Adios Diego Maradona, It Was Fun While it Lasted

I will miss him too.

Very well said Daryl.

A “superfan” indeed. Thankfully, most international soccer teams aren't managed by the millions of fans at bars claiming they'd do better a better job, but by people who actually know what they're doing. Alas for the Albiceleste, Maradona showed the full limitations of his coaching ability today, when tested against a cynical, organized, equally talented team. Up until Argentina's match vs. Germany, he put his 11 players on the field and essentially watched them dominate and outscore their opposition. Today he was forced to react, come up with a plan B.

It was a test that he miserably failed.

Say what you want about his tactical failings, Diego always put all his meat on the grill. Because of that, it was entertaining to watch.

Maradona was outcoached by Löw. As simple as that. Klinsmann was a great motivator, just like Maradona. But it also takes strategical and tactical depth, which Löw provided Germany with.

I agree with you Bense, I just wanted to work the “all the meat on the grill” line into a sentence somewhere.

For Germany fans: Sure. For a neutral fan: Possibly, if he's not a staunch-hard anti-German. For the Argentinian fan: Fewer beef, a better coach and better tactics would have done it. Or simply winning. But that was far from being an option today.

I doubt he had more in his pockets during halftime than a “You can still win it if you concentrate on…”

So picking your nose and eating it beats talking to God. LOL I'm going to miss Maradona and all his little antics and his comments to the press. Even if he gets sacked i wish he would return to 2014 as a coach to some random country

I suppose it's like a train wreck… it's horrible, yet you can't turn your eyes away…

1) I doubt Diego wants to manage any other team but Argentina.
2) I doubt other team but Argentina are crazy enough to let him manage them.

I doubt he even said that. I suspect Veron was giving the talks during halftime, motivational and tactical.

good riddance.

Diego gave Argentina four World Cup games in a row that were actually enjoyable to watch. That's more than any other coach has done in recent memory, and for that he has my thanks. I was having a great time watching the team until yesterday, and I see no reason to turn a 180 just because he ran into a better coach and a better team. I actually didn't suffer too much this time around, I spent most of the match in a good mood since Argentina played very well from about minute 20 to minute 60, and when the end came at least it was very quick and relatively painless, and the goals were excellent. Better this than the '06 penalty nightmare.

As for his inability to coach, nobody and I mean *nobody* expected anything else. Nobody in Argentina could figure out why he was picked at all. All you could ask of him was to stay out of Messi's way and to try to surround him with the right talent. Given the players actually available to him, he didn't seem to do such a bad job of it. After that, it was up to Messi to finish the job, and that worked for a while and then failed spectacularly against Germany. Maybe Messi's too young (at his age, in 1982, Maradona didn't have any impact either). We're going to have to wait until '14 to find out if he really is the next Maradona or not.

Anyway, this got too wordy. He should never have been coach, but I think he made the best of it given the circumstances and should keep his head high. I would love for him to stay around in some capacity. Head cheerleader, sounding board for Messi, consultant to the offense, resident clown, whatever. Obviously not as coach.

Oh, but it was a wonderful, fascintating, marvelous, entertaining trainwreck.

Javier, when Maradona first got nominated at the head of Argentina my first reaction was like everyone else's: “What the HELL are they thinking???”

Then I started thinking about the positives. How great would it be for the Albiceleste to have the greatest player in soccer history leading them… what advantage would it give them over other teams psychologically? Imagine going to work every morning to train, and being able to do it with… Maradona!!! Giving you pointers, showing you how to bend a free-kick… hell, just *being* there with you.

So I thought: the best thing for Argentina would in fact be to have a proper, down-to-earth, and *experienced* manager do the call-ups, line-ups, and tactics, and have Maradona be the assistant, the guy who's there to motivate the team and be the talisman-figure the whole team rallies around. Kinda like Beckham, who went to South Africa with England despite being injured and not being able to play.

But the problem? Despite his love for Argentina (and being ready to do anything for his country) Maradona would accept being second to no one. I mean think of it: if you're the Argentine Football Federation (AFA), how can you name coach Mr.X as head manager and then with a straight face ask Maradona “Ok Diego, so basically you're not good enough to lead us, but… can we have you along as team jester”?

Unthinkable.

The interesting thing now, will be to see whether the AFA will choose to reconfirm Maradona the way the English FA chose to reconfirm Capello. Both managers exited the World Cup following a humiliating defeat (both at the hands of Germany by the way), which normally is synonymous to the sack. Capello however, had his vast international experience and managerial honours going for him, which probably saved his ass.

The only thing Diego has, is what he represents for Argentina as a former player. As manager, he's clearly shown to be the wrong man for the job.

Argentina did well in this world cup and Maradona created a good team and he sould be proud of that. It is obviously difficult to see your own team lose, so his frustration was understandable.

He has been a larger-than-life figure on the pitch and off the pitch. I hope he is able to stay on as coach and lead the national team to WC 2014 in Brazil.

“As manager, he's clearly shown to be the wrong man for the job”? And how is that? Unlike Capello with “his vast international experience and managerial honours” whose England was knocked out in the last 16, at least Maradona pushed Argentina to the quarter finals. 4 wins in a row and a loss in the 5th is not that bad considering that he managed it on his own “persona”. What he lacks in tactical prowess will be perfected by the time WC 2014 arrives, which I hope he will lead his country into. And Maradona is not alone in coaching, there are other more competent behind-the-scene coaches who are filling the technical gap.

And what a great job those coaches did today, huh?

Until England imploded at this World Cup, Capello's team had qualified for South Africa with 8 straight wins and a convincing playing style. For England, that is saying a lot. Then something went horribly wrong (can't tell you what it is, I'm puzzled myself)… but Capello's past records speak for themselves: all the teams that he's managed (AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma, Juve) have become champions. Now he has two more years for another chance to prove he can do it on the national team level.

On the other hand, the signs Argentina were heading for failure at this World Cup were in plain sight for everyone to foresee. Firstly, they earned their ticket to SA on the last day of qualifiers, after a nail-biting game vs. Uruguay and following a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Bolivia earlier that year. And that was just the lowest point of the qualifying campaign, I mean the rest of Maradona's games speak loud and clear:

Named NT manager October 28, 2008

4-0 win vs. Venezuela
6-1 loss @ Bolivia
1-0 win vs. Colombia
2-0 loss @ Ecuador
1-3 loss vs. Brazil
1-0 loss @ Paraguay
2-1 win vs. Peru
0-1 win @ Uruguay

Don't get me started on the boatload of different players he called up during the qualifiers, the rest of his tactical blunders (testing and retesting his line-ups with no continuity), and the omission of pillars like Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso from the final tournament (what, they criticized him earlier in his career or something?). I mean Christ, managers are allowed to have favorite players, but this man has no idea what constitutes a solid team and what to do in case of a bad situation.

In case someone had forgotten, the loss vs. Germany refreshed everyone's memory.

Maradona did well for what limited experience he has had. its ok to have struggled in the qualifications, Brazil struggled in 2002 but won the WC against Germany!. I think what they were missing was the Midfield depth to be able to stop Germany from controlling the center. he had a strong bench and decided to go w/ his first choices. in the end the early goal showed that he lacked a Plan B – kind of expected from a coach w/ little coaching experience.
But all in all, he did well I think. and he was the most entertaining coach in this WC. and as a player he will never be matched…..certainly not by a German player!!

“Don't get me started on the boatload of different players he called up during the qualifiers” – And you think this is a bad thing? At least Argentina have a boatload of good players which he can pick and choose to complement his style of attacking play. England have none. Clearly your biased not surprise me, what does surprise me is your lack of objectivity, with all due respect.

Maradona can't get everything
his time is over
bye RA

I gave you more than half-a-dozen reasons why Maradona failed, you chose to comment on only one. Maybe before you attack my objectivity, you should come back when you actually have arguments to present.

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