“They will remember me as having left nothing” Bielsa broken after Uruguay disaster
The Uruguay manager will leave the side after a World Cup campaign filled with tension and a lack of belief.
“If I thought another way of playing would improve the team, I wouldn’t have any doubts in doing it," Marcelo Bielsa told reporters in September 2021, ahead of an away trip to Newcastle in the Premier League. His Leeds United side had, at the second attempt, romped to the second division title and subsequently finished ninth in the top tier, with a points total that would in most seasons guarantee European football.
But by 2021, the cracks were showing. While the typical man-to-man press was there, as well as the crackling hiss of the seemingly infinite energy his teams can appear to possess, something was off. Three years eating, drinking, and sleeping to Bielsa’s tune is not for the faint of heart; before taking over at Leeds in 2018, he had watched all of the team’s 51 games the previous season, and analysed every single opponent in the division, and he expects the same level of dedication and commitment from his players. Sign up and commit, and you can go from 15th in the Championship to 9th in the Premier League in two seasons. Fail to live up to his standards and it’s not worth trying to get within 200 metres of him.
The problem, fundamentally, is that footballers are human, which is probably why he once said that if he had a team of robots, he’d win every game. Playing for Bielsa requires just about everything you’ve got, and a lot of what you didn’t realise you had in you.
And he does it his way. There is no compromise, no diverting from the plan. In fact, capitalise that: The Plan. Put it in bold if you want. Going back to the quote at the top, this is how he sees football, a mixture of effort, intelligence, and talent: “You never win playing badly, you never win if you don’t attack, you never win if you don’t take into account the use of the ball." There is no other way to play.
Which is why, then, when Uruguay’s veteran talent, Sergio Rochet, Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur and Federico Valverde, all requested a meeting with Bielsa asking him to play in a low block against Spain in their final group game, they were quickly refused. They wanted to sit back and counter-attack. Bielsa not only responded by rejecting their proposal but by calling a meeting with the entire squad and coaching staff to lay out how he was not going to drop back at all, but instead mirror Spain’s high-pressing, all-action wing play. Some players walked out, others tried to stop them, but it was all too late anyway.
I would say the meeting was one last throw of the dice from Bielsa if I suspected he imagined it might work. While I’m far from being inside his head, I suspect even his staunchest supporter would admit that the tide had long since turned against him as boss of the South American nation. Leaving out Luis Suárez (the 39-year-old who retired from international football before deciding to un-retire to try and get in the squad) and dropping popular figure Nahitan Nández were two decisions that appear to have damaged Bielsa’s reputation within the playing squad, and that’s aside from asking the players to run and run again. And then some more.
Bielsa has got his methods, and there is simply nothing else to consider outside them. Call him washed, tired, old, or stubborn, and he’d probably agree. He called himself “toxic” in front of the press, saying that “those who have a relationship with me end up worse off.”
“It’s all based on fear,” he explained, “it’s fear because those people don’t enjoy winning, they just fear losing much more.” His Uruguay gig is likely over now, with toxic relationships built and bridges burnt to a crisp as he played his way. And there was only ever one way.
@asusaofficial THIS is the most controversial image of the World Cup so far Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa refused to look at the camera during the official FIFA photo shoot, later saying that he is under no obligation to act like a model. #uruguay #celeste #bielsa #worldcup #fifaworldcup
♬ P.I.M.P. - 50 Cent
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