Sampaoli should be sacked ASAP – Jureidini
General secretary of the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA) Clyde Jureidini says Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli should be fired immediately, after their humiliating 3-0 loss to Croatia in Group D of the FIFA World Cup on Thursday.
Two-time World Cup champions Argentina came into the tournament as a favourite, but following a 1-1 draw with Iceland last Saturday and the loss to Croatia, they are on one point from two games, and in danger of not advancing into the Round of 16.
“I am not sure of the discussions before the game in the Argentina camp, but there’s clearly a gross error in team tactic. I don’t know if there are any internal problems, but whoever picked that team, or came up with the game plan was totally wrong.” Jureidini, who is also general manager of local club Harbour View, said.
“My feeling is that the coach should be fired now, as somebody lost control by coming up with a defensive tactic,” he added.
“They came with a defensive approach to the game with all their attacking players as substitutes on the bench. Argentina went physical. I am not surprised at the result, because I was doing radio commentary and saw the starting line-up and questioned the make up of the team,” Jureidini stated.
“When you look at the bench, they had five players that were playing well and sitting out a game that you need to win. I said at halftime that this is garbage. Everybody was jumping on everybody and were not playing ball. One of the best players in the world was not given a chance to play, because of the tactic by the coach,” he insisted.
“The first goal came from a blunder by the goalkeeper (Willy Caballero) and then things got worst. The substitutions were not better. Croatia did well and played on the counter and the last goal was a beauty,” he recounted.
Jureidini, however, believes that Argentina can beat Nigeria in their final group game on Tuesday and qualify for the next stage.