Is it time for Maradona to go?

Football fans all over the world were very excited to see legendary Diego Armando Maradona get appointed as Argentina national coach but immediately doubts were raised over his competence. We all knew he had been a great footballer, in my opinion the best ever, but could he do it as a coach? I am the first who believed his passion for the game and big charisma would compensate for the lack of coaching experience, but I am now prepared to admit to have been wrong. Argentina is one the verge of missing out on the World Cup and if that happens, El Pibe will be the man to blame.

The fans were very optimistic after his first two games in charge, in which Los Albicelestes managed to beat Scotland and France away, but those wins came as a result of the players’ desire to impress the new boss rather than they showed the quality of Maradona’s team. The first big mistake he made was to come to a disagreement with the only real playmaker in Argentina, Juan Roman Riquelme and the absence of Boca Juniors midfielder is one of the reasons for the struggles of the national team. Maradona simply doesn’t have the player capable of replacing Riquelme and he is probably aware of this even though he would rather not admit it.

And Maradona’s constant tinkering with formations and starting line-ups are a different story. It was an absolute act of madness to choose practically uncapped Otamendi and Domingez to form the defensive partnership for the crunch qualifier against Brazil, rather than calling Inter’s Samuel and partnering him with say Coloccini, since Burdisso was injured. Maradona kept saying before the Brazil game he expected for Messi to finish the job, probably forgetting that the Diminutive winger needed some help from his teammates if he was to help his side win the game. The boss thus put extra pressure on the player, who in all fairness failed to live up to the expectations in that match.

It is more than clear that Maradona is led by heart rather than by reason when he makes the decisions that could ruin the reputation of a proud footballing country and he seems to have lost the confidence of his players as well. Nobody in Argentina squad is prepared to admit that El Pibe doesn’t know what he is doing even though I am pretty sure most of them feel this way.

With Paraguay game just around the corner, Argentina fans are hoping sheer quality of the players will win them the game as Maradona’s coaching abilities definitely won’t. El Pibe has shown he doesn’t have what it takes to lead such a high-profile team and he would be better off doing something else rather than ruining his reputation and that of Argentina national team. I still believe Argentina are too strong to miss out on the World Cup but once they qualify, the national team officials should start looking for the new coach to lead the team in South Africa. I am sorry Maradona, but you are simply not up to the task.

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