Soccer. Ricardo La Volpe criticizes Javier Aguirre for his statements and praises Mauricio Pochettino
Marcelo Bielsa declared himself ashamed by Uruguay's 5-1 defeat in a friendly match against the United States, but the Argentine coach is not giving up and says he has the same strength as always ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
"I have the same strength from day one to continue in the Uruguayan national team until the World Cup. If at some point I thought that I should not continue or resign, it was not at this moment
Marcelo Bielsa
"I have the same strength from day one to continue in the Uruguayan national team until the World Cup. If at any time I thought that I should not continue or resign, it was not at this moment," emphasized the Argentine-born coach, who acknowledged that "losing 5-1 is not an episode that can be ignored, one feels embarrassed when results like this occur, but what one does is to analyze it personally and then share the questions that arise after such a negative performance."
You have to say what you did wrong to see if the phrase 'I take responsibility' has any weight or no weight at all
Marcelo Bielsa
"The project continues as it is until the World Cup, it is the synthesis of the conversation I had with the president of the Uruguayan Football Association," he said.
The coach emphasized that "you have to say what you did wrong to see if the phrase 'I take responsibility' has any weight or no weight at all. I always took responsibility and I took responsibility in a legitimate and not misleading way. At every opportunity I summarized the mistakes I think I made."
Marcelo Bielsa commented in the press conference that he considered himself a toxic person, and explained his reasons.
Do you know what this behavior is based on? Fear. You don't enjoy winning. You fear losing much more than you enjoy winning
Marcelo Bielsa
"I always say one word: I am toxic. Relating to me makes the person who relates to me worse. Yes, toxic. There are toxic guys who only see the error, who demand, who are never satisfied with anything," explained the Argentine coach at a press conference.
"I live it as a karma... Do you know what that behavior is based on? In fear. You don't enjoy winning. You fear losing much more than you enjoy winning," he stressed.
Marcelo Bielsa took the opportunity to deny alleged differences in the Uruguay squad: "Rumours are constructed and there is also an origin, but there are also foundations. In my case, I have contact with the players and I cannot be guided by a rumour, whether it is credible or not. Whenever the right moment is created to facilitate a leadership stumble, those with interests encourage the moment."
"If I have contact with the players and I take it for granted that the players want me to leave, it's very simple: they come and tell me: look Bielsa, we want you to leave. That's why I can't be guided by any rumors. I myself have the possibility of having direct information with the protagonists," he stressed.
He also alluded to what happened after the last Copa America with Uruguay's top scorer, Luis Suarez, who was very critical of the Argentine coach when he closed his cycle with the team.
"Luis Suarez said what he said and it had the effect it had. I never responded to each of the statements in the message he gave. I spoke about them internally with the players. What happened that time is not what I was used to happening: that the complaints were made public. All that happened, I have no resentment or revenge," he said.
In the past, the coach had said that Suarez's criticism of him had made his authority "somewhat affected."