Sparky’s Column

A Contrast of Coaches

It could be a tale of two Argentinians in the race for the title next season. The much hyped Diego Maradona's Al Wasl and this season's Champions Al Jazira who will be led by Alejandro Sabella. The two countrymen could not be further apart when it comes to their careers on and off the pitch.

In many people's opinion Diego Armando Maradona was the greatest player to step onto a football pitch. He could do the near impossible with a ball - if Maradona was in your team then the general tactic was give it Diego and he will do the rest. He lifted an average Argentina side to World Champions with some of the greatest performances ever witnessed in the 1986 World Cup. Pele was always surrounded by great players when he won his world titles, whereas Maradona had to go it alone. His club career in Italy followed the same path, unfashionable Napoli lifted the Serie A crown and Maradona was forever immortalised in Naples.  

Let's compare the more modest playing career of Sabella. He began with River Plate, the city rivals of Maradona's beloved Boca Juniors. Similar to Diego he had a spell abroad swapping the ticker tape of the Monumental for the mud, sweat and tears of England's lower divisions. Bramell Lane and Sheffield United was the destination, followed with a largely uninspiring spell at Leeds before Carlos Bilardo tempted him back to Argentina, this time for Estudiantes. 

If life on the pitch was polar opposites for the two men then it has been a role reversal on the touchline. Sabella spent 19 years as an assistant to Daniel Passarella, including spells on the coaching staff of Argentina and Uruguay. He came into his own once he stepped out of the shadow of his mentor. He took the reigns at former club Estudiantes, lifting the Argentinean Championship and then the continental title. His only previous experience of the UAE was leading Estudiantes in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup Championship where his team narrowly lost to Barcelona in the final.


In contrast Maradona's two short spells in club coaching went largely unnoticed. His first stint was at Mandiyu de Corrientes who now sit in the 4th tier of Argentinian football. The spell was as short as it was unsuccessful, with the team relegated not long after Maradona's departure. He spent a matter of months at the much larger Racing Club but personal problems made the headlines more than his tactics. He took Argentina to the World Cup finals by the skin of his teeth in 2010 and many critics say his tactical naivety was responsible for Argentina crashing out 4-1 against Germany in the quarter finals.

 

There is no magic formula to coaching, one man maybe a success at one club only to be a failure at the next. The same can happen in the opposite direction and reduce a coach from hero to zero. The contrast is there for all to see and the weight of expectation is heavy on both managers' shoulders. All eyes will be on the Argentinian pair as they put their teams against each other in the race for the title next season.