Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The MARADONA era begins

Diego Armando MARADONA will get the dreamed present on Thursday when Julio GRONDONA will announce the appointment of the best player in the history of football as the new Argentina manager.

Earlier this week, GRONDONA said there were a lot of manager with chances of getting the job.

Carlos BIANCHI was the winner of every possible poll there was in the media since BASILE quit. Miguel Angel RUSSO was another firm candidate (and I apologise for trusting one source I had and publishing here that he was getting the job, as well as for trusting the newspaper Clarin -which published on their website that RUSSO had already been offered (and accepted) the position-) and Olympic Gold medal winner Sergio BATISTA had a shot too.

However, this afternoon, GRONDONA met MARADONA and they reached an agreement.

World Cup winning manager in 1986, Carlos Salvador BILARDO, was also present in that meeting and he'll join Diego's staff, which gives MARADONA a strong and experienced professional to rely on.

BILARDO said in a TV program that he will not sit on the bench and that Diego MARADONA will clearly be the Number 1. He'll help Diego in everything he needs but the team selection and tactical decisions will fall on MARADONA's shoulders.

Sergio BATISTA and José Luis BROWN will also join Diego's staff and I can see this team working very closely together. Don't forget the three of them were key members of the World Cup winning team in Mexico 1986.

It remains to be seen whether MARADONA will be on the bench for the friendly against Scotland (19 November) or whether he'll make his debut against France in Marseille in a friendly match to be played on February 11, 2009 at the Velodrome.

Those are some details that need to be finalised, but the important thing and the story of the day (and probably the entire year) is that Diego Armando MARADONA is the new Argentina boss.

VAMOS DIEGO!

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think its great MARADONA got the job... yes its a bit risky but if anyone can trun the team around its him... I cnt wait to see how goes... vamos....
Lucas

Anonymous said...

He was my last choice of the four. He can inspire yes but then why not as an assistant to someone who can coach. Argentina will qualify of course but I fear will not go further. That being said of course I wish him luck and success.

Vamos vamos Argentina.

Anonymous said...

what does vamos mean? I am English... i always enjoyed the Argentina matches, especially when Michael Owen scored that brace in the end of the game for us to win in 2005. Hopefully we will see you in the finals, with our coach Fabio Capello..

johnny said...

I was riding in a taxi here in BA when the news about Maradona came over the radio. The taxi driver slapped himself on the forehead and exclaimed "Dios Mio !" I guess that almost says it all ! It is likely to be a long strange trip, but let us hope Diego stays healthy, turns out to be a good manager, and Argentina can win the World Cup with Maradona at the helm.

John said...

Frankly speaking I don't know what to say. This is something very outside of the box.

It is a BIG risk considering that the great Diego's background in terms coaching and managing. But I supposed with a strong team to support him, then he should have any problem.

I'm sure Diego will provide plenty motivation for the boys in the dressing room.

At the end of the day, I'm glad all the mystery has been resolve.

Congratulations Diego on your appointment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN ADVANCE!

Anonymous said...

Disaster. Vamos Nada.

Anonymous said...

Huge risk. Dieguito can sink los Albicelestes.

However, I think Argentina will be playing a lot closer to the white lines! jajajajaja

John said...

I can see that there is plenty resistance to accept that Diego is the new national team coach. At first I had the same feeling but come to think of it, there are reasons to be optimist on this new era.

I’m not going to waste my time on doing comparison between him and the likes Frank RIJKAARD and Jurgen KLINSMAN. I know both had zero experience before taking the hot seat in their respective nations.

Back in 1994, I’m sure many of you who have remembered how a Diego inspired Argentina started off well against Greece and Nigeria. At that point, I had a great feeling that we can win it again. Considering it was Diego’s last World Cup before he calls it a day. I’m sure deep down he would have wanted to do it one more time before he retires.

Then all the doping issue started the next thing we know Diego is out of the World Cup. Without his inspiration, we were bundled out sooner rather than later.

Nobody can imagine how sad I was during that moment to see such great player going out that way. I even felt that the great days of Argentina is all over and I could never imagine an Argentina without Diego.

What about Diego himself? How would he have felt during those moments? He came back from a long suspension, he had a dream on going out in style and then suddenly all those hopes were dashed. I guess this was something that he had trouble times to live with.

Time has pass by and I’ve learned to accept that there is life after Diego in the national team but as we all know, no one can step up to the plate when it really matters other than Diego himself.

Now Diego it presented with a second chance to bring glory back to the national team. This time as a coach. I truly feel he deserve this opportunity. My only hope is that he will relish this moment and do what is need to be done for the team. As a human being we all deserve another chance in life to do something great.

I’m sure there will plenty of abuses coming from bunch of morons who don’t know anything about football. But that’s okay, as I’ve learned to live with that and I promise to be ignorant towards such stupid behaviour. Entertaining such them is only going to do more harm than good.

So please Diego, this is my plea; don’t screw up this time.

Seba said...

To the anonymous poster who asked what "VAMOS" means, it's simply "COME ON".

I'm really looking forward for Diego's team to start rolling and I think the first real test (and one that will be really interesting to see) will come on February 11 against France in Marseille.

From then on, we'll see what's in store.

I'll be crazy to start thinking of lifting the World Cup trophy, but we the like of players we've got, I'll be as crazy if I rule it out.

Anonymous said...

Am not afraid at all of Mardona being the one, coz he is the only one, but am really afraid of the pressure that will be on him. He didn’t start yet, and everyone start accusing him with his past. Argentina will make it through, with or with out Maradona, but again Maradona him self will be under fire for any small mistake happens with team. If I had a reason for not wanting Maradona to be the man responsible for getting us the WC2010 title, then that would be none. The man did everything to makes Argentina happy, so I think it is about time to make him happy. He wanted it so bad, he got it, so let him work in peace, and we’ll meet July 11th 2010 !!

John said...

Some other Albiceleste news...

In football, Bordeaux are on top of Ligue 1 after defeating Le Harve 4-0. Fernando CAVENAGHI was on target for their third goal.

In basketball, the NBA season has just tipped off with the Chicago Bulls defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 108-95. Andres Nocioni posted 7 points, 3 rebounds & 1 assist from the bench.

Anonymous said...

I certainly hope Diego can do a Beckenbauer and win the WC both as captain and manager.

But if Argentina does not play well, I worry for him. We all love him and we all want to see him happy. I don't want to see him being jeered by the demanding crowd...

My favourite for the post was Sergio Batista. I think his U23 team played well in the Olympics.

Anonymous said...

He broke my English heart in 1986 - but he's the best footballer to ever kick a ball, now and forever.

Alan and ags make good points about Maradona dealing with the pressure if things don't go well - I totally agree that that is the concern.

But I don't doubt at all that his true love is the national team and that he will carry out the job with dignity and commitment.

Starting11 said...

Thanks for stopping by. I understand your passion for Maradona's past contributions to Argentina, but I'm very skeptical of this appointment. If Bilardo is the strategist, and Maradona just the motivator/figurehead, then perhaps it can work. His past is just to unstable to entrust a team to him with the potential of winning the World Cup. He could derail the whole thing.
http://startingeleven.blogspot.com/2008/10/maradona-to-coach-argentina-is-this.html

Anonymous said...

Wow..Maradona!!! Lost for words..but i guess to me its a welcome Change...YES WE CAN!! WE CAN CHANGE!! WE NEED CHANGE!! :)

One thing about him is i think he will have the inspiration factor that most other managers before did not have to pump the players up. So, eventhough how technically gifted Diego is or was, what he will bring to this team is the Attitute that we lack, the HEART so to speak. Its all good guys..all good.

Rgds,
Alwin

Seba said...

A few good points in your comments. Keep them coming.

Regarding the pressures, we are talking about a man that has been under pressure since he was 15 years old. Wasn't he?

I recently heard him talking about the pressures that will come with his new appointment and he says he is willing to face those pressures.

He says he knows a lot of people will be against him and it is up to him to convince the critics and win over the skeptics.

This is another thing that could play in favour of the players. Diego will be an enormous target for the critics -fans and media in general- and the players will be relieved from most of the pressures that would fall on their shoulders if the manager was someone else.

Anonymous said...

Great article and thansk for stopping by to read my blog.

The Editor said...

I think he'll do well. There is too much talent not to succeed and the players will respond to him. But what will he do with Riquelme?

-Sanford

Anonymous said...

I am pretty optimistic, people need to get off his back and give him a fair chance as they would if it was any other coach. I don't think he'll screw it up he wants it too much.

day1star

Anonymous said...

I think, Argentina has got an excellent coach in Maradona. Many would raise question about his lack of experience as a coach, but after playing football so many years and guiding a team to win the world cup almost single-handedly, he knows it very well how to guide a team and inspire the players. Another thing is that at the national level, you do not need to teach ABCD to the players. For team tactics and planning, Maradona has got someone like Carlos Salvador BILARDO and his former team mate Sergio BATISTA in his staff room. I am sure, he will get enough help from them when it comes to make tactics and team plan.

His inspiration, I believe, would produce the guile for success among the players and create killer instinct among them. That is all Argentina needs to bring back their past glory.

Dr. HotNonPorn said...

There are both pros and cons to Maradona's appointment :

Pros : Confidence and charisma, extensive playing experience (an understatement)

Cons : Lack of managerial experience, attitude

That said, I hope Maradona's new gig brings success to both Argentina and himself.

Anonymous said...

German Denis with a Hat-Trick for Napoli.

Jack!

Anonymous said...

Here is the link with Denis's hattrick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT530jIizcY

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Diego will include Denis and Higuain in his new team? Particularly now that Tevez is not a regular starter at Man Utd?

John said...

Yeah Allan, TEVEZ was again not in the scoresheet in Man Utd's win against West Ham. It really bothers me at time. I did not watch the game so I have no clue about his performance.

I'm coming to the point that I feel he should just leave. Maybe join Napoli and form the trio of deadly attackers alongside DENIS & LAVEZZI?

Anonymous said...

I think that Don Diego Maradona was big player, but with coach is not a better for this post.

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