Bielsa legacy leads to red hot Chile

True, it has played six games, one more than nearest rivals Uruguay and Argentina but in Chile's case four of those have been away from home.

That suspect defence has managed to keep three consecutive clean sheets.

With a third of the campaign gone it already has half the number of points needed to book a place in Brazil. And it remains the neutral's favourite, with a joyful commitment to attacking play.

Just don't tell coach Claudio Borghi that this is all the legacy of his predecessor Marcelo Bielsa, because he has a real problem with his fellow Argentine.

"People think that all the good things about the national team are down to him," Borghi complained recently. "And all the bad things are down to me."

For the first game of the campaign, away to Argentina, Borghi was determined to show that his teams could be every bit as attacking as Bielsa's. He selected two centre forwards, two playmakers and wide men on both flanks.

It was madness, and not even beautiful madness. An Argentina side itself going through an uneasy transition hardly needed to break sweat to win 4-1.

Since then Borghi has reverted to more conventional starting line ups, ones that manage to achieve more of a balance between the desire to attack and the need to defend.

Whereas Bielsa preferred 3-3-1-3, Borghi has usually constructed his side around a 3-4-1-2 formation. Bielsa's pressed higher. Borghi's defends deeper.

But that does not necessarily mean it is any more cautious. One consequence is that the quick, skilful attackers can find more space to run at opposing defenders.

Borghi's complaints about his predecessor may be unhealthy, and in the case of the Argentina game self-destructive. But in a sense they are understandable.

Way before Bielsa came to the country to take over the national team, Borghi was already building attractive Chilean sides – featuring the very players who would go on to make an international name for themselves.

Especially interesting is the front trio that Borghi used with Colo Colo.

Playmaker Matias Fernandez, full of attacking thrust, was groomed by Borghi and continues to play his best football under the current boss. Humberto Suazo had been little more than a journeyman centre forward until Borghi filled him with self-belief. And Alexis Sanchez was probably bound for stardom anyway, but his time at Colo Colo, under Borghi and alongside Fernandez and Suazo, surely gave him a helpful push.

So there was life before Bielsa. But that is not to minimise the contribution of the current Athletic Bilbao boss.

It is surely true that Bielsa owes Borghi for helping develop some of the players who were so important to his work with Chile – in addition to the attacking trident, the versatile Arturo Vidal comes to mind.

But Borghi would also be well advised to jettison any jealousy and abandon any animosity he may feel towards his predecessor. For it is clearly the case that he also owes a debt to Bielsa.

What took place with the national team between late 2007 and the last World Cup gave Chile something it had frequently lacked.

A few years back the great centre back Elias Figueroa, a strong candidate to be Chile's best ever player, told me that there had been attempts to copy Germany, and then copy Brazil, but there had never really been a defined footballing identity.

This seems to be changing. The success of the Bielsa project – the players' commitment to it, the results achieved (2010 was Chile's best ever World Cup, discounting the one it hosted in 1962) and the praise heaped on the team from all over the world – helped consolidate an attacking idea.

When Bielsa was in charge of Argentina there was often controversy about his refusal to go with an old style number 10 – he gave very few opportunities to Juan Roman Riquelme, for example. Some saw this as a betrayal of Argentine tradition. In Chile he met no such barriers.

Indeed, what he proposed made an excellent fit with what the country produces. Chile specialises in quick, tricky players, of whom Sanchez is the leading example. This type of player chimed perfectly with Bielsa's unflinching commitment to attacking width.

Borghi complains that Bielsa, in his time with Chile, kept himself hermetically sealed, and had no contact with the club coaches. That may well be the case. Even so, Bielsa ended up having a huge influence on the development of club football in the country.

His success opened up the doors for coaches with a similar profile.

Probably the most attractive football in the continent over the past year has been played by Universidad de Chile. It may struggle to reach the final of this year's Copa Libertadores – it lost the first leg of the semi-final 2-0 away to Boca Juniors – but it remains a lovely team to watch, passing and moving at pace in its quest to break down the opposing defence. Its coach, Jorge Sampaoli, is a self-confessed Bielsa disciple.

The Libertadores looks tough, but Sampaoli's team still has a chance at winning a third consecutive Chilean title (two are played per year, and the current championship is now at the semi-final stage).

It could face competition from O'Higgins of Rancagua, this year's surprise package. It is coached by Eduardo Berizzo, who played under Bielsa and was then his assistant.

Everywhere he looks. Borghi sees evidence of the work of Bielsa. This should be something to commemorate.

It means Chilean club football is likely to keep producing the kind of players who will be useful to Borghi as he seeks to continue the momentum that has taken his side to the top of South America's World Cup qualification table.