the players. I’d never seen that level of detail – in any form of management – before.”