The digital weather applications predict spring-like temperatures for Tuesday evening in Montevideo. But what the atmosphere and climate will be like in Uruguay cannot be determined from thermometers, hygrometers, anemometers or barometers. But only in the stands of the legendary Estadio Centenario, which will fill up considerably to watch Uruguay’s national team in the World Cup qualifier against Ecuador – and perhaps also to pass judgment on Marcelo “El Loco” Bielsa, the Argentine national coach Celeste.
Bielsa has been in the eye of a storm for around ten days, triggered by completely surprising criticism from Luis Suárez. A month after his resignation from the national team, the pistolero shot sharply at Bielsa in a radio interview: “Things happened that hurt” at the Copa América in the summer; At the time, he maintained silence in order to protect the domestic climate, and although he could write “a whole book” about Bielsa’s defamatory behavior.
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Among the “disrespects” Suárez cited were the treatment of a substitute striker named Agustín Canobbio of Athletico Paranaense; During a training session, he was assigned to the youth team that Bielsa had taken with him to the Copa América as a sparring partner for the senior team. Degrading, said Suárez. He also fundamentally criticized Bielsa’s manners. The team once called a meeting because they wanted Bielsa to say “buenos días” as a greeting. The fact that Bielsa considers such platitudes to be a waste of time is not new – and at least it has the charm that it also annoyed his superiors. Decades ago, the late Argentine association boss Julio Grondona was upset that Bielsa liked to walk past him without greeting him – and turned his back on him in the elevator.
Canobbio, in turn, complained that, among other things, his hat was broken because Bielsa had blamed him – for reasons that weren’t all that bad – for a 2-1 defeat in Ecuador in 2023. Bielsa also criticized Canobbio’s upbringing. However, Canobbio admitted that he had put his feet on the table during a meeting. He didn’t see any connection with Bielsa’s anger.
It is unclear what the opinion of the players who were appointed by Bielsa other than Canobbio is. One of the new leaders, Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde, echoed Suárez in saying that teammates had complained about Bielsa. At the same time, statements appeared in which he not only defended Bielsa’s physically and mentally demanding style, but praised it. As is well known, Bielsa’s football is characterized by maximum intensity. Regardless, there was an emergency meeting between Uruguay’s leading players and Bielsa.
“I know my authority is compromised,” says Bielsa
Bielsa himself made this public after the last qualifying game on Friday in the Peruvian capital Lima. There he appeared somewhat depressed before the press. It wasn’t just Uruguay’s third game in a row without scoring – it also resulted in a 0-1 defeat after a poor game and thus their second defeat in the current qualifying campaign. Nevertheless, Uruguay is in third place at the halfway point of the qualifying round, four points behind leaders Argentina.
Questions still arose: the press wondered whether at least part of the team was playing against him. Bielsa himself saw no evidence of this. “The team’s commitment was generous,” said Bielsa in Lima; The unrest after Suárez’s explosive interview was not the cause of the defeat, it was his fault. “The team didn’t play well, but they showed attitude,” emphasized offensive force Facundo Pellistri. However, Bielsa admitted that one position has been weakened: “Whoever is in question is me.”
This form of escalation is particularly surprising because Bielsa and Uruguay seemed to live in an idyll. Some long-time employees left the association shortly after Bielsa was installed as the new national coach in mid-2023. Almost a year ago, however, everything was in perfect order, at least in terms of sport, which was shown, among other things, by the fact that Uruguay, under his leadership, won against world champions Argentina and against Brazil. No one disputed that he deserved to be one of the highest paid coaches in South America. An emotional highlight was Bielsa’s spectacular press conference at the Copa América in the USA.
On the sidelines of the semi-final against Colombia, some of his players had fought in the stands with Colombians who had attacked family members; Bielsa defended them and attacked the South American association Conmebol and the organizers of the Copa América for their inability to guarantee security at a major tournament. What are the current debates leading to?
Bielsa tends to leave on his own when he feels he needs to bend. This is known from clubs and associations that once employed him. “Not even in jest will you hear Groucho Marx’s famous statement from his mouth: ‘These are my principles, but if you don’t like them, I have others,'” exclaimed the Argentine newspaper The Nation remembered these days.
