Can you say this in front of Son Heung-min? Coach Son's bombshell remark is re-examined. Leave LAFC, you become lazy if you play for MLS

Nov 19, 2025

Can you say this in front of Son Heung-min? Coach Son's bombshell remark is re-examined. Leave LAFC, you become lazy if you play for MLS



Can you say this in front of Son Heung-min? Coach Son's bombshell remark is re-examined. Leave LAFC, you become lazy if you play for MLS
The remarks of Uruguay coach Marcos Bielsa, who ignored the U.S. league, are being re-examined.

Adam Booker, soccer media's one-football editor, said on his personal SNS on the 19th (Korea time), `Uruguai coach Bielsa once told one of the players that playing in the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) would make them lazy, and that if he wanted to be included in the national team list, he had to play elsewhere. Uruguay are currently 1-4 behind the U.S. in the first half and all four goals have been scored by MLS players," he said, re-examining Bielsa's remarks.

It was in February that Bielsa's remarks were known to the world. Christian Oliveira, a prospect born in 2002, appeared on Uruguay's broadcast and confessed the story Bielsa told him. Oliveira was playing for LAFC, where Son Heung-min currently plays at the time. Oliveira said "I was playing for U-23 at the time, and Bielsa told me to leave LAFC. Saying it's not an appropriate league for me, 'MLS is a league that makes players lazy'" he said.
Can you say this in front of Son Heung-min? Coach Son's bombshell remark is re-examined. Leave LAFC, you become lazy if you play for MLS
Oliveira moved to Brazilian club Gremio about two years later and insisted that Bielsa's advice was not wrong. "That's how I felt. I didn't have enough rhythm. I quickly realized it was a league problem, now I play every three days in the Brazilian league, and it's really beautiful."




This comment turned MLS upside down at the time. This is because the level of the league was rising as superstars joined MLS, and it was becoming a league that received attention around the world. Even LAFC, which Oliveira belonged to, was a strong team in MLS, so MLS fans couldn't feel better.

Nine months later, Bielsa's comments were forced to be re-lit. On the 19th, Uruguay, led by head coach Bielsa, suffered a crushing defeat against the U.S. by 1-5 in a friendly match against the U.S. at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Can you say this in front of Son Heung-min? Coach Son's bombshell remark is re-examined. Leave LAFC, you become lazy if you play for MLS
Uruguay really suffered a crushing defeat against a similar power, the United States. Uruguay failed to come to their senses after losing a point to Sebastian Berholter in the 17th minute of the first half. He gave up consecutive runs to Alex Freeman in the 21st and 32nd minutes of the first half, and Diego Luna also allowed a run in the 43rd minute of the first half. Just before the end of the game, Tenor Tessmann also shook the net and recorded as many as five runs. It is the first time Uruguay has allowed five runs under Bielsa.

Coach Bielsa also has no choice but to look back on his remarks. Berholter, Freeman, and Luna, who scored against Uruguay, are all MLS clubs. If the players who play in MLS were really lazy, they wouldn't have shown this good performance against Uruguay. The U.S. is even on a tremendous rise with four wins and one draw in five games after losing 0-2 to Korea in September.




MLS is one of the leagues that can never be ignored. The soccer statistics media OPTA also released an analysis that MLS is the 10th most competitive soccer league in the world.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.