In football, the national team coach post usually tends to be filled by local coaches, especially in countries with a long history and identity. Moreover, if the country has a record of achievement at the continental and world levels. That’s why, there are several countries that specialize in national team coach posts for local coaches, in order to maintain tradition and identity, if not to say local pride.
But, along with the development of tactical trends and the competitive side, this conservative view seems to be fading. In the decade of the 2000s, England, which is referred to as the originator of modern football, has appointed Sven Goran Eriksson (Sweden) and Fabio Capello (Italy) as national team coaches.
Despite failing to win a trophy, the first two foreign coaches in the history of the England National Team were able to leave a legacy, in the form of a bit of flexibility added to the typical British “Kick and Rush” style which tends to be stiff and monotonous, as seen in the current version of the Three Lions Team.
Two decades later, this phenomenon is back, this time in South America, in Uruguay to be precise. For the second time in history, they appointed a foreign coach as the coach of the national team.
Although it has not been confirmed by AUF, a number of media and international transfer experts say, Marcelo Bielsa will serve as the permanent coach of the Uruguay national team in the 2024 Copa America and 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Conmebol zone. Although contracted until 2025, it will be extended, for at least a year, if La Celeste is able to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
If the 67-year-old coach leads the Blue Sky, he will follow in the footsteps of Daniel Passarella (legend of the Argentine national team), who served between 2000-2001. Uniquely, Passarella was also Bielsa’s predecessor as coach of the Argentina National Team in the past. With a reputation as a two-time World Cup champion and the most successful Copa America team (with Argentina) plus a long history of more than a century, some people might think that the reaction of football lovers there will not be as good, as in England, especially when Eriksson and Capello on duty.
However, the reaction that arises is just the opposite. Many are enthusiastic about the arrival of the Argentine coach, because of his ability to polish the talents of players and build systems. Although he rarely wins trophies, this coach nicknamed El Loco already has a good reputation in South America. His name has even been immortalized as the name of the Newell’s Old Boys club stadium (Lionel Messi’s childhood club) since 2009.
In addition to winning the 2004 Olympic gold medal with Argentina, the former Leeds United coach was also able to rebuild the Chilean national team which had sunk after the Ivan Zamorano-Marcelo Salas era ended. Under his control, La Roja was able to qualify for the round of 16 finals of the 2010 World Cup and launched players like Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal. Even though he finally left in 2011, the team that Bielsa had built later became the main framework for the team that was able to win 2 Copa America trophies (2015 and 2026).
This quirky coach’s track record with the Chilean national team also coincides with the current material for the Uruguayan national team players, who are on average young and still lack experience in the senior national team. As the Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez era ended, they did have potential successors like Darwin Nunez (Liverpool), Ronald Araujo (Barcelona) and Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), but they did not yet have a coach who was able to polish them, as experienced by the Suarez generation in the Oscar era. Tabarez (2006-2021) who left the legacy of the “Processo” youth player development system, aka Process.
As a result, the “Processo” system is actually quite good, because it guarantees that player regeneration will continue. Uruguay itself is also known for having a “Garra Charrua” philosophy which in the Tabarez era was renewed to become more tactically flexible, however, the concoctions whose formulas are starting to be legible, plus the growing trend of “high pressing” football, make this classic strategy look obsolete, because existing updates tend to be less adaptive to dynamic trend developments.
Therefore, Bielsa is considered to be an ideal choice for Uruguay, to add an adaptive and high-intensity side to the existing system, while building a team framework for the long term. Apart from his quirky and sometimes reckless playing style, the prowess of the former Athletic Bilbao coach in polishing players and building a team game system has indeed been widely recognized, even by coaches like Pep Guardiola.
So, instead of seeing this as a setback, Bielsa’s arrival as coach of Los Charruas would be more accurately seen as a further renewal of Uruguay, which has long been attached to the conservative side. As in Chile in the past, Bielsa’s progress in Uruguay this may not be immediately visible results in the near future, but it can only be seen in quite a while.
Interestingly, this phenomenon also occurs in Brazil, which is trying to target Carlo Ancelotti and other top European coaches as new coaches. As is known, the Selecao coach post is still vacant, because the CBF (Brazilian PSSI) has yet to find an ideal coach.
With a reputation as a five-time World Cup champion, this phenomenon clearly looks strange, because Brazil is a world football giant. But, just like Garra Charrua” in Uruguay, Jogo Bonito in Brazil also seems to need updating so he can be more adaptive to current tactical trends.
Uniquely, this phenomenon does not occur in Argentina, because even though they greatly deify the role and number 10 jersey, they are not rigidly fixed on one particular tactical trend, they even tend to follow tactical trends from time to time. This adaptive side is even evident in their three World Cup titles, which represent three eras of tactical trends: attacking football (1978), defensive football (1986) and “pressing football” (2022).
As modern football blooms, conservative sides such as “local pride” or the classic system are slowly being eroded by such dynamic developments. To romantic and sentimental football fans, this may sound cruel, but this is where the saying “the ball is round” becomes relevant. All possibilities can occur in the midst of a dynamic situation, therefore adaptation and openness are a must, so that one can remain relevant without losing one’s identity.
So, it would be strange if a national team whose playing philosophy was not yet clear even dared to discuss the issue of “local pride”, because even a team that has a long history and world-class achievements is not “anti-foreign” as long as it proves to have a positive impact.
ASL
