ESPN.comReading: 6 min.
Mark Gonzalezformer soccer player of the Chilean National Team, spoke on the program “Polideportivo” (Teledoce) about the driving style of Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsawho had him in the Chilean team, and what he contributed to his game.
González wore the red shirt of the Chilean National Team between 2003 and 2016, coinciding with Bielsa’s time in that country, which lasted from 2007 to 2011. “I keep the best memories of him. Whoever has had him as a coach will agree. He is very dedicated, very studious, he gets the most out of you, ”commented the former player, and highlighted the influence of Rosario in the successful era that Chile experienced internationally in those years. He also pointed out that “egos do not exist with him” and that he seeks to maximize the performance of his players “regardless of the names.”
Regarding the treatment inside the training complex, the Chilean defined Bielsa as “a special coach, very careful, who lives in his bubble that is football, the players and always having the best”. He reviewed that one of the first actions he took when he took up the job in Chile was to modify the infrastructure of the training center so that the soccer players could have everything they need for a good recovery, food, and medical attention. As for how he is in personal dealings with his managers, González said that “in one-on-one he is a very respectful person, although he is not a coach who is constantly on top of you sharing, but rather he is one of those who will say hello once, ask about your family and then bye, just and necessary”, and who does not usually engage in conversations outside of aspects related to what happens on the pitch. So much so, that the former player said that the best treatment they had was either with the assistant, Eduardo Berizzo, or with the physical trainer, since “direct treatment with Bielsa does not exist,” he said.
The Bielsa method
González, who played for clubs such as Liverpool, Real Sociedad or Betis, recalled that in the first games with Bielsa as DT, Chile did not do well, and said that “it was difficult to adapt to his methodology.”
The type of training carried out by the Argentine coach is extremely demanding. “The jobs are 100%, there is no 99%, everything has to be perfect, otherwise the training will not end. Sometimes we trained until the night until we didn’t even see the ball, but until the exercise came out, I didn’t stop it,” González said. Also, he said that with the passing of practices, the squad was getting the idea and stressed that Bielsa “is a coach who leads you to learn quickly.” “He is very demanding and strict in what he does, he is a perfectionist and there was no margin for error in anything. In the first games it did not go well for us, but later we grabbed the thread, we understood well and that in the end changed Chilean football completely, ”he said.
Asked about how the extremely hard physical training and the constant pressure after losing the ball that Bielsa proposes fit with the more experienced players, who could find it more difficult from a physical point of view, González recalled that many of the figures of That so-called “golden generation” of Chile, were very young when the man from Rosario took office, and they developed at that stage. “He is very physical. I imagine that he will continue with the same school now, but with older players, today, you cannot demand the same from a 22 or 23-year-old boy, they will not run the same. With him it is ‘all the same’. I don’t know how it can turn out, but with the players that Uruguay has, I’m already imagining it, it can be tremendous, ”he said.
One aspect that has also given Bielsa great recognition of his work is his meticulous study of rivals. For González, today, it must be even deeper than it was in his years in Chile, due to technological advances and how data science and video analysis have been increasingly implemented.
“You could say that if they give you a corner goal that went to the near post, that is practically our fault because that was more than reported in the previous one. In that kind of information is complete. Individually too, it shows you videos of yourself from the last months before the National Team, the good things you did, it takes you the plays according to the game you are going to play, the rival you are going to face, their virtues and defects. It is motivating because it shows you all the things you do and values it, and on the other hand it shows you the player you are going to face and what he wants you to do against him”, explained the former player.
González worked mostly as a winger on the left or winger in that sector, the classic pointer who took advantage of his speed to overflow the line. However, the former player remarked how much he made him grow as a footballer in terms of his movements on the pitch. “I was too vertical and I was acquiring the diagonals, the diagonal parallels depending on where the play came from, and I applied that to speed. With him I was getting more into the middle and learning these types of movements that helped me a lot, and at the same time it made me think that if I had acquired these movements before, perhaps I would have reached other higher sides within what I achieved ”, he commented.
The former Chilean soccer player did not hesitate to mention Marcelo Bielsa as the best coach he had in his career, for which he devoted himself to his game. “What allowed me to grow in football, that’s what I’ll take with me. I did not experience it with another coach who may have a better name worldwide, but when they have delivered something to me, and that it has served me for the future, I cannot find it, and I did find it with Bielsa. That’s why it’s the best I’ve had, regardless of the achievements because in the end football is results, and maybe Bielsa doesn’t do well and they kick him out after three months there. But I am also convinced that the processes must be followed, there was a reason he was here for so many years, and in those years the results were seen, with players who were young, they matured, they became more complete, and that led to his favor. of the Selection”, commented.
from one red to another
González went through English Liverpool, and usually returns to that city to play legend games organized by the club, in addition to closely following what happens in the team. In this sense, the Chilean referred to the present of Darwin Núñez, and said that he sees that he has overcome a first stage of adaptation and has a lot to grow.
“Getting to the English league is not easy, I was there for a season and it is a thorn that always stuck in me because I always said that I should have stayed there for another year and surely it would have exploded there. The same thing happens to him, it’s a matter of adaptation. Today he is already showing it, he is adapting. He is a tremendous player, I think he is going to be one of the world-renowned players, he has a lot of potential and is clearly a key player within the National Team and Liverpool. He is 23 years old, still a lot to deliver and learn. With what he gives now, he imagines what he will do with 28 or 30 ”, he indicated.