Ipswich Town midfielder Marcelino Núñez is having a pretty rough time of it. He’s struggling for minutes in England, and things aren’t looking much better with Chile.
The 26-year-old has just been left out of the national team’s November squad, just over a month after his controversial departure from their previous training camp.
And with his Ipswich situation also going downhill, it’s hardly the ideal moment for another setback.
Chile leave Ipswich player out after controversy
As reported by Cooperativa Deportes, manager Nicolás Córdova has named his squad for two friendlies against Colombia on November 13 and 17… And Núñez is nowhere to be seen.
We’ve covered the controversy surrounding his departure from Chile’s previous camp, when he returned to England early following reported disagreements with Córdova and teammate Lucas Cepeda.
Interestingly, Cepeda has kept his place in the squad. Williams Alarcón, meanwhile, returns to the national team after more than two years without an appearance.
Chilean reports previously suggested Núñez had decided not to play for his country again while Córdova remained in charge.
The manager hasn’t publicly explained this latest omission, so there’s no confirmation that he’s deliberately punishing the Ipswich player.
Still, the situation has attracted criticism in Chile. PrensaFútbol editor Rodrigo Guajardo argued that Núñez made a serious mistake by walking away from the national team.
He believes Córdova should have handled things better too, though, and spoken to the midfielder after the previous international break.
“Chile aren’t in a position to discard anyone. We’ve got no players to spare,” Guajardo said.
Things aren’t going much better at Ipswich
There’s another problem for Núñez, and this one is much closer to home. The midfielder has lost his place at Ipswich after a promising start to the season.
His last first-team appearance came against Arsenal on September 15. He’s subsequently gone five consecutive competitive matches without getting on the pitch.
There was even an appearance for Ipswich’s Under-21s against Anderlecht on October 20, when he played 62 minutes.
He was left out of the squads against Fulham and Manchester City before returning to the bench against Nottingham Forest and Hull City. He didn’t get on in either match.
Núñez has made just two Premier League appearances this season, totalling 142 minutes.
Fair to say his loss of playing time actually began before the controversy with Chile, so the two situations are probably not connected. But the timing is certainly unfortunate of course.
A player who was celebrating his childhood dream of playing in the Premier League back in September is now struggling to get anywhere near the pitch. And after this latest decision from Córdova, he won’t have international football to fall back on this month either.
