Diego Maradona – a very dry inspection
Alright, so this is a bit odd.
Based on what we did for Pele yesterday, I’ve run the numbers for Diego Maradona.
And they’re surprising.
High level:
With Maradona in the side Argentina were P90, W41, D 29, L20. Without him they were P97, W43, D34, L20.
Points per 38 games: 64 and 64!
In home games:
P28, W16, D9, L3 with Maradona, P 37, W19, D13, L5 without him. Points per 38: 77 v 72. So a bit better with him there.
Away games:
P62, W25, D20, L17 with him, P60, W24, D21, L15 without him. Points 58 v 59.
Hmmm.
What does it all mean?
Here’s something. In 1991 Maradona receive d a ban after testing positive for Cocaine. If we look at the numbers before and after that we see something:
Before the ban:
With Maradona 63 points per 38 games (P79, W36, D24, L19), without him 57 pp38 (P62, W23, D22, L17)
After the ban:
With Maradona 55 pp38 (P11, W5, D1, L5), without 78 pp38 (P35, W20, D12, L3).
Small samples there, but equally, it’s instructive perhaps. Diego Maradona’s lifestyle was famously awful, perhaps his fame and ability meant that he was picked for longer than he should have been?
The other thing that stands out is that while Brazil were clearly a fine side with or without Pele, Argentina are clearly a notch below. We always fear them because of the great players they produce, but are they all that, really?
Another conclusion might be that Pele was an extraordinarily gifted team player, whereas Maradona very much played for himself. His genius allowed his teams to sometimes reach spectacular heights, but we might surmise that football’s very best sides are those where the team is universally strong and becomes greater than the sum of its parts, and any team over-reliant on one player may be similarly less than itself.
I don’t know. Having started all this being firmly in the Maradona camp I’m now a little uncertain. The results suggest that Argentina didn’t really suffer when Maradona was absent. This is piffle to an extent – they’d never have won in 86 had he not been there – but equally the results are the results.
So…. more research needed.
Data sourced from:
http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/arg-intres.html
http://www.vivadiego.com/arggoals.html
4 Comments on “Diego Maradona – a very dry inspection”
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Excellent work sir. I like the possibility that “Pele was an extraordinarily gifted team player, whereas Maradona very much played for himself”.
I loved what I saw of Pele, but have to admit that only amounts to highlights, whereas I never saw Maradona as being as great as everyone else told me he was despite seeing him play quite a bit (on TV still).
I think it is probably true that I tend to place higher value on players that contribute to the team compare with players that do their own thing.
What we really need to do is sit down and watch both players in a series of full 90 minute matches which sounds like a pleasant day in an accommodating pub!
Sounds like a plan (on that note I have loads of football DVDs and always fancied setting up some sort of underground football watching club where you’d do exactly what you suggest.. possibility?)
You are absolutely correct to exclude post-1990 maradona. The downhill spiral began after that World Cup and his related bust-up with the Napoli fans. Those numbers don’t really stand out in the way they do for Pele though. What are the pre-1991 home/away splits?
Maradona is the romantics choice. He looked like he should be no where near a football pitch, and his lifestyle left many wondering how he was still alive, never mind taking Argentina and Napoli to the top.
Pele is always the safe choice, he was a great player, but he just seems to commercial and mainstream. He became the face of football, for lots of money, and is now viewed as more of a corporate figurehead than great footballer in many countries
For many people, they have only ever seen Pele trying to sell them something, whereas Maradona never wanted anything other than love……and drugs, lots of drugs