Luis Suarez has lifted the lid on how Marcelo Bielsa has created a toxic workplace environment within the Uruguay national team, claiming it ‘breaks my heart.’
Bielsa took the reins of the two-time World Cup winners in May 2023 from caretaker manager Marcelo Broli after Diego Alonso resigned having failed to guide Uruguay out of the group stage at the 2022 World Cup.
Despite Bielsa’s pedigree, Suarez revealed the culture set by the former Leeds United boss is not a pleasant one.
‘At the Celeste Complex, employees are not allowed to come in and greet us and eat with us,’ Suarez said on TV show ‘De futbol se habla asi’.
‘They have to be careful even at the door they have to enter. It breaks my heart that this is how life is in the Complex today… Matias Vecino was the first to see it coming. Nobody questions the fact that a guy like Vecino, who was 30 years old, left from one day to the next?’
Luis Suarez claimed Marcelo Bielsa has created a toxic workplace environment for employees
The striker says Bielsa won’t allow employees to greet players or eat with them during meals
The former Leeds manager took over the reins of the Uruguay national team in May 2023
Vecino, a defensive midfielder for Lazio, made 67 appearances for Uruguay before Bielsa’s arrival but played just twice under the 69-year-old and announced his retirement from international football in May this year.
His retirement came prior to this year’s Copa America, in which Bielsa guided Uruguay to a third place finish, their best since they won the tournament in 2011.
However, Suarez claims it was a campaign not without internal turbulence amid a divide between the players and coaching staff.
‘There were situations at the Copa America that hurt me, but I didn’t say them for the sake of coexistence,’ Suarez said.
‘Many players held a meeting to ask the coach to at least say good morning to us, but he didn’t even say hello.’
Suarez added: ‘Bielsa gives a conference and talks wonderful things about people, and in New York there was a day when he asked us not to stop to greet people and I stood up and I told him that we were going to greet people anyway.’
The former Barcelona and Liverpool striker has since called time on his 17-year international career, with a 0-0 draw against Paraguay in Montevideo on September 6 proving to be his farewell act.
He leaves Uruguay’s national team behind as their all-time leading goalscorer with 69 goals in 143 games and is also the nation’s second-most capped player, behind only Diego Godin who made 161 appearances.
Suarez said there was a divide between the players and coaches during the Copa America
The legendary striker retired from international football last month against Paraguay
Bielsa steered Uruguay to third place at the Copa America, their best finish since 2011
But just before Suarez departed the international stage, he had one final conversation with Bielsa in a bid to salvage the internal unrest.
‘I had a five-minute chat with Bielsa, speaking as a group leader, and at the end he only replied, ‘Thank you very much,” Suarez said.
Suarez also pleaded for fans to avoid being overly critical on the players should Uruguay’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup veer off course.
‘Tomorrow, I ask people not to take it out on the players if something goes wrong,’ Suarez said.
‘Bielsa has separated the whole group, even in the way they train.’
Suarez revealed he had one final conversation with Bielsa just before he played his final game
But the 69-year-old did not offer much of a response to the iconic striker’s major concerns
Uruguay sits third in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on 15 points, behind Colombia and Argentina who have 16 and 18 points respectively.
Bielsa’s side is back in action with a trip to Peru on October 12 before they return home and face Ecuador on October 16.