Part - 1
Before the whole Suárez saga blew up, when he publicly turned a large part of Uruguay against Marcelo Bielsa, the record spoke for itself.
Before the fallout:
Wins: 11
Draws: 5
Losses: 3
Then Bielsa made the decision that ultimately caused all the drama. He refused to build the team around a declining Luis Suárez, choosing instead to move towards younger players. Suárez didn’t take it well and went on a public campaign criticising Bielsa, with several players either openly or quietly siding with one of the biggest names in Uruguayan football.
Since the fallout:
Wins: 5
Draws: 7
Losses: 5
People will point to those results and say Bielsa has suddenly become a bad manager. I don’t buy that for a second.
The reality is that once your dressing room becomes divided, results almost always suffer. It doesn’t matter how good the manager is. We’ve seen it happen throughout football history. Tactics can only take you so far when trust inside the squad starts to disappear.
What’s funny is that even during all this chaos, Uruguay’s performances haven’t actually been as bad as people make out. They dominated Saudi Arabia 27 shots to 7, outshot Cape Verde 17 to 12, and had a very even game against Spain. They were creating chances. The football was there. The finishing and individual performances weren’t.
Some of Uruguay’s biggest players simply haven’t produced. Federico Valverde, who should be leading this team, has been well below the standards expected of one of the world’s best midfielders. When your key players aren’t delivering in decisive moments, that isn’t automatically the manager’s fault.
@marshyleeds Devalued cos Farke just wanted him out of his sight quickly. Now we know that Charlie Cresswell is one of the most sought after CB in the market.