Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde agreed with the declarations made by Luis Suárez over the difficult working conditions imposed by Uruguay national team head coach Marcelo Bielsa, but said the problems should only be discussed internally.
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“In the end, there are things that are true,” said Valverde in a mixed zone. “You don’t have to deny anything in the end, you always have to be honest but it is also true that the best thing to do about problems is to talk about them among the team, talk about them with the person who needs to be talked about.”
Uruguay national team and Sport Club Internacional goalkeeper Sergio Rochet later echoed Valverde’s sentiment, while concurring with the statements made by Suárez.
“It’s true that some things happened,” he said. “Some problems have arisen and they need to be resolved behind closed doors. The priority is to be in a harmonious environment for the good of the team.”
Suárez exposed the current state of La Celeste under Bielsa in a recent interview, emphasizing the separation between players and staff.
“At the Celeste Complex, employees are not allowed to come in and greet us and eat with us,” he said on the DirecTV show “De fútbol se habla así.“
Federico Valverde pictured in action for Uruguay during the Copa América. Omar Vega/Getty Images
“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 … Matías 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?”
The Inter Miami forward continued by detailing the effects of Bielsa’s leadership during the 2024 Copa América.
“There were situations at the Copa América that hurt me, but I didn’t say them for the sake of co-existence,” Suárez said on the show. “Many players held a meeting to ask the coach to at least say good morning to us, but he didn’t even say hello.”
Though Uruguay finished the Conmebol tournament in third place after beating Canada 2-2 (4-3) in penalties, Suárez expressed worry about the state of the national team under Bielsa.
“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 told him that we were going to greet people anyway,” he said.
“I had a five-minute chat with Bielsa, speaking as a group leader, and at the end he only replied, ‘Thank you very much.”
Despite the ongoing issues, Valverde said the team must now move forward and focus on the 2026 World Cup qualifiers for the sake of the country.
“At the end of this we have to move on,” he said. “We have to go with the hope of wearing the national team jersey and think only about winning and giving the best to the country.”
La Celeste are third place on the Conmebol rankings with 15 points in eight games, and return to action Oct. 11 against Peru in the next round of World Cup qualifiers.
