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VIENNA — It is one of the most peculiar and fraught occupations in the world – head coach or manager of a national soccer team. It takes pluck to do it.
Both glory and ignominy are possible outcomes. Succeed and you're a nation's beloved, a god even. Fail and you face the withering contempt of an entire country.
There are only three main tasks for any national team manager. First, pick the players. Second, decide on a tactic. Third, motivate. No matter how large or small the country, all three tasks are lethally stress-inducing. A small soccer country such as Austria or Switzerland, can only produce a limited pool of players, so there's no room for tinkering. A national coach can't go out and purchase new players on the transfer market. If it's a major soccer power, the manger is spoiled for choice and faces the criticism of an entire country of soccer experts, many of whom will say the wrong players were picked. Ask any Italian manager.
The tactics depend on the pool of available players. If you've only got one good striker, you have no choice but to order a mainly defensive style of play. As for motivation, how do you motivate a group of players you only see a few times a year?
Some can do all three superbly. Some are mercenaries who like the hours and the pay, but care little for the tasks. Others are con artists, more skilled in manipulating the press than motivating players.
How do the mangers at Euro 2008 shape up? Who is brilliant? Who is dumb? Who is a fraud? Here's one take.
The brilliant are Luiz Felipe (Big Phil) Scolari of Portugal, Karel Bruckner of the Czech Republic and Marco Van Basten of Holland. Scolari, now on his way to manage Chelsea after the tournament, is brilliant because he's no one-idea man. He reshaped Portugal after Luis Figo retired, no small task, and is perfectly capable of telling his players to play cynical soccer one day and open, attacking soccer the next. They follow him because he's always right.
Bruckner, now 68, did similar with the Czechs, remaking the team after the god-like Pavel Nedved retired. Some of his players, like Milan Baros, play better for him than for the club team that pays their wages. Marco van Basten did what a former player should do – he listened to his players first and then formed an attacking style around them. He also stopped the Dutch habit of internal feuding on the team.
The dumb are Josef Hickersberg of Austria, Roberto Donadoni of Italy and Otto Rehhagel of Greece. Hickersberg is all arrogance and bluster, and with a limited talent pool, his failure to use the youth from Austria's outstanding team from last year's under-20 World Cup is a disgrace. Donadoni also failed to inject enough youth. After a long, long European season, he expected too much from older Italian players. Rehhagel is cruising on his status in Greece since winning Euro 2004. Like, nobody would figure out Greece's unchanging plan?
The frauds are Raymond Domenech of France and Slaven Bilic of Croatia. Domenech was applauding wildly when his players trooped off after a dire display against Romania. He should have been giving them looks that kill. France went to the final of the World Cup in 2006 largely thanks to a final thrust of energy and pride from Zinédine Zidane. Domenech is a flake who cannot motivate the most technically talented of all teams here. Bilic is all charm and ego, a guy who is a legend in his country, but a bigger legend in his own mind. His egotism has made Croatia smug, not hungry.
There are others, and they all go into other categories. Joachim Low of Germany is simply lucky to have inherited a squad that Jurgen Klinsmann built, with Low at his elbow. Also, his squad is now at a perfect pitch of age and maturity to succeed. Luis Aragones of Spain is also incredibly lucky – he's probably got the most talented pool of players in the tournament.
Both Lars Lagerback of Sweden and Victir Piturca of Romania are just canny. So far, they are tactically astute. Guus Hiddink of Russia has nothing to prove any more, after club-level success and taking both South Korea and Australia to unexpected success. His wobbly players here are his problem. Leo Beenhakker, 65, of Poland is a shrewd manger, making Poland difficult to beat, but he can't seem to make his players transcend that. Kobi Kuhn of Switzerland has just run out of luck. Fatih Terim of Turkey might be on to something, it's too early to tell.
In a way, they are all fools. Few national team coaches ever leave the job covered in glory. Sooner or later, the booing and hissing come from the audience, even after great success. The players change, the world changes, but only the allure of the job of national team manager stays constant. Amazingly, seven of the 16 mangers at Euro 2008 are veterans who are 60 and older. Some guys have all the pluck.
