The Stepping Down of Sabella: A Step in the Right Direction for Argentina?

Alejandro Sabella did not have a massive reputation when he was appointed as the head coach of Argentina. He only had 3 years of managing experience, and his first and only tenure before the Argentina job was at Estudiantes, a club which not many consider elite. Although he had a long and fruitful playing career, being a good player might not always translate into becoming a successful manager. Certainly, many thought this would be the case at the time of his appointment as the manager of the Argentine team. However, despite his many flaws, Sabella gave his nation something to be proud of when no one expected it.

Argentina is a country where fans treat their football like religion, similarly to most other countries in South America. In 2010, their fans were left heartbroken and dismayed by Argentina's 4-1 defeat to Germany, causing many to lay the blame on national hero and icon Diego Maradona. The abuse towards him was ruthless.

Due to their attitude towards defeat, I never expected many to show faith in Sabella. Regardless, the patience of the Argentinians towards their manager paid dividends. On the biggest stage of all, Sabella quite unexpectedly lead Argentina towards the finals of the World Cup. Although their defeat was inevitable, the team showed real fight and charisma, not allowing Germany to break free like they did against Brazil previously.

In spite of their brave effort, Sabella's men and the nation was once again left heartbroken as Mario Goetze won the world cup for the Germans.

Despite leading them closer to the world cup than they've ever been in their recent history, I did feel at times that Argentina could do better with a less flawed man at the helm. Not known for being an astute tactical mastermind, Sabella had not even figured out his best starting team before the quarter finals of the world cup.

Under Sabella, the Argentinians played a more restricted, even defensive style, with the bulk of the attacking work left on the shoulders of Messi and Angel di Maria. Unsurprisingly, the two did not flourish under his system. It might seem like an outrageous comment, because after all Sabella did unlock Messi's golden touch which had been missing for so long, but when you look at the majority of the earlier matches, Messi struggled with the lack of creativity from his midfield, and had to often drop deep and create chances himself. This left the Argentina captain with too much responsibility, hence why I think he was not at his best under Sabella.

Although this problem was not helped by the noticeable  absentees of major players like Aguero and di Maria for a chunk of the world cup, Sabella could and should have produced better performances from a talented bunch of players. The lack of creativity in the side was quite surprising, since they did boast players like Ezequiel Lavezzi, Angel di Maria, Enzo Perez and Rodrigo Palacio, not to mention Messi himself.

For all his flaws, Sabella did manage to bring the best out of his defensive players. Players like Garay, Mascherano, Demichellis and goalkeeper Sergio Romero had fantastic tournaments, where they flourished in Sabella's system.

While Sabella's system reduced the creativity in the team, he did tighten up their defenses which allowed the Argentines to edge out on close encounters against teams like Switzerland and the Netherlands. Sabella boasted a defensive record which teams like England could only pray for. The defensive line that Argentina had were not exactly made with world class players, unlike Germany's back line, but Sabella did make these players look world class during the tournament, which he deserves credit for.

Now that he's gone, I feel Argentina need a manager who is tactically better than Sabella, and will build on the foundation that he has provided. Personally, I didn't like Sabella very much, but he did lead Argentina into the world cup finals, and he deserves all the recognition he got for the achievement. Many expected Argentina's attack to be the strong point in the world cup, but Sabella focused on securing the team's defense, which ultimately got them into the finals. Now, Argentina cannot afford to take a step back by appointing a mediocre manager, they need a top manager who will build the team to help them win the cup when the world cup returns in 2018.

When Sabella was appointed as the manager, he did not have big boots to fill, as his predecessor was Diego Maradona. Now, when he has stepped down, he has ensured that whoever replaces him has massive boots to fill.

With the permission of Mayank Tiwary. Twitter: @VanPerseing