Is it bad luck or bad management For the Big Names in FIFA 2010 So Far?
We are just getting into the glamour of World Cup and have already witnessed some of the most astonishing results. Most big teams and big names are yet to have an impact on the game and win it for their countries. After seeing the first round of matches and getting into the second phase, it is quite strange that weaker teams are performing a lot better in the tournament as compared to some of the big names like France, England, Italy and even Portugal. The team spirit of most of the former champions look quite down and other nations are taking full advantage of the situation. Is it just a bad luck that most of teams didn’t find winning results or is there a more immense problem in the overall management and planning of the matches?
This years World Cup saw one of the biggest upsets in the history of football when on Wednesday night Spain was defeated in their opener against Switzerland. Spain, the current European champions, has the best squad in the Cup. Some might think that it’s the best combination of players in their history. Further, unlike most of the teams, many of their players play together in the same club and therefore don’t have a problem of adjusting with each other. Spain may be inspirational on the ball yet the lesson handed out by a limited but ultimately jubilant Swiss side is that there is no use out-passing, out-manoeuvring and out-classing your opponents, without out-scoring them. The result seems so depressing to the Spaniards because of the fact that players like Torres, Fabregas and Pedro remained on the bench for most of the match. Already we saw England, Italy and France get only a draw in their respective opening matches. The results suggest that there is some serious problem with the team selection and management. Let’s look at it from the very start of the tournament.
France drew their opening game against Uruguay. Although they got a point but the result is a serious surprise for France as now they have to win against Mexico to have a chance in going to next round. To some draw seems a reasonable result but with players like Ribbery, Anelka, and Evra it is more a loss for the team management. Whether someone says it loud or not, the fact is that the stubbornness of the Raymond Domenech, the manager of France cost them the match. What were Malouda and Samir Nasri doing on the bench, even when they had strong season to back their selection. Furthermore even when Henry, the legend of Arsenal, had lost his touch for few years, he should have started along with Anelka. Players like him can create magical moments.
The next shock came from England when they were just able to get a point from their opener. After seeing their opening performance, people are seriously going to check their bets from next match onwards. England team was considered as one of the favourites to win this year in Africa. Fabio Capello management and team selection again was just ordinary and didn’t reflect the charisma which is attached with the British manager. England has power of Rooney as Argentina has power of Messi. Rooney alone can get the result for a team if he is played intelligently. Just think of a manger that makes centre of play another striker, whosoever he might be and uses Wayne Rooney as second in the attacking strategy. The simple question that should be asked from Capello is that why his players did not presented the ball to Rooney and instead played Heskey more often. Few will disagree that Rooney alone would have won the match if he would have been helped a little more. In no way it is meant that Heskey didn’t play well, instead the balls he wasted should have been for Rooney and Capello should have made better use of the player who is only one who can actually win them a Cup.
All that said, there also are serious issues with Maradona’s selection of the team but yet he is finding a win in every match, thanks mostly to the marvellous and unmatchable play-making by Lionel Messi. Otherwise in the match against South Korea we have already witnessed his below par decisions to play Tevez against Aguero and Veron against Rodriguez. It’s the fans heart and hope; managers should at least make decisions beyond their ego and personnel grudges.
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