Marcelo Bielsa is back, after his stint at Leeds, which was highly successful in putting the English club back on the map, the Argentine coach now has a new challenge, the Uruguayan national team.
On Wednesday in Montevideo, Bielsa was formally presented and is estimated to earn $13 million in the next four years while being in charge of the two-time FIFA World champions.
During the press conference Bielsa shared a story regarding a bus ride he took with his wife from one end of Montevideo to another. He told the story in the context of a question he was asked about Uruguay as a society.
Marcelo Bielsa’s bus ride in Montevideo
During the summer months in South America, Bielsa and his wife were vacationing in Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital and enjoyed it so much they extended their stay in the country of 3.2 million people. One day the Bielsas decided to take a bus ride from where they were staying to the posh neighborhood of Carrasco.
When they returned via bus back to where they were staying it was rush hour and the bus was packed, Bielsa stated in the press conference, “With the bus packed and it being rush hour the ride lasted 45 minutes…there was a respect for children, older people, and women… a woman (who works for the bus company) came to inspect the tickets, I thought ‘yikes everyone is going to get impatient´, and I was surprised to see that despite the bus being heavily populated the woman was allowed to do her job in peace and it was accepted as normal.” Bielsa used the story as an example of things he admires from the soccer mad country.
When it came to what he will do with the Uruguayan national team, Bielsa plans to focus on youth players at first and will speak to other more experienced players later on.
When it came to his aggressive playing style, something Uruguay historically hasn’t done the Argentine coach stated, “The day Uruguay plays Chile, the team will meet on Tuesday and play on Thursday. If I told you that obtaining the style is obtained in two days, you would be in a position to say that I am cheating you. But the position does not authorize the excuse, but the search for the objectives both in the design of the style and in the results.”
When it came to historic players like Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, Bielsa did not shut the door on these Uruguayan institutions, “I said that any decision that involves a Uruguayan player with a history on the national team cannot be dealt with without listening to them. I am very respectful of idols, because they are the patrimony of the people. The idol is a precious metal for the poorest. So never would I knowingly do something that would harm an idol.”
The press conference went into a huge laugh when Bielsa explained his disdain for 3-minute highlights of games, that dilute the proper analysis of the sport, “Three minute highlights of games are like living with your wife only on Saturday night. Like that no marriage can fail.”