True,
there were times when it wasn't possible to observe the Argentine coach
without humming the theme song to Benny Hill. Picture, for example, the
Argentine training session where Maradona pretended to beat up a member
of his staff and theatrically acted as a target for his players to
shoot a hail of balls at. He came out of it furiously rubbing the back
of his head. Ho-ho, what a jester!
But as Argentina's victories piled up, there seemed
to be method in Maradona's madness. No other team had Argentina's
swashbuckling flair. With Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez slotting in
goals and world player of the year Lionel Messi supplying inspiration,
passes and even leadership on the field, it was possible to ignore the
holes in Maradona's defense and midfield. And not second-guess his
decision to leave defender Javier Zanetti and midfielder Esteban
Cambiasso at home.Maradona's strategy, if it can be called that,
was to outscore not shut out opponents. "Permanently on the attack" is
how he lovingly described Argentina's style of play.
"We are here to give joy
to the Argentines, to play as we like, in the way which makes us happy,"
he said.
What fun,
but naive, too.
Maradona
used enthusiasm to compensate for his inexperience as a coach. He
smothered his players with hugs and kisses before and after games
because he had little else to offer in terms of tactical wizardry. The
instructions he barked in practice were of the "Come on! Look alive!"
variety, not useful nuggets of strategic insight. He talked about the
need for "sacrifice, blood and courage" from players, not about playing
formations. His players, in turn, praised the value of his experience of
having competed in four World Cups, not his game plans — if indeed
there were any.
"Nobody
ever told me where to play. So, I shouldn't have to tell Messi where to
play either," Maradona said in the best example of his
let-them-get-on-with-it approach.
He made no apologies for it. In fact, after three
group stage wins, he was demanding apologies — "I'm not suggesting you
drop your trousers, but it would be honest and great," he said — from
critics who had predicted Argentina could only flop with the former
cocaine addict in charge, and waste its best chance in years of winning
the World Cup that Maradona lifted as a player in 1986.
The upside of Maradona
hogging the limelight in South Africa with his large personality and
entertaining and provocative news conferences was that he deflected
attention from Messi and why the star forward wasn't scoring.
But the downside for
Argentina was that Maradona failed, as he also did in World Cup
qualifying, to make the most of Messi's goal-scoring abilities. Too
often, Messi was stranded without the passes that help to make him such a
match-winner for his club, Barcelona. That forced Messi to go hunting
deep in the midfield himself for the ball.
Because of Argentina's defensive frailties and
Maradona's lack of alternate plans B, C or D for when his A-plan —
attack, attack, attack — failed to work, there was always the suspicion
Argentina's exciting adventure could derail if its forwards couldn't
score. Yet few suspected that Argentina and Maradona would be undressed
quite so starkly as they were by Germany in the quarterfinals.
German manager Joachim
Loew is his own greatest admirer. But it is also true that he thoroughly
outthought Maradona, executing his game plan brilliantly — just as he
did against the England side of Fabio Capello, a coach more experienced
than Maradona. Messi's attacking runs broke against the rocks of dogged,
organized German defending, while the Argentine defense and Javier
Mascherano in midfield were overwhelmed by the speed of the Germans.
Most importantly, the
Germans played as a well-oiled team, finding each other with just the
right pass at just the right time. Argentina, in contrast, looked like
talented individuals who just happened to be wearing the same blue and
white striped jerseys. As the German goals mounted up, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and
finally 4-0, it grew increasingly clear that Maradona had no answer. He
looked so sad on the touchline.
This World Cup would not have been as much fun
without Maradona, without the sight of him pacing up and down as though
he were still out on the field kicking every ball, living every emotion.
But it was always too
much to expect that he would be the same genius as a coach as he was as
Argentina's greatest player.