That second team had an extraordinary Copa America, ending as runners-up to Brazil. Even though the idea remained consistent, the style of play was less direct and involved more of a link-up game. Then a new team was built, from 2003 to 2004, when players were replaced. "At first, people were expecting to see the Bielsa stamp on me" That team played brilliantly and had a very high peak performance during the qualifiers.īut players have cycles and, by the time we got to the World Cup, not all of them were at the same level they had been at in the run-up to that tournament. The first (below), between 19, was more direct, winning a lot of matches before the 2002 World Cup.
Under Marcelo, there were two different national teams. There were some great, happy times, but also bitterness. Those were six years that we really enjoyed. "The youngest players went on to win Olympic gold in 2004" We had only been in Barcelona for four months when the call came from the Argentinian Football Association, offering him the job of manager of the national team. In June 1997 we came back to Argentina with Velez Sarsfield, and in 1998 we went to La Liga with Espanyol.
But each drill goes into such a minute degree of detail that when we take it on to the pitch, the players pick it up perfectly – and very quickly.”Īfter Atlas I went with him to his next teams. “Do you realise that I used to create three drills a day?” he said. But he told me something about that period in Mexico. Later, while with the Argentina national team, Marcelo had created another wonderful drill. Youngsters emerged from that time who were pivotal to Mexico’s national team – Pável Pardo, Jared Borgetti, Juan Pablo Rodríguez, Rafael Márquez (below) and Daniel Osorno. We ended up with close to 500 drills, which gave us the chance to develop different players in different scenarios more easily. "We really enjoyed those six years in charge of Argentina" To all of those tasks that he had previously designed, others were added to the recruitment and training programme for players he developed in the lower categories at Atlas. Marcelo actually developed a programme of about 30 types of one-two, and he shaped them into drills to use in training.
He can absorb all of the action, then home in on just one aspect and transform it into an exercise.įrom that tiny part of the game, he is capable of developing a drill that replicates it, and improves it so that players can execute it in a match. He also creates them through a very particular and thorough analysis of matches and of players. There are so many details that make him different, but maybe above all else is the fact that he is an extraordinary creator of training exercises that improve players. "Marcelo ended up with 500 drills to develop different players" Even during his spell with clubs in Argentina, opposing fans showed respect for what his teams tried to do. Marcelo has such a distinct style.įrom the outside, that’s why a lot of fans follow his idea – they feel as though they identify with it. In our first conversation, there was considerable admiration on my part for his working methods – and great respect for his spell at Newell’s, where he brought great joy to us fans. Marcelo, by then sporting director, asked who could replace him – and my name came up. That was just the beginning because, two years later, one of the physical trainers in the lower divisions left. Then Marcelo went to Atlas in Mexico in 1993, and in 1994 he took Claudio with him. At the time I was the physical trainer for Newell’s lower divisions, who were managed by Jorge Bernardo Griffa. My pilgrimage with Bielsa started in 1996, although the story goes back some years before then, when he was in charge at Newell’s Old Boys.ĭuring that spell in Argentina, a friend of mine, Claudio Vivas, did some work for him – and he asked me to be involved too. I thought I knew about football when I started working with Marcelo Bielsa.īut it took just two weeks alongside him to realise that there was a new world beyond, in which I could develop and learn.
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