MARTIN SAMUEL: It's crazy to punish Diego and Sir Alex for loony tunes

19 November 2009 12:16
There is a standard punishment meted out for disreputable behaviour in football these days: a slap on the wrist. It is what Diego Maradona received for abusing journalists after Argentina qualified for the World Cup, apparently, and Sir Alex Ferguson got one, too, for questioning the fitness of the referee, Alan Wiley.[LNB]Indeed, whatever sentence is passed on a football manager or player, it is instantly deemed not harsh enough. Emmanuel Adebayor received a three-game slap on the wrist for his behaviour against Arsenal. Craig Bellamy and Gary Neville did not even get that for foolish interaction with the crowd. More like a tickle on the tum.[LNB] Losing it: Diego Maradona vented his fury at the media after Argentina's World Cup qualifying clash against Uruguay[LNB]   More from Martin Samuel... MARTIN SAMUEL: It's so simple, let's force some honesty back into the game19/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Lord help us with this man leading our World Cup bid15/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Awful truth hits as England's lack of depth is exposed15/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Qatar will pay the earth to join sporting elite13/11/09 Terry set to miss England clash with Brazil as Capello's woes mount up13/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Brown, spin and how we've lost sight of the truth12/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Door to Champions League is open...will anyone push?10/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: You all know who David Haye is now!10/11/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE Yet Maradona is banned from all football-related activity for twomonths for some rather fruity language after the win in Uruguay, whileFerguson will not be on Manchester United's touchline for a BarclaysPremier League match against Portsmouth and a Carling Cup tie withTottenham Hotspur.[LNB]Slaps on the wrist? What should they have received? A year in exile? Seven hundred lashes? The sack?[LNB]There is almost no need for sentence at all when a manager switches to rant mode because the loss of temper and dignity is penalty enough. 'The politician who loses the debate is the one who gets nervous,' said Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, earlier this season. 'As soon as you become aggressive on television you have lost. It is a basic rule.'[LNB]He is right. Had Maradona been calm and considered after the victory over Uruguay, his critics would have had little choice but to report that he had conjured a very useful away win to take his country to the World Cup. Instead, he was again depicted as a human train wreck and a liability to Argentina's hopes of success. Maradona was the biggest loser here, in line with Wenger's observation.[LNB]So, too, Ferguson who, having attacked Wiley's condition, was quickly discredited when it transpired the official had run a greater distance than all but four Manchester United players during the match with Sunderland. The more a manager rails at referees, the less he is heard.[LNB] Under-performing: Argentina striker Carlos Tevez (right) vies for the ball with Spain's Gerard Pique during a 2-1 defeat in Madrid on Saturday for Maradona's team [LNB]Part of Ferguson's problem is that his criticisms are now seen aspart of a wider ploy to detract attention from the deficiencies of histeam, or gain advantage prior to an important game. United looked tohave got the rough end of it against Chelsea last week but Ferguson wasafforded little sympathy. He is presumed to be working the system sooften that few care when it turns against him.[LNB]Many years ago, Ihad a ferocious row with Sir Alex during the ill-fated World ClubChampionship in Brazil. It started in a televised press conference andcarried on halfway around the stadium and down into an undergroundparking area.[LNB]Ferguson thought I had quoted him saying preparations at theMaracana stadium were a shambles. Actually, that was given as myopinion, not his, and although Manchester United's press man knew thishe did not have the gumption to correct Ferguson in full flow.Television footage of an angry Sir Alex was, very briefly, a story athome until the next day when Manchester United drew with Necaxa ofMexico and David Beckham was sent off.[LNB]So should FIFA have acted against Ferguson as they did Maradona? Notfor one minute. This was merely another PR disaster in a carnival ofthem at that tournament.[LNB]United were depicted as arrogant and aloof in the Brazilian mediabecause their training ground was closed to local children and theirlack of charity engagements contrasted unfavourably with the busyschedule of the other European competitors, Real Madrid.[LNB]United did have altruistic work planned, but at the end of the trip,not the beginning, so to get this point across their PR man primed ajournalist to ask Ferguson about future commitments.[LNB]Unfortunately, the writer first mentioned Beckham's dismissal,incurring Ferguson's displeasure. So when he attempted to broach thesubject of charity, Ferguson interrupted, snapped that he already hadtoo much to say for himself and refused to take his question. Therereally is no need to punish football people when they do such a capablejob themselves.[LNB]Same old story: Sir Alex Ferguson rants are often now viewed as simply part of a ploy to deflect criticism from his team[LNB]That is why we should not get too worked up over Maradona's supposed verbal outrage. As the only English national newspaper journalist present, I can reveal that smelling salts for the offended were not required.[LNB]Maradona's tirade was a victimless crime because he clearly wasn't doing himself any favours and the guys getting the grief were giving as good as they got (and certainly did in print and over the airwaves the next day). Indeed, after the press conference Argentine journalists rushed forward and Maradona answered questions for another 10 minutes.[LNB]There would be something very hypocritical in following El Diego halfway around the world and claiming the motivation was to hear him mouth bland platitudes. The draw is Maradona, genius and loon.[LNB]Taking offence at his language would be like going to see The Who in 1969 and complaining because they smashed up the instruments.[LNB]'Argentina will be the team to cover at the World Cup,' more than one colleague has told me excitedly. Can you win a World Cup with a nutter in charge? That will be the narrative and FIFA will trade off it, too.[LNB]Ferguson's verbal attack on Wiley is not perceived as victimless due to the most overplayed hand in history, courtesy of the referees union, who are now demanding a full retraction. Why? Ferguson regrets his public stance but that does not mean his opinion has changed.[LNB]Anyway, if our most successful manager sincerely believes a senior referee is incapable, we should at least listen, even if we do not agree. We have to differentiate between what is being said and the right to say it.[LNB]Respect is the buzzword in football right now but nobody lost respect for Wiley over what happened at Old Trafford. They lost respect for Ferguson.[LNB]Similarly, the combative Argentine press do not need protection from the volatile and unstable Maradona. They will get their right of reply because journalists always do.[LNB]So nobody needs a slap, on the wrist or anywhere else. If the manager tells you to suck it the best policy is to take it on the chin.[LNB] Fabio's England could be just like watching BrazilNobody plays 3-5-2 these days: except Brazil, of course. We Luddites had a little laugh about that in Doha on Saturday, as some folk wondered why it always looked as if Brazil had an extra man in the key areas of the field. It was because they did.[LNB]As soon as the game started, the two full backs, Michel Bastos and Maicon, moved high and stayed wide to make seven going forward while Gilberto Silva dropped from defensive midfield into a position in front of the central defenders. [LNB]Then, if England got the ball and attacked, the full backs withdrew and Gilberto was joined by Melo, so three at the back quickly became a block of six. Fabio Capello, the England manager, praised Brazil's strength but it was numerical as well as physical.[LNB] From defence to attack: Brazil full-back Maicon (right) challenges England's Peter Crouch at one end of the pitch after spending much of Saturday's friendly in the attacking third[LNB]The 3-5-2 formation is now so fabulously unfashionable that even the teams playing it are in denial. Dunga, manager of Brazil, would no doubt claim to have fielded four at the back against England, just as Luiz Felipe Scolari was documented as using a back four at Chelsea.[LNB]When he wrote the team on the tactics board, however, it appeared as 3-5-2 because he placed John Mikel Obi in defence and Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole in midfield.[LNB]Do not worry. This is not a plea for England to abandon the game plan that has steered them to South Africa. We know that English players could not handle 3-5-2 (although a version of it was deployed in England's best two tournament finishes since 1966 - at the World Cup in 1990 and the European Championship in 1996).[LNB]It was a catastrophe when introduced against Croatia in Zagreb under Steve McClaren (although, with a much depleted team, it kept the Croats quiet for an hour and the only goals conceded were down to an error by goalkeeper Paul Robinson and an utter fluke), and nobody plays it these days (except Brazil, and Russia under Guus Hiddink, when they beat England 2-1 in Moscow in 2007).[LNB]This is more about an opportunity missed, because if ever a country has spurned the chance to vary the way it wins football matches it is England. Capello's current full backs, Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole, are strong attackers capable of playing in midfield with the right coaching. As for players with the raw potential to perform either as physically imposing central defenders or defensive midfield players with a creative edge, look no further than Rio Ferdinand, Ledley King and, latterly, Tom Huddlestone (right).[LNB]It is too late now. Capello has neither the time nor, in all likelihood, the inclination, considering he is on record favouring four at the back throughout his career. He has a World Cup to win and is beyond experimentation.[LNB]The last England manager to restructure the way England played at a tournament successfully was Terry Venables but he had two years of non-competitive matches to get his message across. [LNB]Capello has actually attempted quite a lot in a short space of time. His 4-2-3-1 system, while very much in vogue, is still considerably more complex than the single game plan we were informed English players could understand after the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the 2008 European Championship: basic 4-4-2.[LNB]So this is not a moan at Capello. An international manager has little time to coach new ideas or team shapes. The real pity is that no club coach has looked at Ferdinand, King or Huddlestone and seen an opportunity to redesign his team in the image of Brazil. Even a central defender as combative as Jamie Carragher at Liverpool appears to have more to his game than has been demanded.[LNB]The fact so many players remain in this comfort zone with clubs means that when they are occasionally asked to step out of it, as England were in Croatia under McClaren, they freeze.[LNB]It helps that every kid in Brazil starts off as a forward. Brazilian defenders are all converts and it shows in their technique. Yet Ferdinand is regularly described by his contemporaries as the most gifted footballer in the England squad. So the potential has long been there.[LNB]Brazil were considerably nearer to full strength than England in Doha, and it showed. Yet the result, another Brazilian victory, was a familiar one. England have won just three games out of 23 against them now, and none competitive. [LNB]We put this down to technique, mostly, and sometimes other factors: psychological intimidation and, on Saturday, physical strength. Might it also be that Brazil ask more of their players? Always have done and, sadly it seems, always will.[LNB] Darren Fletcher (left) would get in England's team, said Scotland boss George Burley, prior to his dismissal. [LNB]A bigger problem would seem that the late Cyril Fletcher (right) would get in Scotland's.[LNB] 'Anyone who likes football, loves me,' said the self-effacing Cristiano Ronaldo last week. Quite true. That is why, in his absence, we should be keeping our fingers crossed for Portugal against Bosnia-Herzegovina, even if they scarcely deserve it.[LNB] CONTACT MARTIN AT: m.samuel@dailymail.co.uk  More from Martin Samuel... MARTIN SAMUEL: It's so simple, let's force some honesty back into the game19/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Lord help us with this man leading our World Cup bid15/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Awful truth hits as England's lack of depth is exposed15/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Qatar will pay the earth to join sporting elite13/11/09 Terry set to miss England clash with Brazil as Capello's woes mount up13/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Brown, spin and how we've lost sight of the truth12/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: Door to Champions League is open...will anyone push?10/11/09 MARTIN SAMUEL: You all know who David Haye is now!10/11/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE [LNB]  Explore more:People:Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, Martin Samuel, Glen Johnson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Tom Huddlestone, CRAIG BELLAMY, Jose Bosingwa, Peter Crouch, Alex Ferguson, Diego Maradona, Arsene Wenger, Fabio Capello, Darren Fletcher, David Beckham, Paul Robinson, George Burley, Ledley King, Gilberto SilvaPlaces:Liverpool, Moscow, Madrid, Spain, South Africa, Russia, Brazil, Portugal, Bosnia, Scotland, Croatia, Argentina, United Kingdom, Mexico

Source: Daily_Mail