Marcelo Bielsa He was officially presented today as technical director of the Uruguayan team, where he signed a three-year contract, with the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada as the main objective.
“They didn’t have to convince me, almost the opposite. I wanted to come for the players with potential that he has. I like the group that has represented Uruguay. The other reason is the addressee, the ordinary citizen of this country,” the brand new Charrúa coach began by saying.
“One day I came to spend a weekend in Montevideo with my wife. Then we stayed and it was two months. Then I told him to go to Carrasco for a day. We returned by public transport. It was 45 minutes of travel. At that time I saw a lot of episodes that revealed the happiness with which Uruguayans live, “added the DT.
💬 “It’s time for you to see 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐨 𝐥𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨”
Marcelo Bielsa explained why he chose our National Team.
📺 https://t.co/qVMBrYJR1J #ElEquipoQueNosUne pic.twitter.com/8mbJHWNRIB
— Uruguayan National Team (@Uruguay) May 17, 2023
Regarding the style of play that he will give him, he explained: “Imposing a style or a way of playing is the combination of the coach’s intentions, the possibilities of the players to achieve them and a necessary development time so that the combination of these elements crystallize. If there is something that coaches cannot do, it is to act differently from what they think, being sincere is inherent in the seduction of proposing and convincing.
“The day Uruguay plays Chile, the team will meet on Tuesday and play on Thursday. If I said that obtaining the style is achieved in two days, when you can’t consume energy because you have to save it for the game, I would be cheating you. This position does not authorize the excuse, but rather the pursuit of objectives, both in style and in the result.” Bielsa said.
Likewise, he clarified that due to the quality of soccer players and how they feel about soccer, he thinks they will take his idea quickly. “Great players don’t need too much time to assimilate a certain style. And the real greats achieve it almost instantly, as long as the style represents them. The way I think about football I feel very assimilable to the players I imagine in the team. I allow myself to believe that it will not be such a difficult task.
🔥 𝐔𝐧𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐚
Before more than 300 journalists, Marcelo is giving his first press conference as a Uruguayan coach.
📺 https://t.co/qVMBrYJR1J #ElEquipoQueNosUne pic.twitter.com/DADrn1eSnS
— Uruguayan National Team (@Uruguay) May 17, 2023
Marcelo Bielsa responded about how he will seek to convince the fans who resist foreign coaches at La Celeste. “In football, and being a foreigner, acceptance has only one name, which is victory, triumph. Then there will be more or less patience.
Among other things, they asked him if he kept up to date with his task as a coach. “It’s been many years since he directed teams. Football has changed, the players and the resources have changed. Within my limitations I always try to incorporate the new, but for that I need to convince myself that the new replaces something old, with a version that improves. For that you have to master the new and age does not help the flexibility necessary to incorporate new methods and ideas. I was without work for more than a year and much of that time was used to understand some resources. I always work with people much younger than me and they prevent one from imposing old ideas”, he said.
The “Loco” will arrive in Uruguay with two assistants, two analysts and an injury recoverer. The man from Rosario was willing to add people who already work at the AUF and facilitate day-to-day work, according to reports from the local press. The AUF will make an investment close to US$ million per year with the arrival of this coaching staff.
As coach, Bielsa was in the 2002 World Cup in Korea-Japan with Argentina, from which he returned in the first round, and then had his revenge with Chile in South Africa 2010, a contest in which he was left out in the round of 16 against Brazil (3-0 ).
“Uruguay is a team that can fantasize about winning a World Cup, because it is a team that has something to do with it”, commented the former manager of Leeds United of England.
Bielsa’s debut in charge of the “Celeste” will be on Wednesday, June 14 against the Nicaraguan team, which is in position 140 in the FIFA ranking, at the Centenario. And the second match will be six days later, on Tuesday, June 20, against Cuba.
“Coaches, journalists and leaders are the worst in football. Soccer has more and more followers and is less and less like what allows a fan to fall in love with the game. The THREE minute summaries are like living with your wife only on Saturday nights, so there is no marriage that fails. see football in highlights It is that ”, also added the DT.