Marcelo Bielsa has in the locker room after criticism of his methods. The Uruguay boss made striker cry at half-time in a game last year, the now-retired forward revealed, while several players have considered quitting the national team because of the coach.
On the occasion that Nunez was reduced to tears, he went on to score in the second half after some encouragement from Suarez. "You are here on your own merit because of how you work, because you are a goalscorer, and you are the best," Suarez said. "You have to continue like this; forget what others are saying. Wash your face; go out there and smash it."
Since then, Nunez has been involved with Uruguay in the Copa America and in the USA. That ban and he was allowed to play during this international break. He is expected to feature against Ecuador later this week.
Before the international break, Suarez asked "the fans not to take it out on the players when things go wrong" because "the players will reach a limit and they will explode" under Bielsa. He added that Bielsa had "divided the whole group" and some players were considering ruling themselves out of selection.
The Argentine is known for his intense approach and Federico Valverde, another senior Uruguay player, has looked to hold talks with him about how he handles certain situations, with Nunez far from the only player to be impacted by his style of management. Bielsa himself has admitted that he was impacted.
"As for how the situation affected me, I don’t ignore what happened, and I know that my authority was affected in some way," Bielsa said, via the . "What happened during the week does not condition or explain how we played [in the 1-0 loss to Peru].
"Nor do I think it has had an effect because it was a week with a lot of effervescence. It didn’t alter the conviction with which the match was prepared and the way the group and the coaching staff worked. The preparation was the same as always."
Liverpool.com says: Nunez just needs a nice normal time when he goes away with his national team for once. With Suarez not being there to help him anymore, that is a bit of a blow. The Liverpool man could take on a bit more responsibility now, though, which could work in his favor. There is a big talent there but he needs to find a way to unlock it sooner rather than later.
