Just because Michael Jordan was great at basketball, doesn’t mean he’s great at baseball. Just because Arnold Schwarzenegger was a great (and we use that term loosely) actor, doesn’t mean he’s a good governator. Just because Silvio Berlusconi is a great womanizer, doesn’t mean he can run a country or AC Milan for that matter. And just because Maradona is one of football’s all-time greats, doesn’t mean he should be coaching Argentina. We also suspect that he’d be a below average Argentine folk singer.
In most countries, if a professional organization (emphasis on professional) decided to hire someone with negligible experience while well aware of an applicant pool of extremely qualified people, at a minimum, people would take note. If Brazil randomly decided to name Pele head coach of the national team, Pele himself would be shocked. If the United States decided to make Michael Jordan the coach of the Dream Team, people would sh*t themselves. Head gambling coach, perhaps.
But Argentina is a special place. Matches at La Bombanera, home of the famed Boca Juniors, are one of the world’s great sporting spectacles. We’ve been to other grounds in the country (see photo above) and it’s clear the passionate atmosphere is not isolated to Boca. Argentines are driven by a raw passion that is real, but difficult to explain. Perhaps the Argentine FA believed that the team would respond to Maradona’s passion and stature in the country’s footballing lore. But it’s hard to imagine passion and stature alone being enough to manage a team of superstars. Maradona recently said about their World Cup qualification woes, “God saved me many times, I hope he saves me this time too.” Wow. Not exactly the tactics you look for in a coach. Hope may have been good enough for Obama, but it hasn’t been doing the job for Argentina.
If one accepts a broader definition of qualification, perhaps Maradona is qualified in his own special Argentine way to coach the national team. History has taught us that there are plenty of “qualified” people who are utterly unqualified to do their jobs. So let us amend an earlier statement. Argentines are mad to everyone except themselves, and maybe the passionate way will turn out to be a perfectly valid way to lead the Argentine national team. Only time will tell. But is seems apparent that thus far, passion and talent alone have not been enough.
Maradona pulled off qualification for the World Cup … barely. So rest assured that you can take your maté and see Leo Messi and company in South Africa next summer. Given their performance in qualifiers, many people may not expect much from the Argentines. But let’s not forget, this is Argentina.
And Juan Roman Riquelme is amazing. There, I said it. He’s the South American Arshavin. Or Arshavin is the Russian Riquelme. Your choice.
Will the Argentine FA stick with Maradona?
Yep. He’s a terrible singer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u1vRR1iWS8
Maradona’s ex-wife looked well chuffed to be marrying him at 5:26mins……
I’m glad this happened now and not during his tenure at Old Trafford. Ay. I tell you what though; Eddie Murphy really could “Party All The Time”. Now it’s stuck in your head. Thank me later.
Party All The Time. I’m just trying to think about something wrong with that song. Perfection.
Maradona did inspire the team prior to the second round of qualifications, during the friendlies agianst France, etc. Once the qualification games started, it was downhill from there until the terrible loss against Bolivia. The quote that he needs God’s help speaks directly to his candor and lack of knowledge about coaching.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the friendlies leading up to the World Cup. As beloved as he was on the pitch, he’s set up as a scapegoat if they fail to impress. Given some of the decisions that he’s already made, maybe rightfully so.
What I dont understand is why they can’t succeed with any subpar coach given their talent. My guess is that when it comes to the midfield they have no one to click with the speedy forwards. I’m not saying that they have no good players but their number 10 Riquelme, who i’m a big fan of, likes to hold, be patient and slow the game, whereas Messi, Kun and Tevez are made for the fast pace attack, someone with quick reactions and vision to distribute.
It takes very strong man management skills to coach in the Argentine cauldron. And I’m not so sure that Maradona has the respect as a coach to manage so many stars. His coaching track record is laughable. Also tactically he hasn’t shown that he is very capable as a coach. Without question, Argentina has the players. I think it just takes the right mind to put the pieces together. Take Riquelme. Great player. But he has to play in a very specific system under very specific conditions or he’ll be ineffective. I think looking at several of Real Madrid’s galactico-heavy teams provides a good comparison. They also operate in a circus-like environment. They had great individual players who were often difficult to manage, and at the end of the day, they weren’t a team, but simply a collection of stars. The results spoke volumes. It’s a necessity for a coach coming into these types of situations to have the gravitas to manage stars, as well as the tactical awareness to put team before personnel. So far, Maradona has been shown to be lacking in these areas.