Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay are a shambles - 'El Loco' has football's great underdogs in crisis heading into England showdown

Bielsa faced an uphill battle to win over the people of Uruguay, a country of only 3.5 million, ever since his appointment in May 2023, becoming only the second foreign manager to take the post. It's not that Uruguayans are anti-foreign, but rather anti-Argentina, their fiercest of rivals.

Defenders of Bielsa pointed to his work with the Chilean national team from 2007 to 2011 as an example of the Argentine putting aside his bloodline loyalties to try to conquer South America across the border. He revolutionised football in Chile, made them one of the 2010 World Cup's most watchable teams and laid the foundations for the double-Copa America winners of 2015 and 2016.

Not all of the Uruguayan locals were having it, even if Bielsa had indoctrinated himself into the culture long before taking the job, owning a house in Montevideo and spending plenty of time in the countryside outside the capital city too.

"It's a national team that represents and identifies with the hard working culture of the country," Bielsa said at his introductory press conference, no doubt speaking honestly but likely trying to play the PR game too.

It was clear that if Bielsa was going to win over Uruguay as a nation, he would have to deliver results on the pitch. Not much else would change their minds.

Bielsa spoke glowingly of the playing squad at his disposal after signing his three-year contract. He had been brought in to bring fresh impetus to a team that tumbled out at the group stage of the 2022 World Cup and was perceived to have wildly underperformed. Reports at the time of Bielsa's appointment claimed he was genuinely excited to take on a job working with so much talent having been linked with a number of Premier League vacancies in the months prior.

By the end of 2023, Bielsa must have felt completely vindicated. Uruguay beat Brazil 2-0 on home soil in El Loco's fourth game in charge, while match number five proved to be even more memorable. Bielsa led Uruguay into Boca Juniors' La Bombonera to take on world champions Argentina, who were at that point unbeaten in 14 stretching back to their infamous lost to Saudi Arabia in Qatar. Against the odds, the visitors ran out 2-0 winners, securing their first win away to La Albiceleste since 1937.

It was as perfect a performance from a Bielsa team as you could ever imagine. Every player gave their maximum and every player followed their orders to a tee, while they demonstrated their quality on the ball to punish their aggressive hosts.

Lionel Messi was full of praise for Uruguay post-match, telling the media: "We never felt comfortable. We were not able to have long possessions, did not create chances and played the game that they wanted, in their rhythm."

Darwin Nunez, at this point still a Liverpool player, and Barcelona's Ronald Araujo were the scorers on the night, but there were also standout performances from Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, future Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur of Tottenham Hotspur and wily veteran Martin Caceres. This was the sort of quality Bielsa pointed to right from the beginning of his reign and he was being proven correct in his assessment of their ability.

Uruguay's run of three successive wins to see out 2023 - they beat Bolivia 3-0 days after the Argentina triumph - was the peak of Bielsa's tenure so far, and it's difficult to foresee a future with even higher highs.

In the first international window of 2024, Uruguay drew 1-1 with the Basque Country in an unofficial exhibition match before losing 2-1 to the Ivory Coast in a friendly in France. Ahead of that summer's Copa America, they thrashed Mexico 4-0 to lift spirits in the camp again. They notably saw off Brazil in the quarter-finals on penalties and were favourites to meet Argentina in the final, only to fall to Colombia in a tie marred by in-stadium violence, dampening the mood of what should have been a tournament remembered for the right reasons.

Several Uruguay stars climbed into the stands to protect their loved ones, and Bielsa defended his players for taking action when they were being harassed by the media for leaving the pitch. "One has to speak thinking about all the threats he will receive if he speaks. So, the only thing I can tell you is that the players reacted the same way any human being would," he said with fire and anger.

"If you saw what happened, happen and there's [no other process to escape] and they are attacking their girlfriends, their mothers, a baby, their wives, their mothers - what would you do?"

Whether this was an insurmountable mental hurdle or Bielsa's influence is no longer working in the dressing room, Uruguay haven't been the same since this semi-final loss. Prior to that game, Bielsa's record in charge stood at 10 wins from 15 games, plus the shootout defeat of Brazil. After that, La Celeste have emerged as victors in only five of their 17 matches.

The cracks in Bielsa's foundations were first called out by legendary striker Luis Suarez in October 2024, taking aim at the cult-hero tactician in an explosive interview with DSports Uruguay.

"There were situations that occurred at the Copa America that hurt to see, that I didn't talk about for the good of the group. It's going to continue to happen. The players are going to reach a limit and explode. At the Copa America, there were players who told me 'Luis, I'll play the Copa America and then I won't play again'," Suarez said. "That tells you that we're nearing a difficult situation. Then you get over it and you return because you love your country. We all love representing our country.

"During my last call up some of us were playing cards and (Bielsa's) staff would walk around and glance our way as if to be on the lookout for anyone who was playing cards... There were a lot of things that caught my attention.

"There were a lot of players who set up a meeting (with Bielsa) to ask the coach to at the very least greet us with a good morning. He wouldn't even say hello. I had a five-minute meeting with him as a leader of the team and in the end, he only responded with a 'Thank you very much,'"

Suarez then told a story of how Bielsa used Agustin Canobbio, a full-fledged international in his mid-twenties, as a ball boy and a 'sparring player' for the first-team in a sign of disrespect.

"He had (Canobbio) make passes that for half of the Copa America were passes that only sparring players made. And he then had the sparring players train as regular players. You can't let a player who is in the 26-man squad for a Copa America believe that he's there to do what a sparring player does. It's a complete lack of respect. It makes me angry," he continued.

Uruguay lost their next match 1-0 to Peru, and Bielsa claimed Suarez's comments had changed how he was perceived as a manager and authoritative figure. "As for how the situation affected me, I don't ignore what happened, and I know that my authority was affected in some way," Bielsa said.

The nadir of the Bielsa reign came one year on from Suarez's teardown. Results over that 12-month stretch were mixed at best and there were signs that the manager was stumbling into some sort of end-game.

For example, he named a roster of only 17 Uruguay-based players for the October window for friendlies against the Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan in Malaysia, while pundits back home claimed even the team's biggest stars had been negatively affected by what Suarez said.

In November, Bielsa's chickens came home to roost. Uruguay travelled north for games against World Cup co-hosts Mexico and the United States. A 0-0 with El Tri in their first friendly set up the backdrop to Bielsa's reunion with his own disciple Mauricio Pochettino, now the USMNT's head coach.

The student became the master. Pochettino yanked Bielsa's king-of-pressing crown right off his head and locked down 'El Loco'. To much surprise, the USMNT were 5-1 victors, harassing Uruguay all over the pitch and making a mockery of Bielsa's pre-game comments that the intensity of Major League Soccer had made players "lazy".

"There is no way to justify this result. I feel that what is most affected after this performance is my approach to the match, how I prepared the players. What occurred tonight is a result of my role as a coach and how I set up the team, and the style of play I proposed," was his immediate assessment.

"In no way should the best Uruguayan players lose a match against the second-string group of the United States."

Bielsa is known for not adhering to football's norms. What's ordinary for him isn't for the rest of the world and vice-versa. It wasn't that much of a shock when, two days after the humbling by the US, he called a press conference back in Montevideo that lasted two hours.

"I'm a generator of tension. When I arrive, the environment becomes tense. That's why I appear infrequently. I'm toxic. To associate yourself with me makes you worse off. Do you understand me?" an emotional Bielsa said.

"There are toxic types who only see the errors that they are correcting, who are demanding, who are never satisfied with anything. He talks only about the work he is doing. When he goes out to eat, he reads the newspaper because he doesn't want to integrate with those around him, so that he doesn't have to talk about things that distract him from all that.

"Don't think I enjoy it. For me, it's karma. I am shy, obsessive. I'm a robotic person. I don't like clutter. Those are my flaws. I find it difficult to act free-spirited and friendly."

When Bielsa's sudden press conference was announced, local media believed it was to announce his departure. In the immediate aftermath of defeat to the US, word quickly spread that the manager had lost a dressing room which was already on the precipice of division. Yet, Uruguayan FA president Ignacio Alonso confirmed that 'El Loco' will be given the chance to lead them into the World Cup.

"The coach will continue with us," Alonso told the press. "The meeting was very positive, we discussed things to improve; things to make everyone feel comfortable in preparation for the World Cup. The important thing about the crisis triggered by the match against the United States has been that it's made us work hard internally to know what needs to be done."

Bielsa has named a 28-player squad for March's friendlies against England and Algeria with few surprises. That, in itself, could be the most surprising aspect of the camp as they meet for the final time before the end of the club season, though you're always only around the corner from Bielsa's next outburst.

Uruguayans back home will be watching on with hope and prayer that their national team have shed the skin of their November antics. They cannot possibly be any worse than they were when the Americans ran them ragged. They face a Three Lions team on Friday night optimised for fitness and energy, given Thomas Tuchel has given a large chunk of his 35-player squad a few extra days off.

The plan remains for Bielsa to be Uruguay's head coach when they kick off their World Cup campaign on June 15 against Saudi Arabia in Miami. But any further country-maddening, internet-breaking shenanigans from 'El Loco' could throw his immediate future into serious jeopardy again.

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