Marcelo Alberto Bielsa (
nicknameA nickname is a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, which may sometimes be used simply for convenience A nickname (also spelled "nick name") is a descriptive name...
d
El Loco Bielsa, "Madman" Bielsa) (born July 21, 1955) is an association football
coachIn sports, a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.- Staff :...
and former defender, born in
RosarioRosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located 300 km northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
, .
As a child Marcelo Bielsa opted to support
Newell's Old BoysClub Atlético Newell's Old Boys is a football club from Rosario, Argentina, founded in 1903. The club plays the Rosario derby against Rosario Central, a club with which it has a huge historical rivalry.-History:...
instead of neighbors and eternal rivals Rosario Central, the team his father passionately followed. Coming from a family steeped in politics and law, Bielsa decided to break with tradition by dedicating his life to the sport of football.
Marcelo Alberto Bielsa (
nicknameA nickname is a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, which may sometimes be used simply for convenience A nickname (also spelled "nick name") is a descriptive name...
d
El Loco Bielsa, "Madman" Bielsa) (born July 21, 1955) is an association football
coachIn sports, a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.- Staff :...
and former defender, born in
RosarioRosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located 300 km northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
, .
Life and career
As a child Marcelo Bielsa opted to support
Newell's Old BoysClub Atlético Newell's Old Boys is a football club from Rosario, Argentina, founded in 1903. The club plays the Rosario derby against Rosario Central, a club with which it has a huge historical rivalry.-History:...
instead of neighbors and eternal rivals Rosario Central, the team his father passionately followed. Coming from a family steeped in politics and law, Bielsa decided to break with tradition by dedicating his life to the sport of football. His vocation was in stark contrast to that of his older brother
RafaelRafael Antonio Bielsa is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician from Rosario, province of Santa Fe. He is the brother of former Argentina national football team coach Marcelo Bielsa; both are well-known Newell's Old Boys supporters...
who is a politician (as of 2007, national deputy from the Capital District of Buenos Aires), while his sister María Eugenia is a former vicegovernor of the province of
Santa FeThe Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe, is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
.
He played as a defender in
Newell's Old BoysClub Atlético Newell's Old Boys is a football club from Rosario, Argentina, founded in 1903. The club plays the Rosario derby against Rosario Central, a club with which it has a huge historical rivalry.-History:...
First Division Team, but soon retired at the age of 25. Bielsa went on to develop his career as coach in that team after qualifying as a physical education teacher. He led Newell's to several wins in the early 1990s.
In 1992 he moved to
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
where he had spells in charge of F.C. Atlas A.C. and
Club AméricaClub América is a Mexican football club based in Mexico City, competing in the Primera División. América is owned by Emilio Azcárraga, who owns Televisa, making it the richest club in Mexico, and the richest outside Europe...
. In 1997 he returned to Argentina to manage
Vélez SársfieldClub Atlético Vélez Sársfield is an Argentine sports club best known for its football team, based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires....
.
Managerial career
In 1980 shortly after retiring from playing in professional football, Bielsa decided to start a new career as a football manager. His first assignment was coaching the youth divisions of Argentine club
Newell's Old BoysClub Atlético Newell's Old Boys is a football club from Rosario, Argentina, founded in 1903. The club plays the Rosario derby against Rosario Central, a club with which it has a huge historical rivalry.-History:...
. In 1990 Bielsa was given the task of managing Newell's first team where he would later go on to win the
1990 Torneo Apertura and the
1990-91 Torneo Integración defeating Boca Juniors in penalties.
El Loco managed the squad that competed in the final of the "1992 Copa Libertadores" losing to
São PauloSão Paulo Futebol Clube, usually called São Paulo FC or just São Paulo, is a traditional Brazilian football team from São Paulo, founded on January 25, 1930, and re-founded on December 16, 1935. Their home stadium is Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, better known as Morumbi. They play in a white shirt with...
on penalties. Weeks later after enduring defeat in the Copa Libertadores final, Bielsa and Newell's won the
1992 Torneo Clausura.
In 1998 Bielsa was given the managers job at
EspanyolRCD Espanyol de Barcelona is a sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is best known for its football team. Espanyol currently play in the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with seats for 40,500 spectators. It was inaugurated on 2 August 2009 with a match against Liverpool won by Espanyol...
but he soon left after being offered the
ArgentinaThe Argentina national football team is the national football team of Argentina and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association . Argentina has won most international titles by any national team - 19, a record shared with Uruguay....
job later that year, taking over after a four-year period by
Daniel PassarellaDaniel Alberto Passarella is a former Argentine football centre back and former manager of the Argentine and Uruguayan national football teams. He was captain of the Argentina team that won the 1978 World Cup.-Club playing career:Passarella started his career at Sarmiento of Junin, Buenos Aires...
as manager. Argentina won the qualifiers to
2002 World Cup2002 World Cup may refer to:*Athletics – 2002 IAAF World Cup*Field Hockey:** 2002 Men's World Hockey Cup** 2002 Women's World Hockey Cup*Football – 2002 FIFA World Cup...
but did not go through the first round. Despite this, Bielsa was given a second chance to lead Argentina to major success and stayed on his position.
Albicelestes were runners-up in 2004
Copa AméricaThe Copa América is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONMEBOL, the South American football confederation...
and won the 2004 Olympic Games' golden medal prize. Argentina became the first Latin American team to win the Olympic title in football since 1928, when they were beaten by Uruguay in the Amsterdam final.
Surprisingly, Bielsa resigned at the end of 2004 and
José PekermanJosé Néstor Pekerman is an Argentine football coach. He is arguably the all-time most successful football coach of young teams, having won the FIFA World Youth Championship three times , and the South American Youth Championship twice...
became Argentina's manager.
The Chilean national team
Currently, Marcelo Bielsa is the coach of Chile's National team, leading the team to the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa. Bielsa's current contract with Chile is a length of 3 years with a 1.5 million dollar annual income. Under his guidance the Chilean national team has undergone many historic firsts. Chile for the first time were able to earn a point playing
UruguayThe Uruguay national football team represents Uruguay in international football competition and is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol....
in Montevideo. Chile also suffered their worst defeat ever when playing at home during qualifiers losing 0-3 against
ParaguayThe Paraguay national football team is the national team of Paraguay and is controlled by the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol. The Paraguay national football team has reached the second round of the World Cup on three occasions but has never advanced beyond that stage...
. This historic low was repeated again when Chile lost 0-3 against
BrazilThe Brazil national football team is the national team of Brazil and is managed by the Brazilian Football Confederation that represents Brazil in international football competitions. They are the most successful national football team in the history of the World Cup, with five championships...
. On October 15, 2008, Bielsa masterminded a supreme well played match
1-0 win over his native
ArgentinaThe Argentina national football team is the national football team of Argentina and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association . Argentina has won most international titles by any national team - 19, a record shared with Uruguay....
; it was Chile's first win ever over Argentina in official matches and prompted the resignation of Argentina coach
Alfio BasileAlfio Rubén Basile , known as Coco, is an Argentine football coach and former player.-Playing career:Basile started his playing career at the Bella Vista club in his home city...
. Chile soundly bested the host
PeruThe Peru national football team represents Peru in international football competition and is managed by the Peruvian Football Federation . The team competes against the other nine members of FIFA's CONMEBOL conference, which encompasses the countries of South America...
in a 3-1 match in Lima, a location where Chile had its last victory in 1985. Bielsa then had Chile win 0-2 at the
Defensores del Chaco StadiumEstadio Defensores del Chaco is a multi-purpose stadium in Asunción, Paraguay. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium once had a 50,000+ capacity but over the years the stadium has undergone remodeling dropping the capacity to 36,000....
against host Paraguay after almost 30 years.
Bielsa's appointment has brought about visible changes in the Chilean set-up, with the fast-tracking of young talents and a more attacking mindset away from home.
Relations with the press
Bielsa refuses to grant exclusive interviews, the press conference has become his preferred method of communication. He has been known to field every last question from the assembled media during these gatherings. If the talk turns to the intricacies of the beautiful game, a three- or even four-hour press conference is not out of the question.
Methods
A fanatic of football videos that he adds to his collection, Bielsa on occasion checks pitch measurements by pacing them out before deciding on a particular formation. He allocates separate training times for different parts of his squad. Former Argentine national team captain
Roberto AyalaRoberto Fabián Ayala , nicknamed El Ratón is an Argentine football player for the Spanish team Real Zaragoza. Regarded as one of the best central defenders, he has been captain of the Argentine national team for more matches than anyone else. He has captained 63 matches and has played in three...
and defender under Bielsa stated
Sometimes we wouldn't see any of the strikers, because he'd have them training at a different time, and it was the same with the midfielders. He's an innovator, and one of the people who I've learned most from during my career.
Managerial stats
- As of August 12, 2009.
| Team |
Pts |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Eff |
|
|
47 |
29 |
14 |
5 |
10 |
35 |
29 |
6
54.02% |