Bielsa remembers the most painful defeat of his career with a special anecdote about Burrito Ortega

La Conmebol is preparing to receive a new double qualification date for the 2026 World Cup. While La Roja must add points to avoid complications in the standings, other teams are going through a calmer moment. Uruguay, for example, has seven units and is in second place. The Charrúas must travel to Argentina and then they will host Bolivia, in a day that will begin to put the different teams on track.

In this sense, Marcelo Bielsa anticipated what Celeste’s duels will look like. The match against the Albiceleste obviously has a different connotation, both in Trans-Andean territory and for the strategist. . As part of a press conference, the coach provided details on the confrontation.

“A match that can by no means be simple . Argentina’s playing model is quite clear, they have been playing the same way for a long time, with the same style and at a very good level and the way we are trying to play, we will try to transfer it into the game. A contested and competitive match, we will try to play and they too, neither team excludes putting a lot of effort to recover the ball. I don’t answer anything original, but I can’t imagine that Argentina doesn’t try to manipulate the ball and I can’t imagine Uruguay without trying to avoid it with great dedication and, on the contrary, “, he indicated.

“If we definitely don’t think about trying to play and only think about defending, that’s the shortest way to abandon the game, that’s for sure. If a rival like Argentina plays with a defensive approach, the chances of success are very low. », added the 68-year-old technician.

Bielsa was consulted on the mechanization of modern football and the disappearance of footballers who make the difference through dribbling. In this regard, the strategist recalled an anecdote that occurred in the Albiceleste locker room after its elimination in the first round of the 2002 World Cup.

“I have great affection for Ariel Ortega . Unique and extraordinary player. After the match (against Sweden) that we were very sad, chatting, assimilating the difficult defeat. Ortega came back without telling the player in him, to the child, to the teenager who grew up dribbling in a pasture and said: “How come I didn’t find a trick to win this match?” . Argentina played very well in this match, generating 15 goal situations, and Ortega, who was a player of pure instinct, had the gift of dribbling and regretted not having been able to find it in a moment as decisive as that. I always suggest to the player to dribble “, he commented.

The coach continued with his idea on mechanization in modern football: “We don’t teach the player to dribble. It’s one of the few things that’s impossible to teach. . To see to what extent this cannot be taught, this is a simple example, in training academies they offer two or three ways to eliminate rivals, imitating dribbling. The player mechanizes it in this way until he incorporates it, but we then realize that this cannot be taught because the player uses this resource of the game in an action which does not allow it and then the gesture becomes ridiculous. Dribbling has a life of its own. And just as it is not taught, it is not undone either. The way to undo it is to repress it and that is truly nonsense. “.

“I always comment on this, because I watch recorded football all day, and I’ve done it many times: you stop the video before a dribble and watch the defensive complexity scenario presented by the defending team, let the action unfold and stop. again the video after the dribble and you will see that the offensive possibilities have increased, the terrain to drill after a dribble is much more accessible. Dribbling opens the passing lines, unprotects closed structures , facilitates disorder in the defending team,” Bielsa said of this idea.

Finally, he talked about how he should face Lionel Messi: “The question you ask me can be multiplied by the number of rivals Messi has faced, led by the coaches who run these teams, There is no coach who is not asked the same thing as you ask me. If you categorize the answers you will see that none of them were effective, There is no method effective enough to stop Messi, who is the best player in the world; rightly and without doubt, in my opinion,” he stressed.

“So if no one has found the formula, you have to understand that there is no infallible formula. We should ask him what is wrong with him for not playing well because the questions asked to us coaches have not made any contribution. Football hopes that great players shine, so there is no effective formula for a great player not to shine, this will keep football more alive,” he concluded.