Four More Years For Sharp Suited Diego?
Diego Maradona
Four years ago, Jose Mourinho was in charge at Chelsea, Esteban Cambiasso had hair, Leo Messi was an unused substitute and Carlos Tevez was playing his club football in Brazil.
A vuvuzela, meanwhile, sounded like a rare species of antelope only seen with David Attenborough’s accompanying whispery voice.
By the time the next World Cup swings around in four years time, there will have been just as many seismic managerial and political changes, players will have changed their look, made a name for themselves and changed club allegiances several times over. And of course, there will be a fresh set of annoying plastic gimmicks to prize money from punters’ pockets.
But also come Brazil 2014, in normal circumstances we should be reminiscing about that grey suit, that greying beard, those taps on the bum, the pre-match kisses and the Pelé-baiting with nostalgia.
The Diego Maradona era as Argentina coach should be a sepia-tinged memory.
These are not normal circumstances, however, for the simple reason that AFA and Diego Maradona are involved.
Leading a chaotic, controversial and almost disastrous qualifying campaign wasn’t enough. He had time to prove everyone wrong. An eccentric squad selection, last-minute tactical dabbling and whimsical demands for creature comforts wasn’t even enough. The critics waited for the fall, which under Maradona, duly came in the form of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Germany.
Yet despite that defeat, the fingers are not pointing at Diego. And rather than someone else taking the blame, there are simply no fingers pointing, and Maradona retains his position centre stage.
In the aftermath of the World Cup exit, first came the brazen idea of one Argentine politician, who is more often associated with human- and workers’- rights campaigning than meddling in sporting matters, to suggest that now, just weeks after the World Cup exit, was the time for a statue of Maradona.
In some years time there will, rightly and deservedly, be a bronze effigy of Diego Armando Maradona in Argentina. But after a humiliating exit from football‘s biggest stage, which doctors have had to deny has sent the coach back to the drugs, hardly seems an appropriate moment.
Next up came Julio Grondona, AFA president, who via his spokesman announced that there is a four-year contract offer on the table for Maradona. Sure, Diego will have to explain what happened in South Africa and come up with a plan for the next few years, but the offer is there to take.
Soccer Players
Leo Messi, Sergio Romero, Martín Palermo and Gabriel Heinze all want Maradona to stay (although in the case of the last two its fairly obvious that a change in coach would signal an end to their time in blue). Angel Di Maria was one player who admitted he didn’t feel comfortable in the role Maradona played him in at the World Cup, and Veron Snr blamed Maradona for Veron Jr failing to perform in South Africa.
While opinion is divided on whether Maradona should carry on, there will be no developments till next week. The meeting between Maradona and Grondona will happen ‘not after Wednesday and not before Tuesday’ in the strangely-chosen words of AFA.
With commitments – i.e. dollar-generating friendlies – just on the horizon, however, a deal should be brokered soon. Maradona will make fresh demands regarding the make up of his back room staff, meaning Grondona may finally have to budge over the addition of Oscar Ruggeri to the set up.
While the prospect of Maradona coaching Argentina at a World Cup in Brazil is just too tempting for the polemicists and marketing people out there, it still doesn’t address the real issues.
Germany highlighted the deficiencies in Argentine football – from the physical and tactical, to the technical.
Changing coach will change relatively little. Argentine football requires a revolution in terms of organisation, in terms of priorities, in terms of coaching and in terms of its philosophy to avoid a repeat of the 2010 World Cup performance.
Maradona is not the sole reason for the embarrassing performances in South Africa, even if he didn’t exactly help things. Maradona is, however, the perfect fall guy to deflect criticism away from AFA.
Failure at next years Copa America would be a bridge too far for him to stay on, but avoiding that, don’t be surprised to see Maradona in a sharp suit at Brazil 2014.
Courtesy of FourFourTwo
Can Barcelona Afford Cesc Fabregas?
Cesc Fabregas
Beneath the gloss of providing seven of Spain’s World Cup-winning team, Barcelona’s financial problems are mounting.
The depth of their financial obligations raises the question whether they could raise the money to secure the Arsenal captain Cesc Fábregas.
Digger has received financial analysis prepared by Professor José María Gay, the head of the University of Barcelona’s economics and business unit and Spain’s foremost authority on football finance. In the document Gay presents Barcelona’s troubled 2009-10 balance sheet, which he describes as “very worrying”.
Wage costs have risen 55% from their 2008 level to €262m (£220m). By contrast the club’s stated revenues have risen 33% over the same period, meaning wages now account for almost 64% of income.
Barcelona have evidently been a victim of their own success, with the treble of Champions League, Primera Liga and Copa Del Rey wins bringing with them onerous bonus commitments.
Gay points out that the club’s short-term debt of €392m (£329m) far exceeds their working capital of €110m (£92m) and even hints there could be a risk of default during the current close season.
Barcelona have recently approached the market for another €150m (£126m) of borrowings, though it is unknown if contracts have been agreed. The Camp Nou president, Sandro Rosell, insists his club is “not bankrupt”.
Even so, Arsenal are not disposed to sell them Fábregas.
Courtesy of The Guardian
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World Cup Best XI
Thomas Muller
Goalkeeper: Eduardo (Portugal)
It has not been a vintage tournament for goalkeeping or, by extension, goalkeepers but Eduardo has provided a welcome exception. Portugal left South Africa after conceding a solitary goal, to Spain, in a match when Genoa’s new signing had denied David Villa on several occasions before he managed the winner. In a group stage where he kept three clean sheets, outstanding saves from Nilmar and Ramires were further indications of his quality.
Right back: Philipp Lahm (Germany)
If Gabriel Heinze isn’t still troubled by the thoughts of Philipp Lahm sprinting past him with embarrassing ease, it should be a surprise. Germany’s captain showed that he retains his considerable prowess when overlapping in the rout of Argentina. Yet it was also a World Cup to enhance his reputation for doing the basics efficiently: Lahm helped silence the feared Argentine attack and was secure at the back against Spain.
Centre back: Carles Puyol (Spain)
His stylish sidekick Gerard Pique is capable of striking inch-perfect 50-yard passes, but Carles Puyol has been the most resolute defender in the Spanish side. While his younger partner has conceded a penalty and was among the culprits for Switzerland’s winner, Puyol has been the epitome of reliability. And it was his thumping header that clinched Spain’s place in the World Cup final for the first time.
Centre back: Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand)
So which of the following sides ended the World Cup unbeaten: Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Spain and New Zealand? Were the question posed five weeks ago, the answers may have been split between the first four. As it is, the All Whites drew with the reigning champions, acquitted themselves terrifically and exited without defeat. A reason for each of those achievements was Ryan Nelsen, who defended defiantly and, against Italy, heroically. Before the tournament, it would have seemed surreal to suggest Nelsen would pip Lucio to a place in a team of the tournament. He has.
Left back: Carlos Salcido (Mexico)
The second round contained a cruelty for attacking full-backs. The two finest left-footers in South Africa were sent home early: Portugal’s dynamic Fabio Coentrao and Mexico’s accomplished Carlos Salcido. The latter struck the crossbar against Argentina but peaked with a wonderful display in the defeat of France. A fine crosser of the ball, he looked a class act.
Centre midfield: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
He won his 80th cap in the semi-final defeat to Spain, but this feels like the World Cup when Bastian Schweinsteiger came of age. He has relished the responsibility of anchoring the midfield and played with the positional awareness and discipline of a footballer who had spent years in the role, rather than the late convert he actually is. Against both England and Argentina, Schweinsteiger dominated the game and was the outstanding player on the pitch in both thrashings.
Centre midfield: Xavi (Spain)
It is no coincidence that Xavi has spent much of the tournament topping FIFA’s passing statistics. There is no finer distributor of the ball in the world game and, while playing ahead of two anchor midfielders seemed to suggest he would see less of the ball, that has not been the case. Wherever he is stationed on the pitch, everything goes through Xavi.
Right wing: Thomas Muller (Germany)
Few have risen so swiftly or as auspiciously. Thomas Muller has been catapulted from Bayern Munich reserves to Germany’s starting line-up within a year and had such an impact that, were he not harshly suspended, it is tempting to wonder if the scoreline of the semi-final against Spain would have been different. The five goals scored displayed a precocious awareness, an ability to drift into dangerous positions and, above all, a happy habit of putting the ball in the back of the net.
Attacking midfielder: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Long after most of the notional world-beaters had failed to live up to their billing, Wesley Sneijder remained in South Africa and remained the exception. A wonderful year at Inter Milan was compounded by a terrific World Cup with Sneijder displaying his remarkable passing range, scoring at the rate of a striker and exerting an influence throughout the knockout rounds.
Left wing: David Villa (Spain) He isn’t really a left winger, but David Villa has done such a fine job there for much of this World Cup that he operates there in this team. Most strikers score fewer goals when they move further out; Villa has managed as many, whether from a few yards or, as against Chile, from 45. On current form, quite simply the best goalscorer in the world.
Striker: Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Admittedly Diego Forlan has spent some of his tournament in deeper positions but, as he displayed against Netherlands in the semi-final, his ability to retreat and create should not detract from his status as an outstanding centre forward. In any case, the presence of Villa in this team means he can go into attack when Forlan veers elsewhere. Long-range shooting and set-pieces, two areas in which few players have excelled, but the Uruguay talisman has mastered. Few have played with more commitment, either.
Manager: Joachim Low (Germany)
The man who has rebranded German football as youthful, enterprising and eminently watchable, Joachim Low’s World Cup ended 24 hours early but was otherwise glorious. Restoring Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski to potent forces, rather than Bundesliga underachievers, was a sign of fine management; the way his faith in the untried trio of Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira was rewarded was another; and the demolition of first England and then Argentina showed Low’s tactical prowess. Shame about the dress sense, though.
Courtesy of ESPNSoccernet
Scientists Prove Jabulani Is Crazy
The Jabulani ball.
Criticism of adidas’ World Cup ball, Jabulani, is justified according to scientists.
From Iker Casillas to Robinho to Fabio Capello and former Liverpool striker Craig Johnson even wrote a passionate 12-page letter to Sepp Blatter on how the Adidas ball “could ruin the game as we know it,” rocket scientists are backing the claim.
American space scientists, NASA’s aerodynamics people at the Ames Investigation Centre, managed to get some MLS players to kick a Jabulani around and test results confirm what everyone has been saying: Jabulani’s scanty 440 gram weight, coupled with the high-altitude conditions in South Africa, means when at speeds of 70 kilometres an hour or more the ball becomes susceptible to something called the ‘knuckle effect’.
That’s aerodynamic shorthand for “it swerves all around like crazy at high speeds because of the air flow on the seams and stuff,” which isn’t so bad when you get goals like this.
adidas have yet to respond to the new scientifically-based criticisms, and Sepp Blatter and Fifa are already meeting in September to discuss the horrible aftermath left in Jabulani’s zig-zagging wake.
Courtesy of kickoff.com
Ref Howard Webb Was Not Wrong
Howard Webb gives Robin van Persie a yellow card.
The Dutch should be quiet. The referee did well to keep Holland v Spain as an 11-a-side match for as long as he did
As the man who committed the most fouls at Italia 90, I am not going to complain about Holland’s approach to the World Cup final. What I do object to, however, is teams adopting bully-boy tactics and then blaming the referee when they lose. It is not easy to feel sorry for referees but I had every sympathy for Howard Webb.
The world was watching and Holland’s reaction to events conspiring against them and the yellow cards they collected – a record for a World Cup final in total and every one justified – was distasteful. The criticism they have since directed at the referee has been utter nonsense.
Webb had a great game despite the players making the final an incredibly difficult match to referee. It was played in a bad spirit and in the climate of this World Cup I don’t think one booking was undeserved. Webb also made the right call when Eljero Elia went to ground just before Andrés Iniesta’s goal.
The source of Holland’s post-match protests was not a foul. Holland had to hold out for a few more minutes with 10 men and Elia saw an opportunity to slow things down with a free-kick in a dangerous position. The winger played for it. Their arguments over that decision are further undermined by the fact they still had an opportunity to clear the danger from Spain and they missed it. They didn’t get back and defend properly.
You could argue that John Heitinga was unfortunate with his first booking but he gave Webb no choice but to send him off when he pulled down Iniesta. Heitinga’s yellow cards were two of the more innocuous ones on the night. Webb did well to keep it an 11-a-side game for as long as he did and Holland could have had no complaints had Nigel de Jong also been dismissed for that dreadful challenge on Xabi Alonso.
Spain’s players tried to play. Holland’s players tried to disrupt, and it is inevitable that teams will sometimes adopt that approach against a side of Spain’s quality on the ball. In the opening 10 minutes Holland struggled to press Spain high up the pitch.
They were getting no joy in allowing Spain to retain possession and they had more success once they began to press more and get in their faces. I don’t blame Holland for that because you cannot allow the opposition to dictate, although I never thought I would see a team in that orange jersey resort to methods so alien to their football culture. And if you adopt those tactics you forfeit the right to bleat about the referee afterwards.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say the Dutch went out with a deliberate policy to kick people but there was a change during the game towards trying to put Spain out of their stride.
That would have been down to the Dutch players more than any instruction from the manager and but for Iker Casillas’s wonderful save from Arjen Robben, their methods would have won the World Cup. It was inevitable there would be tension. It was the World Cup final and the prize on offer doesn’t get bigger than that big piece of gold. Holland had the best chance of the game in 90 minutes when Robben went straight down the middle and they would have been taking the trophy home had it not been for a great save from the Spain captain.
The Dutch would not have cared what people thought of their approach had they become world champions but I am delighted with the outcome. The best team doesn’t always win the World Cup but it did in South Africa. When Spain lost to Switzerland everyone was telling them no team had lost their first game at a World Cup and gone on to win it. I remember saying in commentary that there is a first time for everything.
Switzerland also made life difficult for Spain but they did so by good organisation and defending. There was no animosity, no bad fouls and the game was played in a much better spirit. Obviously the pressure was greater on Sunday. It was another example of two good teams cancelling each other out.
This has been an excellent World Cup overall. The football has not always been great but the tournament was a big success in South Africa. We expect a festival of football from players who have just played 30 or 40 club matches at the highest level. It’s impossible. With the exception of the final, this was a World Cup played in the right spirit.
Incidentally, I was never booked at Italia 90. And I still haven’t worked out why.
Courtesy of The Guardian
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