From Bielsa with Uruguay to Simeone at Atlético, managers from the South American nation are everywhere – except BrazilWhen Uruguay appointed Marcelo Bielsa as coach in May, they joined a growing club. Lionel Scaloni led Argentina to glory at the World Cup. Chile are managed by Eduardo Berizzo. Paraguay are managed by Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Bolivia are managed by Gustavo Costas. Colombia are managed by Néstor Lorenzo. Venezuela are managed by Fernando Batista.Seven of the 10 Conmebol nations have Argentinian coaches and although Peru have a Peruvian and Ecuador a Spaniard, both succeeded Argentinians. Argentinian coaches are everywhere in South America; only Brazil stands aloof. Continue reading...
Two Argentinian managers, both looking for work, talk Neymar’s parties and why there’s no happiness in footballTopic: Mauricio Pochettino’s Zoom MeetingMon, 13 Jun 2022 01:51 AM (CET)[Marcelo Bielsa’s iPad has joined the meeting.] Continue reading...
Recruitment and injuries have exposed the fact the Premier League strugglers are simply not rich enough for relegation not to be a threatThe Leeds fans at the Reebok Stadium were raucous. “We’ll support you ever more,” they bellowed, because when relegation comes defiance is pretty much the only option that remains. Did they know just how long ever more would be? Did they have any idea just what a journey they would have to undertake before, 16 years later, they next played a Premier League game?Certainly hope was scarce that afternoon in May 2004. Mark Viduka had swept home a penalty to give the away side a lead they had barely deserved, but was then booked for jabbing a heel...
Leeds are looking down rather than up and with the squad creaking, what if the manager’s well of miracles has run dry?Marcelo Bielsa would have made an awful politician. One of his more refreshingly idiosyncratic traits is his habit of never pointing the finger of blame at somebody else when he can point it at himself. There are times when this appetite for self-criticism takes on an almost monastic hue: a live Zoom flagellation, a reminder that no external judgment on Bielsa could ever be as scathing or searching as his own.Injuries, individual errors, referees, fixture pile-ups, financial disparities: in the world of Bielsa none of this really seems to register. “The position of [Mateusz] Klich was an error on...
The Argentinian’s injury-ravaged side follow 7-0 humiliation against Manchester City with a 4-1 home defeat by ArsenalHeavy defeats can be purgative. In 1992, Marcelo Bielsa’s Newell’s Old Boys lost 6-0 to San Lorenzo in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, sending him into despair. He was an ambitious and idealistic young coach who had clinched the apertura in 1990-91 but then seen his side win only nine games in the whole of 1991. Could it be his methods were ineffective? Was his whole vision of football flawed?For two days he locked himself away in the Conquistador hotel in Santa Fe. He wept. He rang his wife, Laura, and admitted he thought his career might be over. In the end,...