Marcelo Bielsa on the Luis Suarez criticism after Uruguay’s loss to Peru in the World Cup qualifier on Saturday.
Marcelo Bielsa says his “authority was affected” when Luis Suarez criticised his coaching style.
September marks Suarez’s retirement from international football. Earlier this month, Suarez said that Bielsa had “divided the whole group” and that some players were thinking of leaving the team.
In an interview with Latin American broadcaster DSports, Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer also asked “the fans not to take it out on the players when things go wrong” because “the players will reach a limit and they will explode” under the Argentine’s working conditions.
“As for how the situation affected me, I don’t ignore what happened. And I know that my authority was affected in some way,” said Bielsa after Saturday’s defeat by Peru.
Despite losing 1-0 to Colombia in the Fifa World Cup qualifier, Uruguay still has 15 points from nine games, which puts them third overall behind Argentina and Colombia.
“What happened during the week does not condition or explain how we played. Nor do I think it has had an effect. Because it was a week with a lot of effervescence,” added the former Leeds United boss.
“It didn’t alter the conviction with which the match was prepared and the way the group and the coaching staff worked. The preparation was the same as always.”
Suarez had also voiced his disapproval of the way midfield player Agustin Canobbio was treated. This including his forced training as a spare man and ball boy at the 2024 Copa America. And the fact that staff members were not permitted to mingle or meet the team.
Leeds fired Bielsa in February 2022. Although while he was with the team, he gained notoriety for his rigorous training regimens and attention to detail.
Having assembled a formidable Uruguayan squad for the 2026 World Cup, he was named manager in May of 2023.