Sleepyhead Managers and Star Teams

The shocks just keep coming in. Having calmed my nerves with caffeine (oh yes, it works...thought I'd missed that raised eyebrow, did you?) My 'roving' eye went to the group standings table and my heart rate went up (wasn't the caffeine). I blinked a couple of times (would you get off the caffeine theory already!) but there it was... Denmark were 5 points ahead of Portugal. Portugal have got the likes of Carvalho (had to be a Chelsea players first), Bosingwa (and second), Deco (and third!), Simao, Nuno Gomez, Nani, Ronaldo, Maniche. Players absolutely bursting with football magic. How can they be in danger of not qualifying, they should be top of the group! 

So, what is coach Carloz not doing right? I would think he knew everything, having learnt from the very best Sir Alex. Also, in my naievity I assumed that the country coaches didn't really need to be as good as the club coaches because, they got to pick from players with so much experience. I have changed my view since Fabio Cappello worked miracles with the England National Team. To lead such accomplished players has to be even harder because you have to win their respect and boy, it don't come cheap. Also, I think since players all their lives have been told what to do; they like it that way. They like a coach who tells them what to do ahead of each game and during the half-time break. A coach who has a plan he is convinced will work and asks them to play their part in executing it. The bottom line is that the players appreciate and respect being directed like other proffessionals in any other profession. Take actors for example. 'Good' actors always appreciate a director who knows what he is doing and tells them exactly what he wants them to do. Fabio Cappello has definitely achieved that with the England squad, which in my opinion, is the hardest lot of players to win over. May be Queroz is taking too laid-back an approach to management, expecting his phenomemally talented lot of players to just do what comes naturally to them. But talent also needs direction. May be he is being too lazy or may be he is one of those who just doesn't get it. 

He needs to take a feather out of the cap of  managers of countries like Ireland and Denmark and Norway who don't have such talent-loaded teams but manage to get super performances out of average players.  Another manager who could really sit up and pay attention is France's no.1 romantic... no, not President Sarkozy, okay no.2 romantic Raymond Domenech, who if it's possible, has an even stronger team than Queiroz, a 'super-star-studded' team as compared to Queiroz's mere 'star-studded' team. But, on a serious note, come on you guys, do whatever it is, fix whatever needs to be fixed, because you got some players that deserve to be in South Africa and they got fans who deserve the pleasure of seeing their favorites battle it out for their countries. South Africa is simmering up and getting ready to sparkle!