Hold on.
We have a new Coach of the Year.
After reading NSider’s comment, and deliberating for 2 minutes, we have a new winner: Pep Guardiola.
Sorry Fabio.
So what happens to Capello?
He can prove himself this summer by winning it all with England. Until then…
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
And the winner is: Fabio Capello,
for:
(1) dealing with the egos on the English team,
(2) dealing with the morons in the press, and
(3) appreciating Wassily Kandinsky.
Capello’s chalkboard looks like this at halftime:
On the flip side, SoccerBlog’s Worst Coach of the Year Award 2009 goes to, you guessed it, Diego Armando Maradona.
We love you Maradona, but you can’t coach, man.
Since you mentioned that the awards are negotiable, here’s my pitch: Pep Guardiola deserves it so much more.
I’ll admit to it: I’m a Barca fan. I’m kind of biased here. But you have to say.. getting six trophies in one year (a feat never done before) is enough to win it, but the way he did it is even more astonishing.
He was a rookie coach who got a team in shambles, trophyless for 2 seasons and with a president that very narrowly avoided getting ousted by thousands of club members (they needed 66% of the voters to vote against him, and they almost got it).
So in his first year coaching a senior side, he got rid of Ronaldinho and Deco, then he made a few great signings (Alves, Keita and Pique), and a couple of not so good ones (Hleb and Caceres).
He started the season badly with a loss away and a draw at home. Then his team proceeded to dismantle almost every team they faced in all competitions with a brand of attacking, free flowing passing football that is a delight to watch.
Sure, he mainly built upon the tactics of the Dutch coaches who preceded him. But he made his mark with a new way his team fought for the ball, surrounding the opposing player in his own half with two or three Barca players buzzing around the opponent like bees, eager to get the ball back as soon as possible.
Highlights include: beating Bayern Munich to a pulp 4-0, a historic victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu 6-2, defeating a determined Athletic Bilbao side in the Copa del Rey final 4-1 and, of course, outfoxing Sir Alex himself in the Champions League final 2-0 with a squad depleted with injuries and suspensions that included 7 Barca-bred players playing from the start. All comprehensive victories.
Of course, he had some difficult times, particularly against Chelsea, where his team was almost eliminated in the semi final of the Champions League, and against Estudiantes and Shakhtar, who were tough opponents in the Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, respectively. But Guardiola managed to inspire his team to some dramatic victories with late heroics from Iniesta and Pedro (his newest discovery). Indeed, he could even lead his team to make it though the bad times, like true champions.
Even this season, he’s making bold decisions. He finally did what he requested the previous year: getting rid of Eto’o. In his place, he got Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Many people doubted this transfer, but it looks like it’s working. Ibra is scoring many goals (including a match winner against Real Madrid) and he’s setting up a lot of them, too.
Capello is a great coach, and he’s looking to do great things for England, particularly after seeing the way he managed to make it to the World Cup finals. But he needs a lot more than qualifying to prove his worth for England. He can be coach of the year 2010 if he manages to push this England team to its potential.
But what Guardiola did was historical. Nobody did it before, ever. He is coach of the year 2009.
Well presented, NSider. Could not have said it better. I too am in agreement that Guardiola should get coach of the year. We can petition Christian to change his choice.
Fantastic! Thanks. 😀
i enjoyed so much reading about this award and the comments around it. I totally agree.
in my whole life i have seen three great clubs, AC Milano 89/92 seasons, MU 99 and Barca 09. All of them did something outstanding in the world of soccer: Molding great individual skills
into a greater team work. The ability of winning the difficult moments.
What is amazing about Guardiola that he gave back to soccer something was almost part of the past. The joy of great accurate short passes and simple football, as part of modern tactical skills. I was telling my friends the other day that this Barca team is the most enjoying football I ever seen together with Brazil 82.
Guardiola is a combination of Tele Santana (Coach of Brazil 1982) where a lot of team work passes of great skillful players in the midfield.
But, he added what Santana missed: The defending part, and the drive to win.
In a simple formula, I see him as:
Guardiola = Tele Santana + Sir Alex F.
Barca 09 = Brazil 82 + MU 99