Argentina vs Uruguay tips and predictions: Messi and co to sink Bielsa’s Celeste
Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay will look to build on a historic win over Brazil in a blood-and-thunder affair with rivals Argentina (Fri 0000 GMT).
Marcelo Bielsa is an Argentine football manager who is currently the head coach of the Uruguay national side.
Bielsa has previously managed Newell's Old Boys, Atlas, Club America, Velez Sarsfield, Espanyol, the Argentina national team, the Chile national team, Athletic Bilbao, Marseille, Lazio, Lille and Leeds United.
After an impressive start to his managerial career, Bielsa was handed the reins of the Argentina national team in 1998.
They were eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 1999 Copa America and lost the final of the 2004 event to Brazil on penalties. In the 2002 World Cup, Argentina were notably poor and were eliminated in the group stages, finishing behind Sweden and England.
"After the elimination, something strange happened in that dressing room," said German Burgos, who was second-choice goalkeeper for Argentina, as per Marca.
While in charge of Argentina, Bielsa coached Diego Simeone, who went on to become a tremendous success at Atletico Madrid.
Bielsa has been widely praised for his success while in charge of Athletic Bilbao, who he began coaching in 2011. The 2011/12 season saw the team reach the final of the UEFA Europa League, knocking out Manchester United along the way, and the Copa del Rey final too. They lost those to Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, respectively.
The 2012/13 season was a difficult one and the sale of Javi Martinez to Bayern Munich did not help matters - nor, indeed, did Athletic Bilbao's freezing out of Fernando Llorente over contractual disputes. The team finished 12th in La Liga and Bielsa was not offered a new contract after his expired at the end of the campaign.
Bielsa was appointed manager of Lazio on July 6, 2016, but left after two days - he said they had already failed to meet their recruitment deadlines despite the transfer window still having eight weeks to run. The club sued for €50million for breach of contract.
After Lazio, Bielsa moved on to Lille, where he overhauled the squad, replacing experienced players such as Vincent Enyeama and Rio Mavuba with the likes of Nicolas Pepe, Thiago Mendes, Thiago Maia, Kevin Malcuit, Fode Ballo-Toure, Luiz Araujo and Edgar Ie. He was fired in December 2017 after only half a season in charge.
"We have to accept that we made mistakes. We have to say that clearly," Luis Campos, Lille's sporting advisor, said to RMC.
Bielsa was appointed as manager of Leeds United ahead of the 2018/19 season and led them to the Championship play-offs, where they were beaten in the semi-finals by Derby County.
Along the way, Bielsa gained some degree of notoriety by admitting to sending a spy to Derby's training ground in a previous league encounter, much to the chagrin of then Derby boss Frank Lampard.
However, Bielsa instructed his players to allow Aston Villa to score a goal unchallenged in another match after his side had scored one which he deemed unfair. This earned Bielsa and Leeds United the 2019 FIFA Fair Play Award.
In 2019/20, Bielsa's Leeds United won the Championship and gained automatic promotion to the Premier League. In their first season back up, they performed admirably, notably picking up four points against Manchester City, a team managed by Pep Guardiola, another of Bielsa's disciples.
However, Leeds struggled in the 2021/22 campaign as the side were ravaged with an injuries which removed a host of key players for large chunks of the season.
Bielsa is married to architect Laura Bracalenti and they have a daughter called Ines. While managing Leeds, Bielsa led a very humble life, living above a shop in the racing town of Wetherby and was often spotted in local shops and restaurants in his branded club tracksuit.
The Daily Star reported that Bielsa was earning £6million a year at Leeds United, which is essentially £3million after tax. He is reportedly the best-paid manager in Leeds United's history.
Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay will look to build on a historic win over Brazil in a blood-and-thunder affair with rivals Argentina (Fri 0000 GMT).
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