Maradona?! Really?!?

By: Dave Martinez | October 29th, 2008

For the first time since a 1994 coke binge against Greece, a Boca fan is about to speak badly about the Argentine God, Diego Armando Maradona:

AFA - WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!?!

Basile and his tying is winning attitude was bad enough. Clinging to a 4th spot in the World Cup qualifiers made it worse. But this? Hiring Maradona is the dumbest move since the XFL. And let me illustrate why:

1 - He has almost no coaching experience:

Besides AMAZING runs with Racing and Corrientes of the Argie divisions (oh you didn’t know? well, that isn’t your fault - he barely hung on), Maradona hasn’t been able to coach his way out of a brown paper bag. How in God’s green earth has AFA, in its infinite wisdom, decided that Maradona, with a ditch of a Qualifier record, will be able to dig out Argentina? Impossible. This will be Argentinas version of Hugo Sanchez - mark my words.

2 - You Can’t Control This Crackhead

I am sorry. Some people, even in our Offside and World Cup community blogs, seem to feel that Grondona will have the real reigns of the team and Maradona will play puppet.

Uh uh.

No way.

Maradona is more than a person in Argentina. He injects himself in politics and people follow. He throws himself at the feat of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, and suddenly, all Argie youth are mindless socialist animals. When our Boca was looking for a coach last season, it was Maradona who poo pooed the decision to hire Ischia.

Don’t think for one second that AFA boss Grondona will be the puppet master. The minute he tries to play the part, a long white line will be disappearing into Diego’s nose, followed by a foot step out the door.

3 - YOU DON’T GIVE A CRACK HEAD CONTROL OF ANYTHING

Let me use a baseball analogy. The New York Mets hired Ricky Henderson, one of baseballs most gifted yet controversial players, as their third base coach. Third Base. His “experience” was passed onto the younger players, who suddenly developed Major League Attitudes and began underachieving from the minute he stepped foot on the field. That is what his influence has.

What kind of influence will Maradona have? Surely, much like I did growing up, the youngsters on the squad will worship the ground he walks on, emulate his every move. But will his influence be used to get the players to respect his word? Or will he have the Ricky Henderson effect, where suddenly Messi will, for the first time ever, lightly jog in the attacking third instead of running balls out?

4 - You COULD HAVE HAD Carlos Bianchi.

Period. End of discussion.

5 - The team itself is in disarray

When Carlos Tevez finds it difficult to play alongside greats like Riquelme, Messi and Aguero, you know there is a problem. The Argie squad is in a fragile state; there are alot of stars on the team, and everyone has to touch the ball. This was a job that was too big for Basile to handle. But Maradona will show these massive ego’s how to coexist and be cohesive? Sure, Maradona shared the spotlight a little bit with people like Batistuta and Cannigia, but these are different times, and those were different circumstances.

The only hope for Maradona is the one thing that ties them all; their respect for the Hand of God. If Maradona can put that fear and respect into the youngins, he may be able to translate it to success. But that takes a lot of work and commitment. The question is whether Maradona has either. He has put his life on the line for lesser things in the past. Let’s see if El Diez has finally matured.