5 Managers who could lead Lionel Messi to World Cup glory

Argentina, oh Argentina.

After managing to win the square root of zero with the incredible talents that they have at their disposal – including a certain Lionel Andres Messi – and having experimented with the 7 managers during the career of the aforementioned Messi they really need to get this appointment spot on.

It started off with Jose Pekerman (who got them play some sumptuous football, but was sacked rather prematurely) before Afio Basile (the last man to win a major trophy for Argentina, way back in 1991), Diego Maradona (greatest footballer ever, also in the running for worst coach ever), Sergio Batista (won Messi his lone international success with the senior team at the 2008 Olympics), Alejandro Sabella (the one who came closest, but also purveyor of one of the dullest Argentina teams in history), Gerardo Martino (came close at the Copa America, but was comprehensively out-thought in the final) and Edgardo Bauza (can anyone have done worse, really?) all had their shot at it.

What AFA – which is an utter shambles at the moment – does next will be crucial in determining how everyone will see Lionel Messi’s legacy – because like it or not, a World Cup and International success, is the greatest successes a footballer can aim for.

Oh, and a proud footballing nation such as Argentina simply deserves better:

In this case, as important as the technical and tactical aspects of the coaching job are, the management of personalities that is equally, if not more, important.

5. Manuel Pellegrini

Argentinians have, over the past decade or so, made Chile the pre-eminent footballing nation on the South American continent, so there’s no shame in their great neighbours swallowing a bit of pride and appointing a Chilean in charge of their team.

Pelligrini has a great deal of experience and has coached San Lorenzo and River Plate in his illustrious coaching career before of course moving abroad to manage Malaga and later Manchester City to great success. He has great understanding with Pablo Zabaleta, and importantly, Sergio Aguero – whose incredible talent hasn’t really been translated into performances on the international stage.

Besides, Pellegrini is used to managing super egos and moulding a collective around superstars so he shouldn’t have an issue with managing the Argentina dressing room – and the immense personality that dominates it. And I’m not talking about Diego Maradona.

Club honours: @Universidad Catolica – 1x Copa Chile, 1x Copa Interamericana, @LDU Quito – 1x Serie A, @San Lorenzo – 1x Primera Division, 1x Copa Mercusor, @River Plate – 1x Primera Division, @Villareal – 1x UEFA Intertoto Cup, @Manchester City – 1x Premier League, 2x League Cup

4. Mauricio Pochettino

The tough-as-nails Newell’s Old Boys and Espanyol legend has been a revelation at Tottenham and has helped the North London club punch above their weight every season he’s been there – this despite Daniel Levy’s conservative ownership pulling down successive managers before him.

He seems to have found the perfect mix of Bielsa, Menotti and Bilardo (having a high pressing style, playing flowing footballing and being defensively sound, respectively) at Spurs and has had great success with the development of youth and the sustenance of form through the long, arduous, Premier League season. All this points at a technically sound manager who has the personality to mould a team into a unit and succeed.

While this is the most unlikely name on this list, given just how heavily he is involved with the Tottenham Hotspur “project” , he may be just what the doctor ordered in terms of what his national team need.

Oh and that Rosario, Newell’s Old Boys and Catalan connection would surely stand him in good stead, wouldn’t it?

Club honours – nil, but that’s not to be held against a man who’s managed Espanyol, Southampton and Spurs, is it?

3. Guus Hiddink

Football’s ultimate “man-for-a-job”. The most left-field of all the choices, and the only one not hailing from Patagonia, Hiddink may just be the breath of fresh air that Argentine football needs. The Dutchman is a stickler for the values of discipline, team-work, and co-ordinated effort (which you will notice is a hallmark of all five managers on this list – it doesn’t take an expert to see what La Albiceleste so sorely lack) and has extensive experience managing teams as diverse as Real Madrid and Anzhi Makhachkala, Chelsea and Real Betis and South Korea and Australia.

His world-cup pedrigree is unquestionable (who can forget what he did in Korea-Japan ‘02) and his style of management would suit an outfit that is in dire need of an experienced hand who has been there and done that, time and time again. He also has experience coming in when the chips are down and tackling near-impossible targets head-on. He is what one would call in corporate parlance the perfect consultant and the Argentines may do well to outsource this one task to the semi-retired Dutchman.

Club honours: @PSV – 1x European Cup, 6 x Eredivisie, 4 x KNVB Cup, @Real Madrid – Intercontinental Cup, @Chelsea – FA Cup

National honours: @Netherlands – 4th place WC’98, @South Korea – 4th place WC ‘02, @Russia – semifinalists Euro ‘08

2. Diego Simeone

El Cholo doesn’t give a solid one, does he? Be it Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi, the former Argentine captain and all-round hard man is the perfect person for any team trying to instill the feeling of “espirit de corps” amongst its members. No one’s teams reflect the character of their manager quite like Simeone’s – hard-as-nails fighters who will give it their all for the full ninety.

After years of struggling with their identity, Simeone’s brand of no-nonsense, we-have-only-one-philosophy-and-that-is-to-win style of management may just be what Argentina require to see them through these tough times. His ability to inspire a back-against-the-wall, everyone-is-against-us mentality is rivalled only by Jose Mourinho (if at all), and even if this may not be the smart move in terms of long-term development, Argentina’s overwhelming need of the hour is a trophy – while their best player is still in his prime.

Simeone seems to have run his race with Atletico Madrid, which is something the AFA can utilise to his advantage – and if he does choose to broaden his horizons, this challenge might just bring out the best in him.

Club honours: @Estudiantes – 1 X Apertura, @River Plate – 1 x Clausura, @Atletico Madrid – 1 x La Liga, 1 x Copa del Rey, 1 x Europa League, 2 x Champions League runners-up

1. Jorge Sampaoli

As strong a candidate as Diego Simeone is, I believe the man most likely to get the job is his compatriot, Jorge Sampaoli. The man who managed Chile to it’s first ever international trophy is as Bielsista as they come, but his fondness for the extreme-pressing, break-neck paced game that the great tactictian of our times, Marcelo Bielsa pioneered, is tempered with an ability to manage his star players to ensure there is little break-down, at least over the duration of a cup run.

Still to prove himself in a league scenario (his Sevilla team faltered pathetically in the final stretch), he has no qualms with a national scenario. In fact, AFA representatives have reportedly already approached him in Seville to convince him to cut his two-year contract with the club in half and come and save them. Sampaoli is an ardent fan of Lionel Messi (having once said “sometimes Messi let’s you stop him, sometimes he doesn’t) and it is understood that the feeling is reciprocated. Anyone who has Messi’ respect automatically wins the dresssing room’s too.

Club honours: Universidad de Chile – 2 x Apertura, 1 x Clausura, 1 x Copa Sudamericana

National honours: Chile – 1 x Copa America

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Edited by Staff Editor