Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa

Marcelo Bielsa is an Argentine coach who used to be a football player. His entire career as a player he spent in Argentina, but in the future coached a variety of teams. Marcelo Bielsa acted as a defender when he was a football player, and this affected his coaching thinking.

Player's career

Marcelo Bielsa, like many talented Argentine players, started his career at the club "Old Boys". From early childhood, he was listed in the system of this club, signed with him at the age of 18, but it was quickly disappointed. The defender spent the first three years of his professional career in reserve, playing for a double, and only at age 21 debuted for the main team, which played only two seasons. In 1978, he moved to the Instituto Central Club, but even there he could not get accustomed, having played only ten games during the year, Marcelo Bielsa moved to the amateur club Argentino, where he spent another year before he completed his career as an aged player 25 years. The case of Bielsa is common in football - many players understand early enough that they can do much more if they are not on the field, but beyond. So the coaching career of the failed player began.

Career coach

When the 25-year-old Bielsa finished his sports career, he did not waste time and entered the physical education university to get a full-time coaching education. Six years of training lasted, but all this time, Bielsa did not spend only on theory - he received the post of assistant coach at his home club, Newells Old Boys, where he gained experience under the guidance of experienced specialists. In 1986, Marcelo finished his studies and immediately received the post of youth coach of the Old Boys and the Scout of Youth. So, five years passed before the young coach's life, until in January 1992 he was appointed head coach for all his services to the club. However, he could not achieve great successes and was dismissed after a year and a half. Immediately, Marcelo was led by the Mexican club Atlas, but he stayed there only for a year and a half - his performance only got worse. Then followed a brief period in the Mexican "America", where he was not allowed to complete the season because of the terrible performances. Bielsa took a break for a year and a half to figure out what he could not do in coaching, and returned in the summer of 1997 as head coach of the Argentine "Veles". There he spent one of the best seasons in his career, thanks to which he was noticed in Europe - and in the summer of 1998 Bielsa moved to Spain, in the "Espanyol". However, after the best stretch, the worst was followed - in 9 matches the club was able to win only two wins, and Bielsa was fired after three months.

Exit to the top

He returned to his homeland, where he was offered the position of coach of the national team of Argentina - it was there that he showed the best results. In 2001 Bielsa was recognized as the best coach of the national teams of the year in the world. In 2005, he left the national team, and in 2007 led the Chileans. There, for four years, he showed good results, so in 2011 he was invited to the Spanish "Athletic". He struck all that in the first season brought the club to the final of the Europa League - but then everything collapsed, and the second season was simply disgusting. In the summer of 2014, the coach was led by Marseille, where he spent only one year. After a one-year break, he decided to return to the sport and headed Lazio in 2016, but two days later he broke the contract with the club, provoking a negative reaction from the leadership - he was even sued for failure to comply with the terms of the contract.