When Bielsa speaks, we listen.
Christian Olivera, a former LAFC player and current member of the Uruguay national team, recently revealed that Marcelo Bielsa, one of soccer’s most renowned tactical minds, advised him to leave Major League Soccer in order to better his career.
Olivera shared that during his time with the Uruguay U-23 team, Bielsa told him that MLS was not the right environment for him, stating that "MLS is a league that ultimately makes players lazy."
Marcelo Bielsa criticizes MLS: "It makes players lazy."
"Bielsa, at the time, when I was playing in the U-23, told me he wanted me to leave Los Angeles [FC] because it wasn't an adequate league for me. He told me that 'MLS is a league that makes players lazy,'” said Olivera to Punto Penal.
The 22-year-old attacker, who now plays from Gremio in the Brazilian Série A, also came to the same conclusion as “El Loco,” saying the league made him lack rhythm — something he has an abundance of in Brazil.
“Bielsa me dijo que quería que saliera de Los Angeles. Me dijo que la MLS es una liga que achancha a los jugadores”.
Kike Olivera en @Punto_Penal. pic.twitter.com/GOQVWG2ogI— Martin Charquero (@MartinCharquero) February 23, 2025
“I also felt that way, I lacked rhythm. I quickly knew that it was the league. Now, in the Brazilian league, where you play every three days, it's beautiful."
Bielsa, who over the course of post-2022 World Cup had been linked with the U.S. men’s national team head coach position, was also highly critical of the United States’ organization of the 2024 Copa América, saying organizers were a “plague of liars.”
