Happy Birthday to the King - Pele

The greatest footballer turned 70 today...Pele. I realize there are some that would argue Maradona is the greatest footballer to grace the pitches, but clearly Pele is 1b if you follow that  line of thinking. Of course the game was very different when the Brazilian played - in the 1970 World Cup, Brazil at times seemed to be playing with 4 strikers a type of 4-2-4 formation. Pele's numbers are mind-boggling:

• Won 3 World Cups - 1958, 1962 and 1970. Who knows, had the officials been more courageous in 1966, the "hack a Pele" strategy might not have been allowed to knock him out of the tournament.
• At 17 years old, scored a hat trick in the 1958 World Cup semi finals...against France. Tallying 6 goals total in the tournament.
• The player with the most team trophies - 32 official trophies.
• Scored over 1000 goals in his career, his goal to game ration is almost 1:1
• Was deemed a national treasure in Brazil, preventing him from being sold to a European club...by law.
• Put soccer on the map in the United States when he joined the Cosmos.

There are many more statistics that support the argument his is the greatest ever to wear football boots. Of course the debate will rage on between those who think Pele is the best and those that believe Maradona was the greatest. A good debate. For my money here are the greatest footballers in no particular order:

Pele
Maradona
Beckenbauer
Cruyff
Platini
Puskas
Zidane
Yashin
Maldini
Charlton

Thought by some as the greatest goal - of course Pele is involved...although as the passer not the scorer. But still a thing of beauty:



With all that said, who do you think is the greatest footballer? And who else should be on the list of all time greats?

Maradona sacked, nothing to see here

No surprise but Diego Maradona was shown the exit by the Argentine FA. Really not too shocking after the much fancied Argentine team was given a correction by Germany, the second world cup in a row that the La Albiceleste were shown the door by the 3 time World Champion from Europe.

Maradona led a love - hate relationship with the Argentina FA, the fans and players. Argentina struggled to qualify seeing Maradona call up 57,480 players, rumor is he called Mario Kempes to see if he was available. Couple this with his inexplicably not wanting to call up Higuain for the longest time, only to have the Real Madrid striker feature during the World Cup. He had a rift with Riquelme, making the play maker unavailable for selection. The smooth Boca #10...the current one, not the one that played there in the early 1980s...might have been useful in South Africa. I could have seen him slotting nicely next to Mascherano giving true creativity to the midfield, feeding the strikers - Messi, Tevez and Higuain. Maradona struggled to find a way to unleash the full potential of his protege - Lionel Messi (zero goals in the World Cup). There were also tactical questions - Maradona had 4 center backs starting on his back 4, no real full backs. Add to this Maradona's stubbornness when it came to dealing with the press as well as allowing the Argentine FA to have him take on a more technical assistant coach and you  were destined for a bad ending.

Maradona's great strength was his ability to get his players to respect and want to play for him and the blue and white shirt. More than you can say for the likes of Domenech! However his juvenile tactical knowledge inhibited he and Argentina from going further at the World Cup. His enormous ego and talent did not allow himself to accept the assistance the Argetina FA was attempting to have him accept when he took the reigns. Maradona needed a stabilizing and tactically sound lieutenant.  Unfortunately the greatest player ever to wear the blue and white strip was too proud to seek help on the touch line. For that he got to a 1/4 final, when he could have fancied his side to get to the finals and maybe win it.

It will be interesting to see what he does next. Could he pop up at Napoli to manage the club he brought so much success to? Possible. It was an interesting run Diego, it could have been extended had you allowed the proper managers to assist you.

Don't Cry for me Argentina....well maybe some tears

Anyone notice that Argentina lost today to Paraguay. Wow. Paraguay are now thru with Brazil to South Africa. However Argentina have much work to do. I felt that the Albiceleste are now in real trouble...not how I felt this past weekend. I did not see 2 losses in a row for Messi, Tevez, Heinze, et al. They now face the last two fixtures which become must wins if they do not want to have to count on other nations for their ticket to South Africa. The latest standings:

	Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
	Brazil	16	9	6	1	32	9	33
	Paraguay	16	9	3	4	22	13	30
	Chile	16	8	3	5	27	20	27
	Ecuador	16	6	5	5	21	23	23
	Argentina	16	6	4	6	20	19	22
	Uruguay	16	5	6	5	26	18	21
	Venezuela	16	6	3	7	22	27	21
	Colombia	16	5	5	6	10	14	20
	Bolivia	16	3	3	10	20	34	12
	Peru	16	2	4	10	9	32	10

What should be very interesting is that teams involved in the last 2 spots are facing one another:

• Argentina faces Peru and Uruguay
• Uruguay faces Ecuador and Argentina
• Venezuela faces Paraguay and Brazil
• Ecuador faces Uruguay and Chile

Chile, Brazil and Uruguay are heading to South Africa (ok Chile could still be outdistanced, but they should be fine). Argentina should beat last place Peru and will head into the last game, at Uruguay at 25 points. Regardless of how Ecuador vs Uruguay ends, Argentina would need the full 3 points to get through. Uruguay would also be battling for a spot in the World Cup, so no quarter will be given. What if Venezuela snuck in? There are too many situations to figure out, needless to say the last two days will prove very interesting in South America qualifications.

Maradona continues to struggle

Another interesting result from the weekends' WC qualifiers is the fact that Argentina lost 3-1 to hated rivals Brazil...in Argentina non the less, the first time Argentina have lost a WC qualifier in close to 2 decades. Does this put the South American giants in danger of missing the WC? I think not, they remain 2 points clear of the next two teams seeking the last automatic spot and I cannot see them dropping to 6th, so out of the 5th place play in position.

Much like Domenech, Maradona is under tremendous pressure from the press and the fans to demonstrate a grasp of the national team and how to get it not only to South Africa, but to challenge for a 3rd star on the kit. Both managers have shown a similar lack of creativity, and a difficulty to get their players to carry their club success to the national team. Take for example, Messi who is such a difference maker with Barca, yet appears invisible with Argentina. Similar to players such as Benzema, Anelka, Mexes to name a few for Les Bleus. Similar to Domench, the Argentina manager does not seem to know what system to utilise, what striker to have up front, how to best leverage Messi and Tevez.....etc. Finally, similar to the Domenech lead France, neither side appear able to defend set pieces. Just watch the highlights below from the Brazil match.



The difference for Maradona, with the talent at his disposal, he is practically guaranteed a spot in South America. His side will face Paraguay, Ecuador and Peru, the last two chasing for the 4th and 5th spots. If the Albicelestes can take 7 points from the last 3 matches they should be clear to head to South Africa. Domench on the other hand is ready to walk the plank.

So Higuain and Maradona had a not 'cold' meeting

So the drama goes on, with Argentina heading into a huge show down with arch rival Brazil, and once again it appears that the Real Madrid striker, who tallied 22 goals last season, is not needed by Maradona, although they had a nice little "get together." Not really sure why Maradona does not see value in the player, he can obviously score goals, can play as the second striker or wide on the right. Of course Argentina does have a some solid offensive options - Messi, Tevez, Aguero, to name a few. Just not sure how you can leave a player who led Real Madrid in scoring and can give you some options offensively at home.

Hmmmm play on the right wing...he would look nice as the right winger in France's 4-2-3-1 formation....just a thought.

France limp into next month's WC qualifiers

Ok so I finally was able to watch the France - Argentina match on my DVR. I had to watch, not that I wanted to knowing Les Bleus lost 2-0, but based on some of the comments I was reading I had to see with my own eyes what happened. First of all, let us be clear, Les Bleus did not lose to some run of the mill chump team, we are talking about Argentina. Twice World Cup champ, defending Olympic soccer champ, with players such as Messi, Gago, Mascherano. I know they are ranked 6th in the FIFA rankings (which are a joke) but I believe they are one of the top 2 teams in the world currently with Spain. With that in mind here are some thoughts -

The Good:

• Mexes and Gallas looked solid even though they lost. Both central defenders appeared to find their role during the match. Gallas was the calm presence in the back while Mexes dominated in the air and was aggressive and attacked the play higher up the pitch. The only minor mistake was early on the match when he allowed Messi to turn to the center of the 18 yard box and needed Gallas to block the young Argentina's shot that seemed destined for the right side of the goal. Otherwise both central defenders looked much more confident in this match than in previous. Something to build upon moving forward, and finally we might see the end of Boumsong in the middle of the French defense!
  
• The center of the Argentine midfield - Gago and Mascherano - were formidable. As I had stated in prior blog entries, I was convinced that which ever midfield controlled the middle of the park would have the advantage in the match. The two Argentine holding midfielders were huge during the game. The completely shut down Gourcuff and were tireless in their work rate. They constantly attacked the French midfielders and strikers when they had the ball in the middle of the park. This duo allows Argentina to do so many things offensively, freeing up the likes of Aguero, Messi, Rodriguez and Gutierrez to be completely offensively minded.
• Messi, what do you expect from one of the world's best players? I find it somewhat humorous reading some commentary that the second goal was Diarra's fault, or Mandanda should have done better, or 4 French defenders had the chance to shut Messi down...um folks we are talking about one the world's best players (#1 or #2 depending on how you rank him with Ronaldo). Has anyone watched him for Barca or in prior Argentina games? He has done this to other defenses and will do it for many years to come.

Maybe we just need to applaud and realize there is no shame in giving up a goal to Messi.

The Bad:

• I do not want to completely throw Mandanda under the bus but you could make the argument that his poor angle work on the first goal changed the entire game. Granted, speaking as a keeper, the shot was much trickier than it appears. A low, rebounding shot to the near post, you are usually playing for a hard shot rather than one that takes a soft skidding bounce. But again, as an international keeper you should be expected to do better. The OM keeper did show himself more aggressive and in control of his 18 yard box when it came to crosses and high balls into his area. In prior France games he tended to be too hesitant too passive, this time he attacked the ball and took advantage of his physical presence. However overall he did not do enough to secure the undisputed #1 spot in the keeper pecking order. I still think that France's number 1 resides in Florence. Too bad Domenech has rubbed Frey the wrong way...what a surprise that is!
• Gourcuff had probably his worst game in his short career with Les Bleus. He was completely shut down by the Argentine midfield. Every time he had a little bit of space to work with, he was quickly shut down by the defense. He did have one moment of brilliance, dissecting the Argentine defense with a diagonal ball springing Anelka 1 on 1 with Carrizo, otherwise he was well bottled up. It was clear that Maradona had targeted him as the primary Frenchman to contain, and it worked to perfection. Gourcuff will have to learn that as his role becomes more prominent for Les Bleus that he will start getting this style of treatment and attention, it is up to him to take his game to the next level. I believe he can and will. This was a sobering reminder that being dubbed the next Zizou is a heavy burden.
  
• Anelka and Benzema, neither appeared too dangerous. The Argentine back 4 did a very good job shutting down Anelka and later Benzema. But neither man appeared motivated to really work hard against the defense. One two occasions I watched as crosses came in to Anelka where he barely worked to get free, allowing Demichelis to easily sit in the striker's back pocket. One the picture perfect pass from Gourcuff I felt Anelka should have taken another touch, tried to go around Carrizo rather than try to one time chip the keeper. Benzema did not really have enough time to do much, but never appeared into the game either.

The Ugly:

• As good as Gago and Mascherano were, Toulalan and Diarra were not. The French holding midfield were the opposite of their Argentine counterparts. They committed an outrageous amount of fouls (I believe over 20 between the two of them), they were late on many tackles and just did not provide the proper platform for counter attacks. Toulalan was more of the culprit than his Real Madrid partner. But both men had ugly games that they need to put behind them.
• And of course the biggest culprit...Domenech. Once again I seriously question the manager and his ability to motivate his team, to adapt a game plan, and as the ESPN commentator said "have a plan B." I really do not understand how you cannot look to do things differently, down by a goal in the second half. Maybe take off one of your holding midfielders who was not having a good game and insert another creative midfielder, say Nasri, to put more pressure on Gago and Mascherano, giving Gourcuff more space as well. Maybe you allow Henry to slide higher up the pitch shoulder Benzema. Maybe you take off the other holding midfielder and insert ADiarra who will give you more height allowing you to attack the Argentines through the air...just a thought Raymond. For me, a good international manager needs to have 3 attributes - 1) ability to select the right mix of players, no brainer. For a nation like France you have no shortage of talent, but getting the right mix is important and having the right players on the bench to change a game is what allows for success 2)understand the right system of play but have a Plan B, do you play a 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, do you have the right player to control your midfield? attack on the flanks? attack with long crosses? 3) motivate your team, you are managing a national team, the cream of the crop. But you need to ensure the team understands that they are playing for the nation they represent and a manager needs to instill that national pride and motivation, this usually entails strong interpersonal skills. Unfortunately I am not sure Domenech possesses any of the above. I question some of his selections - Boumsong? I think he has some clue about what system, but has no ability to change if and when that system stalls. Yes he took France to the WC finals, but I attribute that to Vieira's will and Zidane's immense talents, not Domenech. Motivation...um Domenech might be the worst when it comes to interpersonal skills. Look at how he handled the Coupet v Barthez question during the World Cup, he has alienated players like Trezeguet and Frey, he has completely shut out players like Landreau for no apparent reason. I really fear that Les Bleus will waste a crop of talented footballers because the FFF insists on keeping Domenech as the national team manager.

Overall, I do not think that Les Bleus were dominated by Argentina. There were some rays of hope - Mexes and Gallas - the primary one for me. However the real issue remains the man in the funny glasses. As long as Domenech is making the managerial decisions I think France will be hamstrung. He does not seem to have any creativity when it comes to selecting, managing or motivating the team. Watching Argentina, it was clear that they were unified that they were playing for Maradona, and that he had their trust. If Les Bleus do not want to waste the talents of Gourcuff, Ribery, Mexes et al it is time to find a different manager.

Back to the future - Argentina looks to Diego as their new manager

When I started hearing the rumor I thought to myself "this is crazy, the man has done nothing but become an embarrassing caricature of himself the past few years." But it appears that Diego will now become the new manager of the Argentinian national team...um...okay. This man does not paint the picture of the "ideal" candidate: cocaine abuse, firing guns at reporters, hanging out with Castro, becoming a fat whale, getting his stomach stapled....etc etc. This is the same man that has been seen at La Bombonera, shirt off egging on the crazed Boca fans, great for someone who is a fan but not someone who is suppose to be running a national side, let alone one that aspires to major titles.

This selection is fraught with risk. While Diego remains a hero in his homeland, how long will that last once Argentina hits some rough roads? Does he have any experience selecting a team? Training a team? Being the spokesperson for his nation? no no no to the above. Yes he was his nation's captain during his playing time, but he led more by being the best player on the pitch than by his locker room leadership skills. He has never managed anything other than his cocaine habit. Argentina has the talent to be one the best teams in the world, they are young, experienced and loaded across the pitch. I fear that putting an irrational, untested, national icon such as Diego, in charge may waste this generation of Argentinian talent. Too bad

Maradona....how sad

I just saw this, has any star fallen so far. http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/050309/2/9kd8.html

Sad to see what has become of Diego, watching his brilliance in 1986 when he single handly carried Argentina to the World Cup championship (granted Schumacher did his part in the finals to give away the title). Then again in 1990 Maradona brought Argentina to the finals of the World Cup when they had no business being there after losing to Cameron in the opening game. It is hard to look at Maradona today and think that there is debate on whether he or Pele are the greatest players of all time....