O'Neill and the Status Quo

The resignation of Villa manager Martin O’Neill earlier this week was, to put it mildly, unexpected. While most football fans were busy poring over previews, vociferously announcing predictions and counting down the days until the club football season kicked off again, O’Neill decided, apparently over a lack of transfer funds, that he no longer wanted to be in charge at Aston Villa. Opinion is certainly divided as to how significant his exit will be for the Midlands club who have, under his tutelage, arguably come consistently closest to challenging the dominance of the big four in English football. There are fans who claim that O’Neill is a brilliant coach – one with great motivational and man-managing prowess who has, over the years, consistently overperformed with clubs like Leicester, Celtic and Villa. On the other hand, his harshest critics argue that O’Neill is vastly overrated, stunted by limited tactical ability, poor transfer strategies, and painted as frugal when, in fact, he was far from it.

From the Overcoat to the Goatee

Diego Milito’s second goal in last season’s Champions League final was Mourinho’s Inter in a nutshell. Inter’s shape had forced Robben onto his weaker right foot and his tame cross was dealt with aerially by the towering Maicon before Motta threw his body in front of Olic’s fierce left foot volley, sending the ball 40 yards down field. Sniejder’s quick feet nicked the ball away from the defender, a split second before getting clattered by the on-coming player. Eto’o used his upper body strength to fight off Altintop and zipped a quick pass across the pristine Bernabeu turf to Milito. A deceptively well controlled first touch sprung ‘the Prince’ goal wards. His fluid change of direction twisted van Buyten inside and then out and he passed the giant central defender without any fancy step-overs or nutmegs.

Milito then showed all the big game, big moment composure that he showed when he stabbed in the goal that won the Scudetto and the one that secured the Italian Cup. And like Mourinho, il Principe celebrated like a fan. All the hard work, all the training drills, all the tactical classroom sit-downs and the video analysis had paid off. Milito ran over to the Inter fans, arms out-stretched and screamed: a mirror image of the men and women in blue and black on the other side of the advertising boards. From one end of the pitch to the other in the blink of an eye, Milito’s second goal oozed Mourinho’s influence. A team led by the midfield general, isolating the opposition’s star player, defenders sacrificing their bodies, the creative midfielder’s first time pass, and the forward’s no-nonsense finish. Like a SWAT team, they were in and out. Mission objective achieved. Target neutralised. There was a clinical beauty about it. Inter celebrated as a team because every player had played his part in the goal and in the season.

But now this team, all pace and power and temperament and guile, will be led by a very different man. In fact, it is hard to think of two more different characters than Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez. Jose’s dashing good looks and charismatic interviews could not be further removed from Rafa’s cryptic press conference answers and (usually!) reserved nature. What will the Rafa regime bring to Inter?

Goodbye, Diego

You know that moment just after a champagne bottle has been vigorously shaken, when everybody waits with anticipation until they hear the inevitable ‘pop’? To most Argentinians, the AFA’s announcement earlier this week, which confirmed the decision to finally get rid of Diego Maradona as coach, was the moment when the cork finally popped. Tactically weak and famously stubborn, Maradona was never likely to stay in charge for La Albiceleste, especially after their embarassing defeat in the World Cup quarter-finals a few weeks ago. But the manner in which he exited the job highlights, in a nutshell, why Maradona was never likely to be a successful coach.