Maradona has limited options for Argentina in World Cup Soccer 2010
The much-awaited football World Cup kicked off in South Africa on Friday with the Group 1 matches. On the whole, the first day was disappointing as South Africa could not bag all three points. Similarly another shock result came when South Korea beat Greece by 2 goals to nil on the second day of the tournament. The next important match was between the Maradona’s boys in the white and blue against the Nigerian Eagles. The match ended in favour of Argentina but there were a lot of problems faced by Argentina and its management in South Africa.
A lot has been written about the fate of the Argentinean team in the World Cup and more or less everyone would have come up with the same answer. Everything looks good in the forward line as well as the defence of the team but the midfield has become the bone of contention between the players and the management. This is the real problem in Argentina’s team and midfield issues would haunt Maradona throughout the tournament.
It is rule number one that during a match, a coach needs good people on the bench so that tactics can be changed with regular substitutions. This keeps the opposition guessing at all times and it also helps in breaking the tempo of the game for the opposition. A coach should always be able to rotate the midfield to get two players at the back in order to defend a lead. He should also be able to tactically change the playing style and get more passing in the midfield by the midfielders. Also, in cases where a sufficient lead is attained, it is always a good tactical manoeuvre to get one or two of the strikers out and get more defensive minded players in the midfield. All these tactics are required by the coach and his bench is supposed to be good enough to help him achieve his targets.
According to experts, Maradona has only one option that might help him progress in the tournament and that is to play a 4-3-3 formation. This thing was obvious in the match against Nigeria where Maradona opted for three strikers. And again, his midfield let him down in the match. Veron on one end is a senior player but he did not look as if he was match fit. He was fatigued and feeling unwell and it was obvious that he was unable to play the entire match. His passing was poor as well; sometimes he put more weight on the ball and sometimes passed in the wrong direction. It was a poor performance that is worrying Maradona largely because Argentina will soon come up against more fearful oppositions in South Africa 2010.
The team also included Di Maria, who is supposed to be a youthful addition to the team and is supposed to add to the pace in Argentina’s counter attacks. However, Maria’s performance was not influential enough. He made some serious runs but was largely ineffective. Mascharano, however, was the only decent player in the Argentinean ranks against a motivated Nigerian team.
Maradona knows that he is not able to make defensive substitutions in the midfield, which is the norm in the latter stages of the game. It is for sure that Veron would not be able to handle the full 90 minutes of the match and if he is substituted, only one option is left on the table. That would be to substitute Di Maria as well, because of his lack of strength and poor defensive techniques do not augur well for Argentina. This means that with two strikers and one keeper on the bench, no more substitutions can be made and Maradona will have to continue with the same formation throughout the match, which sometimes proves dangerous while defending a small lead.
There is only one feasible solution left for Maradona i.e. to start the match with Maxi Rodriguez and use Veron as a substitution. There is no energy left in the old horse and he would only be effective as a substitute for the team. This would at least widen the options of Maradona a little and would give him a small room to manoeuvre according to the flow of the game.
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