Furthermore, I didn’t ‘blame Gabriel Heinze for every problem with Argentina that has ever existed.’ I’ve been more than happy to criticise Maradona, Grondona and Bilardo as well, here on HEGS and elsewhere, as well as pointing out the folly of picking second division players (Gutiérrez, Coloccini), denying Gonzalo Higuaín his rightful place in the side for so long whilst continuing to call up Fernando Gago, and more generally the fact that beyond Martín Demichelis, Argentina don’t seem to have any proper centre backs any more.

You want a leader? Give Gabriel Heinze the damn captaincy then! He’s always giving team-talks anyway- as the only one who bothers- so why not make it official? At least he damn well knows what he’s doing, which is more than can be said for Maradona.

Okay, I am really getting sick of everyone blaming Gabriel Heinze for every problem with Argentina that has ever existed. I read the line and immediately labelled it as the most utterly unfounded and ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Gabriel Heinze is the only leader in the Argentina national team and the one who should be rightfully wearing the captain’s armband. He is the most passionate player I have ever seen and even when Argentina were 6-1 down against Bolivia, he was just about the only player still trying. This man would die for Argentina and yet all bullshit-talking journalists do is bad-mouth him as if he’s the cause of every problem from Argentina’s defence frailties to the recession. Javier Mascherano is a good player, but he is not a captain. I watch every Argentina match and I never see him talk to his players or give hem any guidance. The same with Maradona; the man hasn’t a clue what he is doing and he does nothing but make stupid jokes and stand on the touch-line trying to act as if he’s capable of thinking. Meanwhile, Gabriel Heinze spends the whole match trying to organise the team, while doing the most heartfelt and dedicated job in defence. If you would actually bother to observe, rather than criticising without reason or proof, you would see that Heinze is giving a team talk every match after they come back onto the pitch following half-time. I wouldn’t actually be surprised to find out that he does the half-time team-talk as well. The one game Maradona actually made a decent decision and gave the armband to Heinze, it was constantly said by the commentators of that match that Argentina looked so much more organised that night and that for once everyone seemed to know what they were doing. Yes, they lost 2-0, but if you care to look, the first goal was a wondergoal- one of those things that just happen, no matter how well you are playing- and the second goal? Only happened a literal couple of minutes after Heinze was subbed and the commentators specifically (and rather truthfully) said: “Argentina have really lost their shape since Heinze went off”.

So, whoever wrote this atrociously inaccurate comment within this article, would you kindly learn to not criticise without evidence and to not just label a player a “bad” because you’ve heard it off others. Have you ever seen Gabriel Heinze play? If you have, you would see the most passionate player giving everything for his country while trying to bring some organisation to the scrambled mess that is currently the Argentina national team, despite this not being his job. The man plays with an unrivalled determination, no matter how bad the situation and keeps out every ball he is humanly capable of getting to. And yet, when the defence as a whole does not perform, it is Heinze who takes the blame.

Give Heinze the captain’s armband, because he is the true captain at heart anyway. And next time, get your facts right before you decided to publish anything else so utterly unfounded.