You either love or you hate working with Marcelo Bielsa and for Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, it’s very much the former.
That’s at least if his latest comments are anything to go by, with the Tottenham man having sung the manager’s praises to ESPN.
Bielsa has been in charge of Uruguay since May last year, having elected to make them his first job since leaving Leeds.
They’re the third international team of his career to date, having already taken charge of Argentina on two separate occasions and Chile from 2007 to 2011.
He’s only managed nine games so far, but it’s very much been a positive nine games, with six wins, one draw and two defeats and 20 goals scored compared to just eight conceded.
Indeed, two of those wins have been pretty significant ones, with 2-0 victories over Brazil and Argentina towards the end of last year certainly winning him admirers.
The big question is whether they can turn themselves into serious contenders at major tournaments, with the Copa America this summer and the World Cup in 2026 in their viewfinder.
Bentancur is confident in terms of the former in the coming months, with the Tottenham man praising his international manager in his latest comments.
“Working with Bielsa is a unique experience, they are new methods that I have to experience as a player and now that I have him up close and being able to experience it after he has said that is incredible,” he told ESPN Uruguay.
“Every time I have to go to the national team it is to squeeze everything I can 1000% to get the most juice possible.
“We don’t really like to talk or say that we are going to carry the cup, but the truth is that it is the objective. We have a very good team and we have been showing it in the qualifiers. We arrived with great enthusiasm as always.”
