Hey guys, ive been reading some of your stuff, but after watching the champions league semi final b/w liverpool and chelsea, and after reading what jorge valdano just said about the teams,  i decided to share this with you.

If you were to poll most English football fans today on the question of who is the current best manager in the Premiership, Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez (along with Sir Alex and Wenger) will make up the top of the list. But not everyone is so enamoured with the Spaniard and the Port-u-geezer.

Jorge Valdano launched a blistering attack on the two coaches in response to the turgid Champions League semi-final which Liverpool and Chelsea served-up. this was what he said:

[b[i]]“Football is made up of subjective feeling, of suggestion - and, in that, Anfield is unbeatable. Put a shit hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it’s a work of art. It’s not: it’s a shit hanging from a stick. Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going: very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct. But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A change of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A backheel? Don’t be ridiculous. None of that. The extreme control and seriousness with which both teams played the semi-final neutralised any creative licence, any moments of exquisite skill. If football is going the way Chelsea and Liverpool are taking it, we had better be ready to wave goodbye to any expression of the cleverness and talent we have enjoyed for a century.”[/[/i]b]


Dubbed the “Philosopher of Football”, Valdano has merited the right to his opinion by the weight of an impressive CV. The highlights of his club playing career were three seasons spent at Real Madrid between 1984-87, where he scored 40 goals in 85 appearances. But his greatest achievement on the pitch was reached during his second World Cup finals appearance in 1986, where his four goals helped Argentina to become World Cup Champions. Valdono, forced to retire due to hepatitis, later moved into management where he turned around the fortunes of Tenerife by keeping them up in the 1991/92 season, he followed that up by taking them into the UEFA Cup the following campaign. Then in 1994 he returned to Real Madrid, where he claimed a La Liga title.


With his experience both as a player and as a manager, Valdano has proffered an explanation as why Liverpool and Chelsea play the football they do.

“[b][i]The lives of Mourinho and Benitez have crossed in a world that is ever more scrutinised and exposed by the media, which is why they look at each other with such distrust, but they have two things in common: a previously denied, hitherto unsatisfied hunger for glory, and a desire to have everything under control. Both of those things stem from one key factor: neither Mourinho nor Benítez made it as a player. That has made them channel all their vanity into coaching. Those who did not have the talent to make it as players do not believe in the talent of players, they do not believe in the ability to improvise in order to win football matches. In short, Benitez and Mourinho are exactly the kind of coaches that Benitez and Mourinho would have needed to have made it as players.”[/[/i]b]
This makes a beautiful theory which Freud sef would be proud of. A football team plays in the image of its manager, who himself creates a team in the image of his own style (regardless of whether the manager actually realised that style or not). But does it stack up?

There are some aspects of Valdano’s comments which seem on the money. Throughout recent history, the Champions League was a competition for the best footballers and teams to rise to the top playing the most attractive football. Think of Real in 2000. Ajax in ‘95. Or Barca in ‘92.

And then you look at Liverpool today. Are Steve Finnan, Daniel Agger, Jermaine Pennant or Bolo Zenden in the top bracket of players in the world? Rather, they represent a more workman-like sort of player who fit into a well-oiled organised system who collectively bring success. Without much flair.

Things look slightly different when you analyse Chelsea’s style of play. It may be easy to generalise that Chelsea are a team built on solid foundations, but they do possess exciting talent and creativity in attack. For Didier Drogba to score more than 30 goals in a season you must being doing something better than simply being efficient. And this is no surprise when you have the likes of Lampard, Robben, Ballack and Essien in support.

What makes this theory difficult is that Valdano is using just two matches - albeit two matches which were as exciting as watching paint dry - to rationalise his conclusions. But when you throw other data into the mix the picture seems less sharp. For the past three seasons, the Champions League semis have produced tight matches. Last year there was only one goal scored in the tie between AC Milan and Barca. The season before, Chelsea and Liverpool produced a similar 1-0 aggregate scoreline after two legs. Three years ago, the same scoreline was again played out between Porto and Deportivo la Coruna. And four years ago, Milan went through to the final on away goals after drawing 1-1 with Inter.

History shows therefore that Champions League semis are not rich in goals.

What seems more plausible is that semi-finals are the games no-one wants to lose. With the final in touching distance, it is expected that matches will be cagey and tight. This may not be good viewing for the public, but it is a by-product of the high stakes involved. This has less to do with the managers and more to do with circumstance.

You get the impression that Valdano has been spoiled not only by his own talents, but also by a career in which he won the World Cup alongside Maradona. But the hard part in football is not winning competitions when you are blessed with being the best. It is winning competitions when you overcome the best against the odds. Football is about tactics, as well as pure raw talent. And Jose and Rafa are masters of the tactical game.


who do you guys pick as the better manager?

Streetcyph- ah you've come here again! This one no be politricks section, so just do well to summarize your stories and don't start feeding us with false stuffs again!