The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Managerial dud Matthaus won’t trouble England Posted: 01 Sep 2011 04:20 PM PDT SEPT 2 — Lothar Matthaus was a magnificent player, one of the greatest of his generation — and that's saying something considering he was a contemporary of Diego Maradona, Michel Platini, Ruud Gullit, Hristo Stoichkov and Gheorge Hagi, among many other wonderful talents. With the obvious exception of Maradona, the German midfielder was as good as anyone. In particular, Matthaus was almost unstoppable during the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy, propelling West Germany (as they still were, despite the previous year's fall of the Berlin Wall) to the crown with a series of devastatingly powerful displays. He was also tremendous for Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, winning nine league trophies over the course of a glittering career. However, great players do not necessarily make great coaches, and Matthaus's managerial career has been as undistinguished as his playing days were awesome. He started off in 2001 with Rapid Vienna, where he endured mixed results and lasted less than a year. Since then, similarly undistinguished results have followed in similarly low-profile positions: Partizan Belgrade, Red Bull Salzburg, the Hungarian national team... all have vainly hoped that Matthaus's magic as a player would somehow re-materialise as a manager. All have been left disappointed. Now Matthaus is in charge of Bulgaria, where he's continuing his previous form as a manager by making a pretty poor job out of their European Championships qualification campaign: With five games played, they have just one win (against hopeless Wales) and two goals to their name. Qualification is already an almost impossible prospect. On Friday evening, Matthaus will hope to at least restore some pride by leading Bulgaria to a point or more against England in Sofia. Don't get too excited about his chances. To be fair to Matthaus, he doesn't have a huge amount to work with. Bulgarian football is in a mess, with a dreadful domestic league riddled by allegations of corruption and "favours" to the big clubs. Unfortunately for me, I've been given the sorry task of watching a number of Bulgarian A-League games for my work as a commentator, and it's rarely been an enjoyable experience. The football is dire — no better than fourth-tier English fare — played on awful surfaces in front of miniscule crowds. The only entertainment is generally provided by regular dust-ups between players as they grow frustrated at yet another terrible refereeing decision. Yep, it's really bad. To illustrate how poor domestic Bulgarian football is, last season's runaway champions Litex Lovech have already been knocked out of both the Champions' League and the Europa League (Celtic and Rangers fans may be cringing in embarrassed recognition). Unsurprisingly in that context, the best Bulgarian players escape the dross by heading abroad as soon as possible, and their lack of commitment to the national team is illustrated by the fact that their most high-profile player, Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov, has already retired from international football. So, Matthaus doesn't have much cause for optimism as Fabio Capello's men roll into town tonight. For England, the only real concern will be complacency (and yes, I know, that's a trait English footballers aren't exactly strangers to) because Capello's squad, injury-hit though it may be, is inordinately better than anything their opponents can offer — as evidenced in England's 4-0 win over Bulgaria at Wembley a year ago. With Manchester United pair Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young in red-hot form, England should prevail without too many problems in Sofia — even if Bulgaria's back line provides a significantly tougher obstacle than Arsenal's excuse for a "defence" at Old Trafford last weekend. For the more interesting of this weekend's Euro qualifiers, look instead to Tirana, where perennial strugglers Albania will look to build on their surprisingly strong start by upsetting resurgent France in a wide open Group D. The Albanians are complete unknowns even in their own back yard, but they were shock winners against Belarus in their last home game and will treat the visit of France like a cup final. And there could be a cracker in Dublin as Ireland host Slovakia — two of three teams (along with Russia) joint top of Group B at the start of the weekend. The Irish are playing with a chip on their shoulder after their controversial elimination from the 2010 World Cup thanks to the intervention of the Hand of Henry, but they won't find it easy against a strong and determined Slovakian team who possess some dangerous creative midfielders in Napoli's Marek Hamsik and Fenerbahce's Miroslav Stoch. Both teams know that defeat would give them a huge uphill task to qualify, and the partisan Irish fans should create a terrific atmosphere: if you watch one game this weekend, I'd suggest you make it that one. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Posted: 01 Sep 2011 04:03 PM PDT SEPT 2 — The transfer window has shut and with it the biggest change in footballing philosophy ever. The Arsenal has seen the light and signed battle-hardened professionals, albeit a little late but nonetheless exempting the fact that survival is more important than the brand of football. The word survival used here is to mean the continued status of being a big club and behaving like one while also portraying a certain direction and aura. The signings will make a big difference, especially the acquisition of experienced international defenders Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos. A back four of Bacary Sagna, Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen and Andre Santos will not concede too many goals between now and the end of the season. The signing of Mikel Arteta will hopefully not go down the Andre Arshavin and Thomas Rosicky way, totally lacking hunger and desire. The biggest dilemma perhaps is in trying to solve the lone striker position. The incumbent is Robin van Persie, who had his best goalscoring campaign for the Gunners last season but could most certainly be better utilised in a more natural wide position. The signing of Park Chu Young is interesting as it seems to push Marouane Chamakh further down the pecking order. Will the Moroccan jump or be pushed as, after a good start to his Arsenal career, he has lost favour with Arsene Wenger? His sporadic appearances suggest bigger issues and his ability is a waste on the bench. Perhaps the departure of Yossi Benayoun from Chelsea is a little strange but Arsenal certainly has made a very good signing. His ability to play anywhere in the "3" of a 4-2-3-1 makes him a certain starter for the Gunners. In transfer activity outside of The Emirates, the move that has shocked me is Raul Meireles leaving Liverpool for Stamford Bridge. I can only imagine that Meireles was unhappy at not being a regular in the starting line-up at Liverpool. Or, is his move more to do with Steven Gerrard being ready to make a comeback? Whatever the reason, Chelsea certainly have bought a goalscoring midfielder and is he the option to replace Frank Lampard, one wonders. Wait a minute, Meireles is not better than Gerrard but could be better than Lampard? Now, that is something to think about surely. Meanwhile, the less said about Spurs the better. Seriously, the club still don't realise that it was never about the players coming or going, but always going to be about getting the best out of the players available. By that, I mean better training and coaching is what is needed, not more signings. On a final note, the only disappointment for me following the end of the transfer window is Wesley Sneijder not moving to the English Premier League. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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