Why Arrascaeta is not the same as Flamengo in Uruguay

Since 2014, receiving chances with the Celeste shirt of Uruguay, Arrascaeta He never managed to have a streak as a protagonist in the national team as he usually does in his clubs.

In total, number 10 has played 43 games for his country, with 10 goals scored. For Ubiratan Leal, channel commentator ESPNthe midfielder has been “the right player at the wrong time”, since the days of Óscar Tabárez.

“Thinking about his inclusion in the Uruguayan national team, due to his game characteristics, it seems that he was never a suitable player for the model that the Uruguayan national team adopted. So, despite being a player with obvious talent, in Oscar Tabárez’s team, he was a team with a much more rustic, much more working-class midfield, which had the speed and talent of Cavani and Suárez up front”, he said.

“So, as much as we could even think that Arrascaeta could in fact be an important player to make that connection, to provide a little talent in that midfield, in the end, the team didn’t feel that way . Tabárez tries to use Arrascaeta as a starter, he even debuted as a starter in the 2018 World Cup, but the Uruguayan team never took off with him during Tabárez’s time. Because in the end, the team was more consolidated, more solid, when it had a more working-class midfield, whether with Arévalo Rios, or after a while when Torreira arrives”, he added.

Currently, Marcelo Bielsa is Celeste’s coach. The coach is known for, unlike Tabárez, being more offensive and enjoying having the ball. This, however, does not mean that Arrascaeta will fit in easily. The commander lives in a dilemma between the characteristics of the teams and the Flamengo star.

“In the current team, the problem is different. Marcelo Bielsa wants a very fast-paced team that plays with talent. But there is a physical issue there. Bielsa likes a team that ends up speeding up the game more, playing with faster transitions, a game with more freedom”, said Ubiratan.

“And Arrascaeta is a player who, physically, already compromises a little. He is a player who has injuries quite frequently, so he doesn’t end up being able to play with such consistency or with such an intense rhythm and ends up not finding much of a place”, he added.

But Arrasca didn’t always struggle to be a protagonist in Uruguay. As Ubiratan recalled, under the command of Diego Alonso, the Uruguayan managed to stand out.

“I think the perfect moment for Arrascaeta in the Uruguayan team was during that period of Diego Alonso, in the final stretch of the World Cup qualifiers and on world Cup. And, in fact, it was a period in which he did well. He had an injury and that got in the way. But it was still the period in which he was best in the Uruguayan team”, stated the commentator.

“Not only did he play well, he made a difference to the team. He even enters during the 2022 World Cup, he gains the position. So, he showed that he was a player with the ability to be on that team. But Diego left, Bielsa came with another model”, he concluded.

Now, the midfielder dreams of having more minutes with Bielsa. In the coach’s four games, the midfielder only played for 29 minutes in the draw against Colombia, being absent in the first call-up due to an injury. It remains to be seen whether, little by little, he will be able to adapt to the new commander.