Chile’s managerial switch is not a bad thing, according to Marcelo Diaz

Jorge Sampaoli is 56 year old manager who rose to prominence after enjoying a successful spell in charge of the Chilean national football team where he led the national side to Copa America triumph back in 2015 as Chile emerged as the champions of the international tournament.

This was the first time in the history of the Chilean team that they had ever won the Copa America and it occurred when Jorge Sampaoli was in charge of the squad.

The impressive reign that Jorge Sampaoli went through as the coach of Chile was so impressive and remarkable that he was included in the short-list for the 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year.

Unfortunately for Chile, he opted to step down and leave his managerial position for the national side and Jorge Sampaoli was recently replaced by Juan Antonio Pizzi.

It’s a huge blow for such a prolific manager to leave a national side and now the question is starting to rise concerning the new coach and if he is able to replicate the success of Jorge Sampaoli.

The Chilean midfielder Marcelo Diaz talked about both managers as he compared them and stated that this managerial isn’t as dramatic as some people are saying.

“It has been quite good. The fact that he Pizzi went to visit almost all of us at our clubs was a good precedent which gave us confidence and we thank him for it. Each one of them has their own style, tactics and working standards but up until the change from Sampaoli to Pizzi hasn’t been very traumatic.” Marcelo Diaz said during a news conference.

Juan Antonio Pizzi was selected as the new coach of Chile back on January of 2016 and so far, he has suffered 1 World Cup qualification South America defeat against Argentina and 1 triumph over Venezuela.

Chile is currently positioned at the 4th spot of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification standings, which is enough to qualify for the upcoming competition but there are more matches left to be played.