I addressed the question, in the headline above, in a comment piece for The National.

Diego Maradona is the coach at Al Wasl, one of the top clubs in the UAE.

As noted earlier on this blog, the FIFA co-player of the century (with Pele) is extraordinarily popular here. Loved to death.

But can the man coach? And has Wasl chosen celebrity over coaching acumen?

After a decent start, Wasl has not played well. They have faded to sixth in a 12-team league, and they are 11 points behind the leaders, Al Ain. And, we should note, Maradona came here saying he would win championships.

After a 2-1 loss to Al Wahda here in Abu Dhabi last week, Maradona trashed his team. This was a first. Previously, his approach to players was to hug them. All of them. As often as possible. In postgame remarks, he said his team was not going to win the league championship. That wasn’t how it was supposed to work.

Early, he seemed to encourage (and get) ultra high-energy efforts from his players, all of whom seemed willing to run themselves ragged if it meant any sign of approval from El Diego.

But three months into the season, his team looks tired and jaded, and maybe he has wrung all he can from this group — which he helped assemble. And now he seems to be advocating that Wasl management help him blow up the roster.

I’m not at all sure the man is a particularly competent coach. Diego Maradona certainly would not be the first great athlete to become a subpar coach/manager.

Maradona, however, so far seems immune to the quick-trigger-pulling that is endemic in the UAE, when it comes to soccer coaches. Because he’s famous. Because he has put Wasl on the football map.

But can he coach? Is he part of the solution or is he part of the problem. I’m beginning to believe the latter, and the piece I wrote for The National outlines that.