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Harvesting Success: six nominees for the prestigious golden ball award is recognition to the amazing season that Barça had last year. Even though only six players made the list this is the work of the whole team; names such as Busquets, Pique, or Alves were responsible for making their team mates better. The result is none other than five titles in the year 2009 which make it perhaps the best year in the club’s history. Of all the names there are two that will definitely make the top three; Leo Messi and Andres Iniesta. These two players were decisive all season long. Iniesta even played injured in the final against Manchester United and was the man who gave Eto’o the pass in the first goal in that final. Messi on the other hand had, up until now, his best year as a football player; everything that he did was spot on; and add to that the fact that he didn’t have any muscular injury and the results speak for themselves: goals, good games and titles. Off all the nominees Messi seems to be the obvious choice and he will get this and the FIFA world player as well. It would be very strange if it happens but the three finalists should be Messi; Iniesta and Xavi.
Messi's Debate: Barça’s version of Messi seems to be a lot different from Argentina’s version. In Barcelona, Messi is a player who can decide any game at any time like he did in the Champion’s League against Shaktar or like he did in La Liga against Numancia. In Argentina, however, the same player seems lost and every action in which he participates ends up with the rival team getting the ball back. Casual fans look at this and point directly at the player; saying that he either lacks of motivation or doesn’t understand the game of his national team; however, analysts of the game all agree that this situation is not as simple as it look. In Barcelona, there is a coach that has established a well defined style and philosophy from both a physical and mental point of view. In Argentina the situation is different. Diego Maradona is without a doubt in the top 3 best players of all time (to some even the first) but being a good player don’t always mean to be a good coach. Maradona has not established even an idea of what his team should play. He works a lot the psychological aspects of the game, which is very important, but he lacks of technical understanding which results in players being lost in the field like Messi. Another important aspect to have in mind is that it is not the same to get passes from Xavi and Iniesta than from Mascherano and Veron, this is not a knock on the talent of the two Argentineans because they are very good, but Iniesta and Xavi are simply among the best in the world, if not the best, at organizing the game.
Maradona Should be Fired: before explaining why he should be fired let’s look at his accomplishments as a coach which should also be taken into consideration. First of all, he got the team and led them to earn a spot in 2010’s world cup in South Africa; regardless of the poor image his team shows in every game he got the job done and result oriented critics will say that this is what matters. He also got the team united which is fundamental for any aspirations to do great things; a coach that doesn’t create a sentiment of unity in the team and doesn’t work the team’s psychology is missing on a crucial aspect of the game. However, we are talking about Argentina; an instant favourite in any tournament with players like Mascherano, Messi, Higuain; to expect “just to win” is an unacceptable mediocre mentality of a small team and not a former world champion. Argentina, just like Brazil, Spain, Italy is expected not only to win but to offer an display of good game as it happens to clubs like Real Madrid, Boca Juniors, Barcelona etc. But perhaps the worst of Maradona doesn’t come with anything related to the game or the team but to his shameful declarations after qualifying to the world cup in which he express vulgarities towards members of the media. From a man driven by passion rather than logic it is not a surprise but the fact that the AFA allows this to happen is something that damage the prestigious image of the “beautiful game”. Watching Diego behave and watching Guardiola act is like day and night; they are completely different.
Messi's Debate: Barça’s version of Messi seems to be a lot different from Argentina’s version. In Barcelona, Messi is a player who can decide any game at any time like he did in the Champion’s League against Shaktar or like he did in La Liga against Numancia. In Argentina, however, the same player seems lost and every action in which he participates ends up with the rival team getting the ball back. Casual fans look at this and point directly at the player; saying that he either lacks of motivation or doesn’t understand the game of his national team; however, analysts of the game all agree that this situation is not as simple as it look. In Barcelona, there is a coach that has established a well defined style and philosophy from both a physical and mental point of view. In Argentina the situation is different. Diego Maradona is without a doubt in the top 3 best players of all time (to some even the first) but being a good player don’t always mean to be a good coach. Maradona has not established even an idea of what his team should play. He works a lot the psychological aspects of the game, which is very important, but he lacks of technical understanding which results in players being lost in the field like Messi. Another important aspect to have in mind is that it is not the same to get passes from Xavi and Iniesta than from Mascherano and Veron, this is not a knock on the talent of the two Argentineans because they are very good, but Iniesta and Xavi are simply among the best in the world, if not the best, at organizing the game.
Maradona Should be Fired: before explaining why he should be fired let’s look at his accomplishments as a coach which should also be taken into consideration. First of all, he got the team and led them to earn a spot in 2010’s world cup in South Africa; regardless of the poor image his team shows in every game he got the job done and result oriented critics will say that this is what matters. He also got the team united which is fundamental for any aspirations to do great things; a coach that doesn’t create a sentiment of unity in the team and doesn’t work the team’s psychology is missing on a crucial aspect of the game. However, we are talking about Argentina; an instant favourite in any tournament with players like Mascherano, Messi, Higuain; to expect “just to win” is an unacceptable mediocre mentality of a small team and not a former world champion. Argentina, just like Brazil, Spain, Italy is expected not only to win but to offer an display of good game as it happens to clubs like Real Madrid, Boca Juniors, Barcelona etc. But perhaps the worst of Maradona doesn’t come with anything related to the game or the team but to his shameful declarations after qualifying to the world cup in which he express vulgarities towards members of the media. From a man driven by passion rather than logic it is not a surprise but the fact that the AFA allows this to happen is something that damage the prestigious image of the “beautiful game”. Watching Diego behave and watching Guardiola act is like day and night; they are completely different.
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