The fallout from Marcelino Núñez’s controversial departure from the Chile squad continues, and there’s now more detail on what was behind the Ipswich Town player’s frustration.
More importantly, the problem appears to go well beyond Núñez. The latest reports from Chile say members of the squad are questioning Nicolás Córdova’s leadership and his handling of the players.
There’s also a new explanation for why being left on the bench against the United States bothered Núñez quite so much.
Ipswich status part of Núñez’s frustration
Arguably Chile’s biggest newspaper, La Tercera take a deeper look at the situation on Thursday and explain Núñez’s thinking after Córdova didn’t use him against the US.
According to the newspaper, the midfielder believes his experience deserves greater consideration from the Chile manager. His status at Ipswich also plays a part of course. Núñez is one of relatively few Chile internationals currently playing at the highest level in Europe.
La Tercera say he feels being part of a Premier League squad should earn him more consideration from the national team coach. At the very least, he apparently didn’t expect what the newspaper describes as that level of “snub”.
His irritation with Córdova’s public comments was even greater. As explained previously, Núñez wasn’t happy with the manager publicly highlighting individual players when discussing Chile’s problems. La Tercera now make it clear he’s far from alone in that view.
Chile players ‘question’ Córdova’s leadership
According to the newspaper, members of the Chile squad believe Córdova unnecessarily exposes them in public. They feel the manager goes too far in trying to distance himself from the team and its problems.
Within dressing rooms, La Tercera explain, publicly naming individual players after mistakes can be viewed particularly badly. Players prefer those conversations to stay behind closed doors.
Some also interpret Córdova’s approach as an attempt to avoid responsibility himself. The report says the Chile players ultimately “question the leadership of the coach”.
So his dramatic departure may have brought the problem into public view, but the Ipswich midfielder clearly isn’t the only player unhappy with how Córdova has handled this international break.
The manager’s position doesn’t help matters either. Córdova remains an interim appointment with the senior national team. His long-term role is with Chile’s youth structure.
He has even publicly admitted he’d like Manuel Pellegrini to eventually take over the senior side.
Another episode has weakened Córdova
La Tercera also point to another situation which they say has damaged Córdova’s standing. The assistant manager and national teams chief Felipe Correa travelled to Rio de Janeiro to convince Erick Pulgar to join Chile for the North American tour.
He failed. Pulgar instead prioritised Flamengo, which is still fighting for two major titles in the last months of their season.
According to La Tercera, some believe a manager with greater authority would not have suffered that rejection.
Former Chile international Jean Beausejour has also challenged one of Córdova’s recent arguments. The manager pointed out that during Chile’s strongest period, their best players represented some of the world’s biggest clubs.
Beausejour countered that by recalling the beginning of Chile’s successful qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup. At that stage, he says around 70% of the squad were playing domestically, while several future stars had yet to establish themselves at Europe’s biggest clubs.
In the end, all of this makes Núñez’s situation look less like an isolated player-manager disagreement.
