Hey, for those of you that were hating my last piece… you are absolutely right! There was nothing going on in Argentina, and that was confirmed by Lionel Messi when he arrived in Spain, he expressed his satisfaction after Alfio Basile resigned from the national team position.

“When things aren’t going well, there needs to have been changes at the national team level. The team was not playing well and there was a need for a change.”

I wouldn’t call it “applauding” as La Vanguardia did in Friday’s edition.

“We didn’t know what we played. So I guess it would be a good thing that he stepped aside.”

First of all, who the hell is Messi to say anything about a coach? In the words of José Luis Chilavert, “You ain’t won nothing”. I mean with the big boys, he hasn’t won a thing. Just because he’s supposed to be the annointed one doesn’t make him “The One”. I am not fond of Maradona, but you cannot deny how great he was. Messi is not even one-thousand of Maradona and will probably never be it. Why? The ticker. He doesn’t have that intangible that will put him in that stratosphere. He doesn’t have the will to win like Maradona. How many of you forget how he led Argentina to the finals in Italy on one leg. His ankle looking like a bowling ball but he still moved on. This was all because he had a greater love for the crest in the front of the jersey than the name on the back. That leads to thinking if he actually stopped playing for Basile? Things like these are what have to think if he said to the media what he said. Worst of all he said this about a coach that only a few months ago he mentioned as one that gave him “the freedom to play”. In addition to mentioning that to the media, he says it after the fact which not only shows a lack of class but cowardice. Do you honestly think that a coach was going to leave him out of international duty if he truly spoke his mind? Now he is putting himself in the position to lobby for the next national team coach. That is why he is lobbying for Sergio Batista. Hmm. I’ve heard this one before about the player setting everything for his team. Yes, Batista is a good coach and his credentials are quite impressive at the lower levels, but for him to make the difference he will have to really demand of them what they have not had to show in recent performances- balls. That is the missing ingredient for this team. He must see some type of free reign in a Batista regime, but if the coach looks at his ultimate goal… he will remember what helped him achieve his ultimate glory as a player back in 1986. Could we see Maradona in the mix, too?