Maradona criticizes Sevilla for appointing Montella

CAIRO – 13 January 2018: Argentinean legend Diego Armando Maradona criticized Sevilla officials for dismissing his compatriot Eduardo Berizzo, Sevilla’s former coach, and replacing him with the Italian Vincenzo Montella.

"It's madness for Montella to take Berizzo's place, as Montella got badly out of Milan, and there are thousands of coaches who can take that place. It cannot be that the businessmen run football; Berizzo has to keep on or put an alternate. This has to change," Maradona said from his Instagram account.

Una locura que Montella, ocupe el lugar de Berizzo.Cuando a Montella lo echaron mal del Milán.Y hay miles de técnicos que pueden ocupar ese lugar. NO PUEDE SER QUE LOS EMPRESARIOS COMANDEN EL FÚTBOL.(tiene que seguir berizzo). O poner un alterno. Esto tiene que cambiar.

A post shared by Diego Maradona Oficial (@maradona) on Jan 11, 2018 at 10:44am PST

Eduardo Berizzo, 48, arrived at Sevilla last June to replace Jorge Sampaoli, who was called to direct the Argentinean national team.

Despite his good performance at Celta de Vigo, the Argentinean coach did not meet expectations and was fired shortly after having undergone surgery for prostate cancer.

At that time, the Andalusian team was fifth in the Spanish league with 29 points, in addition to having qualified for the knockout stages of the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

Maradona played for Sevilla in the 1992/93 season, led by Carlos Bilardo, where he played 29 games, scored 8 goals and provided 13 assists.