Who’s the least deserving player to be bussed? Fat Luke? Prima-donna Pogba? Delusional Ali? I struggle to think of a victim that was a sacrificial “virgin”. England job would be perfect for him. He can’t do anything about transfers, if he doesn’t like a player he doesn’t put him in the squad, tactically brilliant, a good cup manager. Yes there are some cons, the biggest being the style of football he plays, yet it would at the bare minimum still be as attractive as the current setup, and he is unlikely to last 4 years.
I could see him being the “knighted” one, Sir Jose.
And here we have another one, when I was speaking of the calibre/profile of these people who often win these things.
How good was Lionel Scaloni at the point when Argentina appointed him? Was he known worldwide, world class, serial winner? He was also in Argentina’s system.
He’s won 3 titles in a row with Argentina now, which are his first ones in his managerial career. It’s his first full time senior job in charge.
That’s more on the other side, it’s pretty rare. But it’s not like the man who achieved this had an incredible CV when he took on the challenge of managing “Messi’s Argentina” in it’s final push.
He was part of Sampaoli’s support team and so the failure of that tenure and his lack of own track record saw a lot of resistance to his appointment. A bit like the England job though, it’s a bit of a toxic one without many good candidates putting their hand up top take it.
It’s worth taking stock in how he approached the role though. Unlike Sampaoli, who came in with a philosphy and forced his side to implement it no mater how badly mismatched it was to the best players he could call upon, Scaloni focused on finding balance in his team selections and letting the team play the football that selection warranted. It resulted in unpopular decisions and sometimes leaving popular players on the bench, but the result is the most coherent and balanced Argentina side I’ve seen since 2006.
I think after his loyalty to Spurs, Harry Kane deserves a few seasons competing for the top trophies. I do wonder why he didn’t move abroad for a few years. I would have taken him in a heart beat.
