Messi L.Gonzalez Mascherano Datao

Lisandro G.Higuain

anyway,we will not be in South Africa betting on almost local players like Palermo or others ( with great respect for them ). However , MESSI should be at his best ,playing in such position with those players. Defenders like Samuel or why not Colochinni should not be put away in my opinion.so , please AFA FOR THE GREAT RESPECT I HAVE FOR MARADONNA ,He could not continue to act as coach , we need to make changes for ARGENTINA. WE HAVE THE WINNING TEAM.lets prove it with Peru with a great win to challenge Uruguay then. GO ARGENTINA , YOU ARE THE BEST…

I don’t think Argentina will fail to qualify, simply because Uruguay lost in Peru. Had Uruguay got even a point from that, I think Argentina would be gone, but I reckon Ecuador will beat Uruguay, and Argentina will scrape past Peru, so Uruguay can’t catch them, and then past Costa Rica or Honduras in the play-off.
But Argentina plays horribly now. Argentinos should be proud of their side, win or lose, but how can they be proud of that??! Bilardo played horribly but got results, as does Dunga, but Diego doesn’t even get get points.

Surely AFA knew what they were appointing – a coaching failure. He failed at Racing, he failed at Mandiyu. Sometimes, great players realise that they’re not going to make great coaches and keep their reputations up by other roles in the game – Bobby Charlton, Platini (love him or hate him) etc. I’m astonished Diego didn’t quit after these results, he would still have had the love of the Argentine people, perhaps even more so for his honesty in admitting this is not for him.

He wants to pick more players from the domestic league, well I’ve been watching this league for fifteen years, and this is the lowest standard I’ve seen in that decade and a half. Velez may be champions, but they are not a great side in the international scheme of things, so why base the defence on them? Otamendi has a great future for maybe 2014, but not now.
Same with Estudiantes, a lucky side, but not a great one.
If Argentina had gone to 94, 98 or 02 WCs with home players, they wouldn’t have looked out of place (River’s 96 side, the really good Bianchi teams etc), but this division is nowhere near the standard of the European leagues everyone else picks from – which is why a group of kids who nearly got relegated two months ago are top of it.

Also, why does Maradona seem to make such random changes? I didn’t see the Paraguay game, I really couldn’t motivate myself to stay up, but I saw the Brazil one, and Veron seemed to be having a good game in the centre of midfield in the first half. So why did DM seem to put him out wide to replace Maxi, and accommodate the ineffectual Aguero? Veron did nothing in the second half.
Putting Palermo and Schiavi on against Paraguay suggests someone who has taken leave of his senses. So although Argentina will qualify, if Maradona coaches this team, they will become the biggest WorldCup joke since Ally McLeod and Scotland in 1978. Diego’s coaching mentality seems to have a lot in common with McLeod. If Argentina qualify, he will become chief cheer-leader, whipping up everyone to believe that the World Cup can be won, but imagine this team in a group with, say, Spain (top seeds), Denmark (third seeds) and an African nation as bottom seeds. How many points can you see from that? 2 at best, I’d say.
I can name five coaches from the domestic league who could organise and motivate these players better than Diego, and that’s not including Bianchi. Honestly, I actually think Turco Mohamed or, ahem, R. Caruso Lombardi would have a better chance of getting results in a four-week tournament. I don’t agree with personal abuse of Diego, but am disappointed he doesn’t seem to see his limitations when nearly everyone else does.

I feel particularly sorry for Messi, he may not have the chance to go down in history if his team is so badly coached. Maybe in 2014, though, with the likes of Forlin, Monzon, De Fed, Pastore… and a good DT.

I couldn’t agree more with the rest of your post (and the one below), though.

Now you can blame that on lack of help/service etc, but players like Cabanas aren’t playing with particularly world class stars and they have still managed to stand out. The likes of Aguero, Tevez, Messi, Heinze – all of them have been awful and need to accept as much as the flak as Diego is getting.