I’m talking about Maradona, of course, who was officially unveiled as the head coach of Argentina yesterday. What he lacks in experience, he makes up in his power to inspire—in his almost unprecedented ability to convince a nation, perhaps an entire world, that anything is possible.
Maradona. I’m talking about Maradona.
The news from Argentina is that even before the appointment was officially made, the new coach was already at odds with Julio Grondona, the president of the Argentine Football Association, over who his assistants would be. Grondona prefers the current youth coaches, Sergio Batista and José Luis Brown, while Maradona, wary of the fact that both men originally considered themselves candidates for the top job, would prefer to appoint his friend Alejandro Mancuso and his former teammate Oscar Ruggeri. He wants assistants, he says, who will “accept orders from the head guy, which is me.”
As a result, Maradona has now named his first squad in advance of the November 19 friendly with Scotland without knowing who his assistant coaches will be. The squad selection arguably suggests the influence of Carlos Bilardo, Maradona’s former national team coach and current general manager, who represents another ambiguous point in the polygonal power struggle enclosing the current Argentine setup. No one knows the extent of the influence Bilardo will have over the team, perhaps not even Bilardo, but he’s flying to England with the head coach today in an effort to convince a reluctant Javier Mascherano to accept the captain’s armband.
Personally, I think Maradona should have the coaches he wants. I don’t know whether he has any chance of making his run with the team a success, but if he does so I don’t think it will be as a morale-boosting figurehead quietly controlled by Grondona or Bilardo. Let him run things in his own screwy way, and see if alchemy unexpectedly takes place. Otherwise, we’ll never know if he has the makings of a real coach, and the experiment is already doomed.
Read More: Argentina, Maradona
by Brian Phillips · November 5, 2008
I think he’d be much better served by Batista and Brown, and while I’m here I may as well say that if Batista considered himself a candidate for the top job, it was deservedly so, unlike Diego, whose managerial record (such as it is) isn’t quite as impressive.
That being said I like the look of his first squad (thought I’d love to know why Mauro Zárate isn’t included), so let’s see. It’ll be interesting if nothing else…
I actually thought it would be Batista after the Olympics, and I agree that he would have deserved it more than Diego.
I just think that once you’ve made the crazy move of hiring Diego, you have two choices: 1) Throw yourself headlong into his Diego-ness, or 2) Try to keep his Diego-ness in check by surrounding him with relatively sane people. I seriously doubt whether either approach could work, but instinctively I feel that if you’re going to hire him at all, you might as well not hedge your bets.
Sam, what do you think of the decision to make Mascherano captain?
For what it’s worth, I think the captaincy decision is sound. He is going to be the midfield pivot for the best part of the next 10 years so there’s really no need to beat around the bush for another captain.
Sam, you are complaining about the non inclusion of Zarate (I agree with your sentiments) when Argentina have an abundance of strikers to choose from but over the border Mr Dunga is still persisting with Gilberto Silva when there’s Felipe Melo (who at the moment is playing like a Pirlo with strength) waiting in the wings!
This is to say nothing of the continued snubbing of Amauri.
I agree ,throw diago into The Ness