Marcelo Bielsa on Argentina, the World Cup & love
Perhaps you were also wondering how Marcelo Bielsa felt when Argentina won the World Cup — Pablo Lamedica from TyC Sports in Argentina was, and asked him about it. And perhaps you will see how the answer relates to recent strife at Leeds United AFC.
I wasn’t sure if I really missed Marcelo Bielsa, or what I missed about him, and maybe I didn’t really understand the term ‘Widows of Bielsa’ until now. Because now, after he has been announced as the new manager of the Uruguay national team, I am devouring every word I can of his first press conference with an excited, empty heart. Excited because I love his words. Empty because he’s saying them so far from here.
One upside is that he wasn’t giving a press conference this week in a tracksuit provided by AFC Bournemouth or Everton Under-21s. We have not had to hear him trying to justify the work of Scott Parker or Frank Lampard Junior. Speaking in Spanish from a podium in Uruguay for an hour, he could still be Leeds United’s manager, speaking on general topics. It’s like a re-run of his best press conferences from Thorp Arch, when he was trying to make people understand how modern football is destroying itself, talking about how coaching players is about unlocking abilities they already have, without the distraction of translated answers about Lewis Bate’s form in the reserves or whatever.
I am still working through what Bielsa had to say this week, but this part felt significant enough to immediately share. Perhaps you were also wondering how Marcelo Bielsa felt when Argentina won the World Cup — Pablo Lamedica from TyC Sports in Argentina was, and asked him about it. And perhaps you will see how the answer relates to recent strife at Leeds United AFC, where fans have been playing all sorts of merry hell with players about them missing penalties and posting things on social media. Bielsa says that one of the most important factors that helped the Argentina team win the World Cup was that they felt, unusually, that the fans would still love them even if they lost.