River Plate, the “B” version *update*

Estadio Monumental, home of River Plate

Though many fans of River Plate are still slowly coming to terms with the thought of having to play in the second division in Argentina, others have already begun planning and thinking about the challenge ahead.

No one was surprised when JJ Lopez was dropped as manager (and director of the club’s youth divisions), but everyone was surprised when team captain Matías Almeyda was offered and accepted the position in a matter of hours, rather than days, retiring as a player in the process.

It seems like a major gamble, going into a new division with a new and completely unproven manager, especially one who is taking his first ever administrative post in football. There is no questioning Almeyda’s leadership abilities and the respect he commands among the squad. Whether he has the tactical and man-management skills required from the position remains to be seen. I think many of us saw him as someone who would transition to football management sooner rather than later, but those thoughts usually saw him as an assistant to a more experienced man, allowing him to gain experience and slowly develop a managerial philosophy.

Well, “slowly” is out the door now.

A philosophy is required immediately. Speculation on what Almeyda will be like as a manager is just that, speculation, until the team actually takes the pitch for their first meaningful game in the Nacional B (second division) on 17 August versus an opponent yet to be determined.

Almeyda was quoted in the press saying he prefers an attacking 4-3-1-2 with fullbacks very active on the wings to try to attack with as many bodies as possible. All of that, however, may depend on the players he has available.

So who is available you ask? Let’s see.

Definitely gone

* Juan Pablo Carrizo, the goalkeeper was on loan from Lazio. Whether he goes back to Lazio or not is undetermined, but he will not be with River next season.

* Mariano Pavone and Leandro Caruso, two more loanees, owned by Real Betis in Spain and Udinese in Italy respectively. As with Carrizo, future destinations are yet to be determined, but it definitely won’t be River Plate.

* Erik Lamela, the young star-in-the-making would be everyone’s first choice to stay, but he is the only player currently owned by River Plate of significant value, so he will be sold to help the club cope with their crippling debt. Some think that they drop in divisions may harm his asking price, but I doubt it. His talent is clear and there are more than one team looking to buy him so with some sensible negotiation River Plate should be able to get a good price for him.

* Jonathan Maidana, Alexis Ferrero, Adalberto Román, Carlos Arano. For a team that gave up so few goals, you’d think the defence is something they’d try to keep intact, but actually all of their defenders with the largest number of starts should be gone for next season. In almost all cases, they’ll find a spot elsewhere in the first division of Argentina or in South America. The club should receive some money for these players as I believe most of them are owned by the club, not loanees. But their fees are likely to be no more than a fraction of what Lamela would bring in.

On the bubble:

* Paulo Ferrari, the wingback was one of the longest-serving members of the squad and could be a beneficial veteran presence for the squad in the second division, but with the club looking to shed salaries, he could be a casualty.

* Walter Acevedo, another possible salary casualty. Acevedo was loaned back to Argentina after being bought by Metallist Kharkov in the Ukraine because of a “lack of professionalism” (some have said he preferred to party than train). Acevedo is young and a solid if unspectacular performer with a penchant for booming balls in from outside the penalty box that go nowhere near the goal.

* Juan Manuel Díaz, a wingback/centreback who was shuttled between the two positions last season. Díaz was a contributor to the Estudiantes championship squads of the last few seasons. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is significant interest in him from either Argentine or Uruguayan (his home country) first division squads.

So what’s left

There is still quite a bit of young talent in the squad, with quite a bit of match experience: midfielders Manuel Lanzini and Roberto Pereyra to provide good touches and provide a solid midfield. Ezequiel Cirigliano can do the same as a holding midfielder. Facundo Affranchino can play several positions in midfield. Leandro Gonzalez Pires had a limited but rather impressive cameo as a central defender and should get a chance to shine as a starter.

Leandro Chichizola deputised for Carrizo in goal and got a couple of games in when Carrizo was injured to start this past season. Daniel Vega has dropped to 3rd/4th choice at goalkeeper the last few seasons, but he has over 50 appearances for the club.

Forward has been the trouble position for River Plate since Radamel Falcao García left the club (even before that, actually, since even then they were trying to find a partner for him). In that light, retaining players such as Rogelio Funes Mori, Daniel Villalva, Mauro Díaz and Gustavo Bou may not be a heartwarming thought. But then again, they may find the second division more to their liking (and corresponding more to their level). Still, a veteran attacker who has a track record of actually scoring goals would be quite handy.

The wishlist

Many players have expressed a desire to return to play at River Plate during this difficult time. The biggest name in that list, Fernando Cavenaghi has already been rejected by club president Daniel Passarella (much to Cavenaghi’s disappointment).

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It now appears that Cavenaghi is back in the frame after Almeyda asked for him specifically. He has met with Passarella to resolve any pending personal issues (it really is amazing how many people Passarella has pissed off in his time as player, manager and administrator). He has ended his stay at Internacional of Porto Alegre, which is no bad thing since teams are limited to 3 foreign nationals and Internacional had 4 (aside from Cavenaghi, Andrés D’Alessandro, Mario Bolatti and Pablo Guiñazu). His contract with Girondins Bordeaux ends in June 2012, but apparently he will be able to arrange an early termination. If he does indeed return to River Plate, it’ll mean a massive drop in salary, and a massive boost in terms of hero status with River Plate fans.
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The other biggest name, Ariel Ortega, returns to the club after being loaned to All Boys but has been rejected by Almeyda. Not altogether a bad decision as Ortega has had a well-publicised battle with alcoholism and on top of that struggled greatly against injuries. He was mostly a non-factor for All Boys who had an otherwise successful campaign last season staying in the first division.

Speaking of former River Plate players in All Boys, the Ogre – Cristian Fabbiani – has also talked about returning to River Plate for this season. Fabbiani is easily one of the biggest forwards in Argentina, and I mean in terms of girth rather than reputation or ability. Unlikely at best, I would say.

Two other returning loanees are holding midfielder Nicolas Domingo (played with Nacional in Uruguay last season) and defender Cristian Nasuti (AEK Athens). Both got their big breaks with River Plate in the first division and have spent most of the last few seasons outside of Argentina. Salaries are a concern here. Both would be good additions, but it all depends on whether they are more valuable to the club as players or as sources of funds. Nasuti in particular could be useful as a veteran defender in a rebuilt back line.

Another ex-River defender, Ariel Garcé, seems to be in the frame. Garcé is probably most famous for being included in the 2010 Argentina World Cup team by Diego Maradona for seemingly no reason other than to exclude Javier Zanetti. The fact that Garcé is talking about playing in the second division and no one is batting an eyelash tells you how ridiculous Maradona’s decision was. Unlikely for River.

Alejandro “Chori” Domínguez, forward/midfielder for Rubin Kazan in Russia, is also pushing for a return. Domínguez could be a difference maker for the club and provide them with a forward of talent and experience. Also, of a high salary. Unlikely unless he is willing to take a major (and I do mean major) paycut.

Germán Lux. The Olympic-medal winning goalkeeper who came up through the youth ranks at River Plate has found himself out of favour for a couple of years now at Mallorca and could actually be a good possibility to return.  Unfortunately it’s at a position where River may actually have decent cover. Still, there’s more than a good chance for him to return.

A delicate situation

It’s all quite complicated at the moment by the fact that River Plate is trying to manage a massive debt by selling players (and suing the former club president Jose María Aguilar and his second-in-command Mario Israel). Player sales mean that they will have to find a replacement and relying solely on the reserves and youth divisions could severely hamper the team’s ability to bounce back to the first division after only one year.

I have no doubt that River will have to make some purchases. I think it is more likely to see them bring in some second-division veterans to play alongside the kids and then shed them if (hopefully, when) they return to the top division.

What you can definitely expect is a lot of surprises. They are the biggest club ever to be relegated in Argentine history. There is still a potential points-deduction for the riots post-match after they were relegated. If they get deducted points, they will be forced to go for a big points haul and do well enough to win the division and that could mean desperation will set in early and the club will spend quickly, and badly.

On top of that, there’s been a rumour making the rounds that a lot of the players in the club’s youth divisions are looking to leave the club to ensure maximum exposure to potential buyers. Club administrators have denied it, and it probably is more rumour than truth. But if River Plate take more than one year to return to the first division, that rumour may well become true. There isn’t much time left before the beginning of the season, and a lot to do.

The club should look at this as a way or permanently fixing what’s been wrong with the club for years. They’ve hit rock-bottom (well, not really, but another relegation is extremely unlikely unless they get docked 15-20 points, which would be very surprising).

This is a time to start building with an eye towards the future. First, promotion, followed by stability. Then we can start thinking again about titles and Copa Libertadores. The top teams in Argentine football today are the ones that have the best administration: Velez Sarsfield, Lanús, Estudiantes de La Plata. That is what River should be looking to emulate right now.

Related articles

• River Plate’s darkest day (foolbo.wordpress.com)

River Plate’s darkest day

History was made today, and not the good kind.

After 102 years of first division football, River Plate have been relegated to the Nacional B, Argentina‘s second division.

Today, I became “one of those fans”. The kind whose team just got relegated, whose goal now is merely to get back to what they once were, rather than in striving to be the best. The kind who are caught crying in the stands at the sheer helplessness of watching your team fail utterly.

I used to admire those fans. I really did. Sticking with your club through the worst of times is a measure of a true fan. It’s easy to love when everything is going well. There is no truer test of love that finding it in your heart to still care when things are at their worst.

Now that it’s actually happened to me, though, I never want to feel this way again.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m still a fan of River Plate. I will always be a fan of River Plate. I saw someone on Twitter say they would still be a fan of River Plate if they were on the Z Division instead of the A or B. I couldn’t have put it better.

But the nagging feeling at the back of my mind won’t go away. That’s the feeling that we haven’t quite hit bottom yet. The institutional crisis that the club has been suffering from years now is not over, and this situation may only exacerbate it.

The club debts are still there, estimated at nearly US$70 million, and shedding big salaries will not remove it. River Plate received $30 million in TV rights in the first division. In the second division, it’s closer to $3 million. Sponsors such as Petrobras and Tramontina (both currently on River Plate’s kit) will, I hope, have paid their sponsorships in advance. If River Plate doesn’t return to the first division quickly, those sponsorships may dry up.

I’ve always derided lower division clubs in Argentina for having so many sponsors on their kits that the club colours were barely visible. Now, I may see River Plate’s gloriously historic and iconic kit covered up with ads for bus travel companies and biscuit manufacturers.

They will have to sell players to bring in revenue. Goodbye Juan Pablo Carrizo and Mariano Pavone (but then you were already going, being on loan), goodbye also to burgeoning 18-year-old star playmaker Erik Lamela (enjoy Italy, but I have a hard time seeing you a get too much playing time in Serie A until you bulk up a bit). Goodbye, hopefully, to Rogelio Funes Mori, the forward once rumoured to be going to Benfica for $12 million, and now probably not worth even a tiny fraction of that, due to a complete lack of production up front. Then again, they may keep Funes Mori, since he may be suited more for this level than the first division.

And there’s part of the problem, because if River Plate wants to immediately return to the first division, they must add players. Player sales must be made to try to keep paying the debt, but they must also fund new player purchases. Those purchases will most likely be B-class veterans who can help River’s talented youngster manage the much more cutthroat world of the lower divisions.

The street scenes outside the Monumental stadium post-relegation were even more depressing, as part of the spectators – forgive me if I cannot bring myself to call them fans, because their actions have nothing to do with football — proceeded to not only cause damage and destruction to any structure in their path but also exacting an unacceptable human toll. The number of wounded as I write this is 89, including four policemen in serious condition, one of whom was run over by a car.

These disgusting actions, along with the fact that there were at least 10,000 more people in the stadium than there should have been have resulted in the closure of the stadium for 60 days. In four weeks, that stadium was to host the final of the Copa America, the South American championship. It remains to be seen whether or not that will be played there or elsewhere.

Sadly, in a way, I can never be like those fans whose teams get relegated. Because their sorrow, while real and inconsolable, is nevertheless managed with acceptance, in many cases, even dignity.

There is no dignity for me in River Plate’s relegation. The club’s corrupt and incompetent directors, its violent barrabravas and their unacceptable actions have left me even without that.

This should be a time to put the past behind us and focus together on the future of the club, on regaining the passion and skill that saw River Plate become the top club in the world just 25 years ago.

Instead, we may be on the verge of coming apart forever as an institution.

A dark day, indeed.

The Situation (with the FIFA World Cup)

My personal preferences to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups were England and Australia; England for its history, contributions to the game and football atmosphere, and Australia for its proximity to my residence of New Zealand.

Australian bid for 2022 FIFA World Cup

Developments this week, whether its BBC Panorama reports or the “McKinsey Report”, have changed my mind.

Though it comes as no surprise to me that people such as Issa Hayatou, Nicolás Leoz, Jack Warner and Ricardo Teixeira are accused of bribery, I’ve nevertheless reached boiling point on the topic. I’m tired. I’m tired of ridiculous FIFA machinations and even more ridiculous FIFA directors.

Not only are no proper measures taken against these people, they don’t even give us proper denials. Their responses are cursory these-allegations-are-not-true statements with an underlying threat – that this will only harm the reporting country’s bid.

Nor is it a surprise that a FIFA study ranked Australia last in projected revenues for the tournament. Management Consultants McKinsey did an assessment of the various bids in key revenue areas, scoring the USA first at 100% and Australia last at 68%. Some have referred to the Australia bid as a potential “financial disaster”.

Not that it stopped them from holding the World Cup in South Africa. Or in Brazil in 2014. The only group making money out of these events is FIFA.

Combined, these events make FIFA looks corrupt, greedy, and entirely uninterested in actual football.

I was once excited about the prospect of having a FIFA World Cup nearby, or maybe even travelling to England in 2018 for a match or two. But I don’t care anymore, and I certainly don’t want to spend any money helping FIFA’s cause.

Exorbitant ticket prices, extortionist rules for vendors and venues (not to mention sky-rocketing rights costs for media access) mean that the FIFA World Cup is more a travelling, money-making roadshow that a sporting event.

I know that sounds naive, but despite huge revenues and massive viewership figures, the game is facing some struggles. It’s being slowly monopolised by the largest European clubs with support from even larger global financial entities.

Football has ceased to be about the stadium experience. It is now something you watch on TV. And why not? It fits in perfectly with reality TV programming. The on-camera antics of such luminaries as Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho, and England’s Brave John Terry — not to mention off-field tie-ins with Brand Beckham and scandals such as the Franck Ribery and Wayne Rooney dalliances — mean there’s much more Jersey Shore to the world of football than most of us care to admit.

Hell, with scouting and actual player bids being made based entirely on YouTube clips, I’m pretty sure that some confused club director has made a bid for Snooki at one time or another (though I understand she can be a disruptive presence in the locker room, and the hot tub).

Well, if it’s a show they’re giving us, then let’s just sit back and enjoy. I suggest that we all sit back and watch, and not attend. After all, FIFA doesn’t seem to actually want real football fans at its stadiums, so let’s give them a miss. I’ll still watch because the World Cup has been something I have never, and probably will never miss. It’s too central to me as a football fan.

But I don’t want it in my backyard, or any of my friends’, anymore. You can keep it FIFA. Hold it wherever you like, the middle of the desert, or the middle of Siberia, or Times Square, for all I care. I’m not going.

And I’m hoping Argentina win in 2014 in the final in the Maracaná against Brazil on a handball goal, and Sepp Blatter gets lynched by Brazilian fans protesting the lack of a replay referee.

That would make for fantastic TV.

Saving my love and hate for the future

What’s your team?

I get asked that question all the time when people first learn I’m a football fan. And they usually learn that pretty quickly, since being Argentine is fairly synonymous with being a football fan, in the view of most of the football-playing world.

Boca-River

My answer is pretty simple: River Plate. I’m very proud of having been a River fan since very, very young and it’s a love that has stayed with me even after I’ve moved away from Argentina.

The next question they ask me though, is the one that in increasingly beginning to bother me. It usually goes like this:

“Yeah, OK. But who do you follow in Europe?”

Remove Europe and substitute it with “Champions League” or “Premier League” or “La Liga”, but otherwise it’s always the same question.

I used to give somewhat convoluted answers, but the actual answer is still “River Plate”.

I’m not a fan of any other teams like I’m a fan of *my* team. And I don’t believe you have to follow a specific team in order to enjoy a competition.

I can admire Barcelona’s skill and passion, or Real Madrid’s desire to dominate. Arsenal’s passing or Chelsea’s finishing.  Lyon’s amazing extended run of titles or Marseille’s recent resurgence. I’m not tied to any other teams and I can enjoy each differently.

None of them elicit the feelings, thoughts and sheer visceral obsession that River does. Nor do they evoke the hate and repudiation that blue and yellow in combination do, along with the name “Boca Juniors“.

River-Boca. What an unexplainable phenomenon. There’s only two other derbies that I’m aware of or have experience of that provoke the same sentiment: Barcelona-Real Madrid and Celtic-Rangers.

I don’t mean to trivialise other derbies, and I’m sure that Red Star-Partizan and Galatasaray-Fenerbahce may be just as infernal as the maesltrom that descends upon Argentines around the time of the Superclásico, but I have no experience of them yet.

Later today, Argentina’s football twins (born, after all, in the same neighbourhood of La Boca, even though River has moved up and out since then) meet again to once more determine something much bigger than a single match.

Update: River 1 – Boca 0  The year’s last Superclásico ended with 1-0 win for River, thanks to a goal from former Boca defender Jonathan Maidana in the second half. The win is an emotional lift for River who are still nevertheless in relegation trouble and face a somewhat difficult last five fixtures. Boca, meanwhile, finally decided to fire Claudio Borghi as manager; something which he has been preparing for seemingly since he arrived at the club earlier this year.

What they won’t be determining this year, however, in the champion of Argentine football. The two clubs are so far from the top of the league that one of them is staring at relegation and just fired its manager (River) and the other is in a constitutional crisis and can’t seem to get it’s best player and manager motivated enough to show up at the stadium (Boca). Both clubs are a disaster, and neither can claim to be any better off than the other.

It’s happened before, of course. Superclásicos that didn’t determine championships. There have been fallow periods for both clubs and some have coincided. But it’s never been this bad.

The sheer incompetence and greed of the directors of both clubs are putting something at risk that is much greater than their league position. They are putting the Superclásico at risk. This match means too much to be so insignificant. It is too big to lapse into non-descriptness. It’s too mind-consuming to be an afterthought.

But that’s what it is becoming. An afterthought.

With all due respect to my fellow Argentina non-Boca and non-River fans, Argentine football *is* the Superclásico. It is the defining point of a season. There are other massive derbies in Argentina (Independiente-Racing Club, Rosario Central-Newell’s Old Boys, San Lorenzo-Huracán), but none can approach the pervasiveness and all-encompassing interest of River-Boca.

For today’s match, I’m hoping for a classic tight back-and-forth battle. A 3-2 last-minute win for someone, or a tense draw decide on a missed spot kick or something similarly dramatic. Because I’m afraid that the most likely outcome, a boring, inconsequential 0-0 draw will represent the nadir of this once-awesome matchup. And once we hit rock-bottom, the previous heights of this match, once world-renowned, may be too far to reach again.

The next step in managerial evolution in Argentina

Don’t read too much into the result of a friendly, they say …

Yeah, but I can still enjoy it, can’t I? Especially a 4-1 win over the FIFA World Cup champions.

And it wasn’t just the score line that Argentina managed against Spain that I enjoyed. The team itself looks better-poised and more balanced, and lost none of the attacking verve that they displayed in South Africa.

Sergio Batista

The result also seems to augur the continued employment of Sergio “Checho” Batista as manager on a permanent basis.  The national youth coach  has done more than enough to merit the job full-time, and though he’s had his hiccups as both a club coach and at the national level (last year’s failure to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup being a particular low), he’s got enough experience and as strong a CV as anyone. He was the manager of the gold-medal-winning Argentina team at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Current Argentine champions Argentinos Juniors also owe him a debt of gratitude, as he was the manager who led them from the second division to the first.

Batista has also shown a keen eye and a sharp mind in his short time leading the senior side, not to mention a significant degree of political acumen.

He’s spoken of his admiration for Barcelona’s style of play and some of that is evident in the way he set up his team against Spain, building an attack that would suit the strengths of Lionel Messi and allow him to move with freedom and in conjunction with Carlos Tévez and Gonzalo Higuaín.

But he’s also adapted styles according to the personnel available and the opponent to be faced. In his first match, against Ireland, he used a 4-1-4-1, transitioning to a 4-2-3-1 on defence (Gago dropping back to join Mascherano in holding midfield). The goal in that game was to solidify the defence and hold possession. Mission accomplished, even with a squad roster that he did not pick.

He did pick the team against Spain, and used a 4-3-3. The 3 central midfielders included two of a defensive nature: Mascherano and Esteban Cambiasso, and one who was more of a creator, Ever Banega. All three, however, helped to maintain the shape of the team, allowing the forwards to stay in the attacking half.

On defence, it was just nice to see fullbacks playing at fullback. I think it’s potentially likely that come 2014 we’ll see 4 different defenders than the ones who played this week, but their roles make a lot more sense now. Fullbacks need to defend and also get forward when needed, especially since there is appropriate midfield cover. Central defence still needs work, and a bit of speed.

The recall of Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti also proves Batista’s political skills. He’s been careful not to say anything to upset the directors at the Argentine Football Association (AFA), but he’s also picked up the complaints of the fans and the pundits and addressed them.

I’m not saying that Batista is a genius who’s doing everything right, but he is being very deliberate and intelligent in his approach.  His tactics remind me of the kind of football that Argentina played under José Pekerman (another former national youth coach) in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Argentina held possession, worked as a team, passed very effectively and pressed their opponents in a more European method, higher up the pitch. Argentine teams tend to drop off their opponents until they reach the final third of the pitch. In these matches though, we see Argentine players pressing to the middle of the pitch and beyond.

Argentine fans always seem concerned that national managers never make use of the Argentine footballing style (“la nuestra” as it’s called). But aside from a tendency to individual excellence, that style is highly ambiguous. Each manager has, in one way or another, interpreted “la nuestra” to suit his style.

Cesar Luis Menotti and Carlos Bilardo are held as the two extremes of football tactics in Argentina. Both won World Cups with Argentina (Menotti in ’78 and Bilardo in ’86) and both have a wealth of experience in Argentina and abroad. Menotti is seen as the attack at all costs, intellectual tactician; and Bilardo is the defend at all costs, stifle the opponent kind of boss who is not above using a dirty trick to two (or more).

And yet, they are both representatives of “la nuestra”. Like two halves of the same whole. The yin and yang of Argentine football.

And where does Batista fall in that spectrum?

I think most people would see him more tending toward Menottismo than Bilardismo. But his overall team organisation and the way he deploys his midfield is evocative of Bilardo as well. And that’s what I like about Batista (and what I liked about Pekerman as well). He doesn’t try to fit into any category or style, he simply takes what he needs from what he has and uses it as best he can. And he appears to have a skill for bringing the players into his schemes as well.

Despite Diego Maradona’s generally recognised friendship with his players, there doesn’t seem to have been much agreement from his players on his actual tactics. It seems as if Argentine players had no problem playing for Diego, they just didn’t want to play the way Diego wanted. Juan Sebastián Verón’s comments after the tournament, regarding his own confusion over his role in the team, make a strong case for that.

And Batista seems to have been able to do something else that hasn’t been done since Pekerman: get the best out of Esteban Cambiasso. A highly experienced midfielder who is organised and can mark, hold, pass and score, Cambiasso would seem like a no-brainer selection on most national teams. The kind of player England would love for Gareth Barry to become. But neither Alfio Basile nor Diego Maradona have managed to get good performances from him, and wound up not selecting him. Batista showed he understands the value of Cambiasso very well in this week’s win over Spain.

Another player we might soon see again in Argentina colours under Batista is Juan Román Riquelme, another face rarely seen since the Pekerman days. Riquelme is the classic Argentine playmaker. A roving attacking midfielder, moving either side but always behind the forwards. Riquelme, who is currently with Boca Juniors after ridiculously drawn out negotiations, was unavailable for this match due to injury.

His personality clashes suggest he may not be the ideal person to have in the squad if you want to maintain locker room harmony, but his talent is undeniable. If Batista is skilled enough to convince an entire nation of self-appointed football experts that he’s a good choice to succeed Diego Maradona and keep them happy, then surely a minor task such as psychoanalysing Riquelme is not beyond his skills?

If he manages that, he will surely take his place among the pantheon of Argentine managerial legends, and 20 years from now, we might be taking about the next manager’s tendency towards Batistismo.

The child within

Back in my formative years, during the previous century, I was one very concerned 5-year-old. Concerned for football, that is.

That was a very important year for me. I was already a football nut thanks to my family’s influence, particularly my grandfather who instilled a deep love for the sport, though never managed to instill love for his club side, San Lorenzo. My mother and father are both River Plate fans, so that was pretty much that when it came to choosing a side.

But that year, 1978, was also significant because the FIFA World Cup was played in, and won by, my native Argentina. Some of my earliest memories are of celebrating the “miraculous” 6-0 win over Peru that qualified Argentina for the final of the Cup and of being out in the street with my parents and brother, and just about every one of the 25 million Argentines across the country, to celebrate the 3-1 overtime victory over the Dutch.

None of this is what made me concerned of course. In many ways, cheering for a country that won the World Cup when I was 5 and 13 years old has given me an unjustified sense of entitlement in regard to the World Cup.

Back in 78, however, my biggest concern wasn’t whether Argentina would repeat in ’82 (Of course they would! They were the best team in the world and they had this new kid called Maradona who was supposedly pretty good), but rather the growing realisation that the year 2000 was a mere 22 years away. My burgeoning math skills had helped me reach the conclusion that I would be 27 when football would end forever. After all, I reasoned, who could possibly concentrate on football when by that time we would all be riding in flying cars, talking on video phones and travelling to the moon with mundane regularity.

Yes, my predictions were very wrong. But at 5, I could hardly be expected to see the coming of the Internet and other, more sensible, developments. A child’s view of the world is shaped very much by their early experiences and those things we love, and hate, are bigger than life. Our teams are all unbeatable, until, of course, they are actually beaten. An event that seemed to occur with frustrating regularity to this toddle’s point-of-view.

My parents tell me that I actually cried when Argentina lost against a “Rest of the World” team in a post-World Cup exhibition match. Talk about meaningless games, now I would see that as barely worth watching. (I would still watch, of course, because that’s the kind of sheep-like fan that I am.)

I remember a scene that stuck with me when I was reading Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, a book which is a must-read for any football fan, and even more so for those people who love football fans but have little passion or interest for the sport.

Hornby recalls a match shortly after becoming an Arsenal fan. Arsenal had won the league in the previous season and were playing a pre-season match. The players had barely bothered to show up to the pitch, much less put in an effort. The fans likewise, attending more out of inertia from the previous season’s league title and desire to see their heroes than actual interest in the result. It all added up to an Arsenal loss that was as predictable as it was comprehensive. Neither players nor fans were much bothered by the result, except of course for young Nick.

Hornby was standing in the Clock End in Highbury, bawling his eyes out and watching, incredulously, as his fellow “fans” filed out of the ground with little concern in their manner. How could they be so calm? How could they crack jokes even? Arsenal had lost! LOST!!

Yes, I remember that feeling. That “don’t-you-care?” feeling, that wave of nausea as you realise that one of the things you love most in this world has been horribly treated and it … just … doesn’t … matter.

And that’s when you start growing up as a football fan.

Fortunately for me, I never had to put any money on the line on my notions of my own teams’ superiority. The objectivity required for betting was far beyond me at that point. But not beyond Thailand’s youth it seems.

The government of Thailand will be issuing printed guides for parents to help them teach children not to gamble. Apparently, during this past World Cup, there were reports of children as young as 7 making bets on game outcomes and other wagers.

As a young boy, could I ever really have put money on anything but Argentina winning? My religious faith was already flagging at that young age, riddled with doubts which would only grow stronger, but my faith in the albiceleste was absolute and overwhelming.

That boy is still inside me. He was the one waking up my wife at 2 am in the morning when Gabriel Heinze scored a header against Nigeria to put Argentina ahead in their first group match (and 4 times against South Korea, I was banned to watch matches in the living room after that). He was the one telling me that maybe Maradona could do it. That it was possible, after all we had Messi, Tévez, Mascherano – living gods of football practically.

But that boy is only now a small voice in my mind, dominated by the much larger one that was born from defeat and frustration. His concerns are still there, they’re just tempered by experience and logic.

But just in case, I still don’t gamble on football.

Ten ways your brain is sabotaging your football team

Recently I was reading an article in lifehacker.com, “Top 10 Ways Your Brain Is Sabotaging You (and How to Beat It)” — you know, a little light reading before bed and all that — when I was struck by the similarities between the “10 ways” and the way that managers handle their transfer dealings.

I suppose that should come as no surprise. Managers are, after all, human beings like you and me, subject to the same biases, prejudices, desires and emotions that you or I; except for Vicente del Bosque, who is a Vulcan and cannot show emotion.

10. Knowing You Can Get Smarter Makes You … Smarter

More than a self-fulfilling prophecy, this refers to staying open to the possibility of improvement and not limiting yourself. The Premier League may say that you’re limited to a senior squad of 25 players, including 7 “home-grown” footballers, but are you really going to let that stop you from acquiring more than that? Of course not! Not if you’re Manchester City! I’m a bit shocked that they’ve left it so long to offload players such as Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz, or one of the 147 central midfielders they have and don’t need. But that would be defeatist thinking! Buy now, sell sometime! Remember, Signore Mancini, no one can beat you if you’ve bought up all the good players.

9. Your Eyes Skip Over Good, Cheap Menu Items and Fall for Menu Tricks

Marketing is everywhere. The art of the sale consists not in assigning a proper value for each thing, but rather in increasing it’s value as much as possible while leaving that thing untouched. The old joke about Argentines (repeated probably for many other countries with a penchant for large egos) is that the greatest business anywhere is to buy an Argentine for what he’s actually worth and sell him for what he thinks he’s worth. So a Copa Libertadores winning striker like Mauro Boselli looks like a no-brainer for Plucky Little Wigan Athletic. “32-goals in 57 matches!” screams Boselli’s brochure. “Only £6.5 million! A bargain for a 25-year-starting forward with international experience! Capped in the national team by Diego Maradona!”

Yes, it’s all true, and yet, a closer look reveals a player who is not particularly good on the ball and scores mostly poacher’s efforts, which will be hard to find for a forward just shy of 6 ft. in The Best League in The World™. And let’s face it, Maradona capped just about every player in Argentina during his tenure as manager of the national team including the corpse formerly known as defender Rolando Schiavi.

8. Your Brain Can’t Stop Spinning, Even When You’re Asleep

Overthinking has always been a major problem in football, particularly for many footballers for whom thought in general has been a challenge. Some players perform at their best when they are told what to do and react appropriately. Nothing can screw up a footballing career like a player who suddenly starts to think for himself.

Then again, it’s a problem for many managers as well, and not just the dim ones. Even self-appointed super-geniuses (link to Wile E. Coyote) such as Rafa Benítez spend far too much time think about every minutiae of a match in order to control every aspect of it. And it only leads to endless roster tinkering and senseless ranting again the Dark Lord Alex Ferguson in meaningless press conferences. Jonathan Swift implied, in his Tale of a Tub, that there are too kinds of people in this world: knaves and fools. The knave knows the true nature of the world and is thus suffering and unhappy, whereas the fool in unaware of the truth and so spends his days in contentment. Rafa is too much a knave I fear, and not enough the fool. Though I think some Scousers may disagree with me on that point.

7. Online Stores are Just as Tricky as Retail

In a world where You Tube videos can often be a source of information on a player, it’s hard to accept the point-of-view that the world is nearly “over-scouted” for football players. Is there a nation on this planet that has not exported footballers elsewhere? And still, the same biases apply. Brazilians are all creative but can’t defend, Eastern Europeans are all highly “technical” (whatever that means). African footballers are physically gifted but lack discipline (a racist point-of-view if I’ve ever heard one). None of these are true, and yet, teams approach their buying in much the same manner. Need a creative midfielder? Check South American, or Spain. A defensive stopper? You could do a lot worse than an Italian or a Serbian. A defensive midfielder who will run for 90 minutes and be as fresh as in the first? Check in Ghana, I understand they speak English there. These points-of-view are exacerbated by previous purchases, like Antonio Valencia (Manchester United), Nemanja Vidic (also Man U) and Michael Essien (Chelsea).

Teams are trying to find the same again and go “shopping” in the same places, rather than looking at the aspects f the footballer and building profiles that they can take around the world, or better yet, reinvest at home. So before you go out and start adding players to your online shopping cart, have a look at that fullback around the corner in your youth facility, with a bit of training he just may be what you need and come cheaper as well.

6. You Give Priority to Experiences that Prove You’re Right

In a business (and can football truly be described otherwise these days) which prizes winning so strongly, is there anything more important to a manager’s reputation than being “right”? After all, only one can actually win, but if you spend a couple million pounds and find the next Cristiano Ronaldo then you can be a genius without winning a championship. Well Alex Ferguson has done both and keeps coming back to the same idea. Are Nani, Anderson, Antonio Valencia and Bebe really anything more than looking for another Ronaldo? And this is a man who has won before with Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs in midfield, even though they are closer to their pension than their academy days. But you’ll have to beat him before he’ll acknowledge that he can’t keep going the way he is, and even then he’ll argue that his team is better. After all, this is a man who has purported to be a socialist yet is a key cog in one of the most recklessly capitalistic teams in the most recklessly capitalistic league in the world. “De-nial” ain’t just a river in Manchester, Sir Alex …

5. You Grow Attached to Items the More You Touch Them

Aaahhh, loyalty. Remember when we had that in football? What? We never did? It was all just an illusion, you say? Perhaps. Certainly since professionalism came to the sport, the concept of loyalty has been balanced with other concepts such as “title expectations” and “the bottom line”. But it’s nice to know that some people still adhere to the principle. Like good ol’ Mark Hughes. Done well for him at Blackburn? Great! He’d love to have you at Manchester City, Mr. Santa Cruz and Mr. Bellamy. Oh, but wait, Hughesy’s been let go for an Italian in a big coat and scarf! But wait! Here comes Fulham with a job offer. Time to start a new project in London with the Europe League finalists. Who should we start with? Why, Mr. Santa Cruz and Mr. Bellamy, of course!

Then again, when your best option is England Striker Bobby Zamora (remember, Marketing!) then maybe loyalty does pay off.

4. You’ve Got a Finite Amount of Habit-Changing Willpower

Winning is a habit, they say in sports circles. And by extension, so is losing. Changing from one to the other is an effort that many, many managers fail at, possibly because going from a losing team to a winning one requires a significant amount of changes. Yet, some managers have a knack for it. Managers that can get players playing with a different attitude, who get the most out of their charges regardless of limitations, such as Roy Hodgson and Harry Redknapp: two men with sharply contrasting personalities who nevertheless have become the epitome of the savvy English football manager. They have presided over two fantastic turnarounds with Fulham and Tottenham and led them to unprecedented success in this century. Now Roy is trying to do the same for Liverpool and Harry is getting his excuses ready for an early Champions League exit to be followed by another strong Premier League season. Much the same is expected from the England national team and their savvy English manager Fabio Cap ….. oh, that’s right. Well, you can’t change a habit of losing in the quarterfinals of the World Cup overnight can you? Just ask Mexico.

3. Your Deeper Desires Go Shopping With You

At Barcelona, football is played like it’s a political convention. In the convention floor (Camp Nou), there is an overwhelming feeling world-changing power, each party member convince of the righteousness of their cause. Outside the venue, however, are the forces of Franco-inspired evil, the naysayers and the pundits constantly poking holes in the perfect philosophy. If it fits the perfect philosophy, then it must be right. And sometimes that means spending a fortune on another central midfield playmaker like Cesc Fabregas, a native son of the club, and letting go of a pivotal role-player like Ya-Ya Toure, who’s not really the kind of beautiful-football-playing stalwart that is worth of carrying the torch for the Culés. Time, and Jose Mourinho, may prove that philosophy wrong, especially since Cesc didn’t leave London after all.

2. You Value New Numbers Based on Other, Unimportant Numbers

High expectations can be a real bitch, that’s why lowering them is a key technique for most football managers. It’s easier to be deemed a genius if you lose your first few matches, such as, let’s say drop a qualifying match to Bolivia 1-6, and then go on to a quarter final appearance in the FIFA World Cup. All of a sudden, people are happy just to qualify, whereas when the qualifiers started – under different management – nothing less than a third World Cup title would do.

More examples of lowered expectations: what if your team were to hire a manager whose previous career record is 3 wins, 8 draws and 12 in 23 matches? Then let’s say he proceeds (after that aforementioned 1-6 loss) to win 14 of 19 matches. All of a sudden, you feel as if things have gone really well, even if you’ve won nothing.

That’s the beauty of the Diego Maradona-Julio Grondona partnership. There’s no love lost between the Argentine football-god/manager and the head of the Argentine FA, but halfway through the qualifiers with Alfio Basile recently “encouraged to leave” his managerial post, it seemed as if nothing short of a miracle could lighten the hearts of Argentine football fans. Enter Diego, followed by immediately lowered expectations, especially after the loss to Bolivia; a “miracle” victory from San (Martín) Palermo in the rain against Peru and a skin-of-your-teeth qualification and suddenly everybody’s feeling great again; unless you’ve just been asked by Diego to “keep sucking” as the Argentine football press were. But it’s all part of the circus with Diego. Distract them with words and numbers, so they don’t focus too much on the details of a team that was never at the level their country’s football history demands.

1. You Let Negative Feelings About Putting Off Tasks Prevent Actual Work

Political splits over expenditures and player transfers are nothing new. And in Argentina, there are few teams for whom club politics are more volatile than Boca Juniors. Their extended summer transfer saga split the club along support lines for current president Jorge Amor Ameal and former president (and Chief of Government — essentially the mayor — of the City of Buenos Aires) Mauricio Macri. The twist is that it wasn’t a sale or new acquisition, this was contract renewal for their star player Juan Roman Riquelme. Now Riquelme has never been the easiest person to deal with, either in negotiations or at the training pitch (just ask Manuel Pellegrini from his experience with Villareal, or the directors at Barcelona during Roman’s tenure there), but this latest saga just adds more proof that no matter how talented, some players are just not worth the trouble.

Riquelme has signed for Boca, a four-year contract worth US$5 million which, most importantly will have its tax paid partially (50%) by the club. In an era where fiscal conservatism should be a goal, the deal seems somewhat reckless, especially for a player who is now 32. Then again, Boca can only blame themselves, having left no other option than to sign Riquelme by not bringing in any ready replacements for the playmaker. Former Velez midfielder Damián Escudero and academy player Marcelo Cañete are currently deputising for Riquelme, but neither is really yet at the level required by the club if they hope to challenge for a title.

Worst of all, the acrimonious negotiations have not only left negative feelings among the club’s directors, players and new manager Claudio “Bichi” Borghi can only feel they’ve been held hostage a bit by the veteran Number 10. They’ve all made the right noises about welcoming him back and being a better team with him in it, but we’ve yet to see whether they truly are happy to run all their plays through him. “Riquelme-dependencia” (Riquelme-dependence) is a term which was coined years ago for the Argentina team during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, but applies just as well now to Boca.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it. Psychologists could have a neat little business going if they convinced a football manager or two to get on the couch. I’m certainly no expert, nor even anything approaching an amateur psychologist. But I do enjoy seeing people in power squirm a little bit, especially the ones who take themselves very seriously. That’s why, this season, I’m going to cheer for Blackpool, because if you’ve never heard or read about an Ian Holloway press conference, then you’ve never truly revelled in the mad genius of a true football mind. Or, as he describes the job: “I’d rather do that than build chicken sheds no-one wanted.”