Monday 28 February 2011

Borghi Handed Tough Job To Emulate Bielsa

Argentinian coach Marcelo "madman" Bielsa was something of an unknown quantity to most armchair football fans before he led the Chilean National Side to the 2010 World Cup but their impressive qualifying campaign combined with very attacking football has made him a candidate for a number of top jobs in Europe.


For those with a strong interest in South American football then Bielsa would have been a familiar name after some big jobs in the region such as Club America in Mexico, Newell's Old Boys and Velez Sarsfield in Argentina and the Argentinian national team itself for a 6-year period. Bielsa was appointed head coach of the Chilean national team in 2007 and has guided Chile through one of its most successful spells on the international stage.

Chile's terrific qualifying campaign saw them finish second in the South American standings, just a point behind Brazil, and having scored just one goal less than the Samba stars during the 18 matches. The most impressive thing about Chile during Bielsa's reign was the fast-tracking of so many talented young stars who went on to grace the World Cup platform in June last year.

Bielsa's attacking style was great on the eye but the system employed by the Argentine would have raised a few eyebrows before the tournament kicked-off. Some outlets said 4-2-3-1, some said 4-3-3, and probably most accurate was that of the superb Zonal Marking site, which showed Chile in a 3-3-1-3 formation.


'Loco Bielsa' resigned in February after a spat with FA President Jorge Segovia leaving the Chilean FA the almost impossible job to replace a coach that has knitted together one of the finest young squads in International football.

Their replacement was another Argentine who has been involved in some of the top jobs like his predecessor. 46-year-old Claudio Borghi takes over the reigns from Bielsa after a terrible short spell as coach of Buenos Aires giants Boca Juniors. Borghi has coached some of Argentina's big clubs like Boca, Independiente and Argentinos Juniors, where he led Argentinos to their first domestic championship in 25 years.


Despite his failed stint at La Bombonera, Borghi seems the sensible appointment for the Chilean FA as he has a wealth of coaching experience in South America, and a hugely successful spell with Colo-Colo in Chile where he was involved in coaching some of the current crop of Chilean Internationals such as Matias Fernandez, Jorge Valdivia, Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal and Humberto Suazo. Borghi won four Chilean league championships (Apertura/Clausura) and his Colo-Colo side reached the 2006 Copa Sudamericana final where they lost to Mexican side Pachuca.

Borghi has agreed a deal until the 2014 World Cup play-offs which has the option to be extended if Chile qualify for the competition in Brazil. The former Boca coach will have less than four months to prepare his side for the 2011 Copa America in Argentina which starts in July.

1 comment:

  1. Excellent blog mate, just spent the last hour or so reading all your articles,Keep up the good work!

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