Martin O’neill Messi’s power over Argentina is a joke
taking player power into unprecedented territory – to an almost farcical level.
Why has this been allowed to happen? What sort of authority would you have left if you are talking to players in the dressing room and they have seen that? What sort of respect would you have from that squad when you have allowed a player to tell you who to bring on as a substitute?
It reminds me of a Brian Clough line. He used to say, when a player came and knocked on his door and asked why he was not in the team, they would have a chat for 10 minutes and then they would both agree that Clough was right.
Now, I have seen comments from Aguero saying that he did not agree with the decision to drop him, that Sampaoli had one view and he had another. That is fine, that can happen, especially in international football in the heat of the moment after a game.
Being an international manager is a complex role as, in particular, you have players for very short periods. But, at a tournament, all that changes and it is back to the day-to-day rigour like club management and, of course, you have to be in control of the group.
There can be a difference of opinion over selection, but the final decision has to be yours. You usually get these complaints coming after a tournament has finished – I am sure we will be reading some from Germany now – but if a manager actually asks his player if he should bring on a substitute, then he is in dangerous territory.
The best managers have had to learn to deal with egos and entourages and still come up trumps
Sampaoli is in a dilemma, evoking both sympathy and criticism at home and abroad. Yes, you might talk to someone like Messi and ask how best to get him on the ball and in the game, but that is completely different to what appears to be happening.
Managing world-class players should not be as big a problem as it seems to have become with Argentina, but perhaps it is an inevitable consequence in the rise of player power. We have seen something similar with Neymar and the way he plays for Paris St-germain. It was interesting to hear Unai Emery saying, when he was unveiled at Arsenal, that he had enjoyed managing at every club he had been at, other than PSG, where Neymar thought and behaved like he, himself, was the manager of the team.
You have seen that at this World Cup. He is desperate to prove he belongs in the same company as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but he clearly has some way to go. He needs to improve, but who does he listen to? Superstar players have indeed grown so powerful, so it becomes an interesting challenge in management.
When I was playing, players had no power whatsoever. The manager had complete control, even the poor ones. You had to do what they said. You could walk into training on a Monday and be told you were being transferred out of the club against your will.
I am delighted that players have more power and more say in their
futures now, but perhaps it might have gone too far the other way. Who knows?
However, the best managers are big characters, too, they have had to learn to deal with egos and entourages and still are able to come up trumps.
I have worked with world-class players, such as Henrik Larsson at Celtic, whose attitude to training and matches was a major reason for his great success. I left him out of the team from time to time, just to give him a rest. I am not saying he agreed with me, but I think he respected my decision.
Management at both club and international level is as hard as it has ever been. The fundamentals of management are the relationships with players, be they superstars or artisans.
But, as a manager, hopefully I would not allow a situation to develop like the one we are seeing with Argentina. I could not work like that, because the manager has to be the person in charge of the team for it to work properly.
I might have a conversation with my captain about things. I would want to hear his thoughts, but I would never allow a player to tell me when to make a substitution, or who to play and where.
I do not know how far Argentina will go in this competition. They will need to play better than in the opening two games and they have tough opponents today in France. I am still enthralled with Messi, the mercurial player.
Perhaps if they pull through and progress to the final stages, everything will be forgotten, but if not, the manager may feel that control, once wrested from him, will be hard to regain, and in quieter moments he may even come to regret asking anyone’s opinion about his team selection, let alone the greatest player in the world.