This appears in the Monday, November 26, 2012 edition of the Business Mirror.
Breaking down the loss to Thailand: This one hurts
Breaking down the loss to Thailand: This one hurts
by rick olivares
I was excited for this match against
Thailand. I felt that we could make history with another huge upset. Is it
wrong to think that? Not at all. After all, the Philippine Men’s Football National
Team has come a long way. But for a team that is much deeper and stronger, we
let in two goals. Two years ago we never let two goals go past the keeper.
You’ll say the past is the past and
today is different. Sure it is. And if that is so then that loss sends us
crashing back to earth with a 2-1 loss that could have been 3-1. Thailand did
not play power football like they used to. They played clinical football with
surgical strikes. There’s much to learn from this.
Here’s how I break down that loss.
We
started with a strong team but it was not our best line-up.
Say that again?
I thought that for the last several
months, in training camps, practices, or friendlies, it was about developing
chemistry and if some players did not attend then they would not play. Wasn’t
that why the Younghusband brothers were benched?
Take a look at the starting eleven of
the Azkals against the War Elephants:
Ed Sacapaño
Ray Jonsson Rob Gier Juani Guirado Dennis Cagara
James Younghusband Jerry Lucena Paul Mulders Chieffy Caligdong
Phil Younghusband Angel Guirado
The substitutes were: Jason Sabio,
Carli de Murga, Chris Greatwich, Jason de Jong, Marwin Angeles, Jeffrey
Christiaens, Patrick Reichelt, and Ref Cuaresma.
Okay, so Neil Etheridge isn’t there
but Eddie has played well as of late. I like Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara and
have seen them make an impact on the team before but in the last few months,
our team has seen more or less this line up:
Ed Sacapaño
Carli de Murga Jason Sabio Juani Guirado Jeffrey Christiaens
James Younghusband Patrick Reichelt Jason de Jong Chieffy Caligdong
Phil Younghusband Dennis Wolf
You can throw in Demitrius Omphroy,
Matthew Uy, and even Misagh Bahadoran in there with the Younghusband brothers coming
in as substitutes.
Ray and Rob were there in Cebu so that
helps and I am fine with that. But the moment I saw the starting lineup, we
should have gone with the team that was a little more familiar with one
another. I felt that Christiaens, de Jong or Reichelt should have started while
Cagara and Lucena should have come off the bench until they take stock of the
situation for them to help out. I thought that maybe jetlag might have set in
as they looked terribly slow and out of sync on the pitch. Maybe another day,
they would have been magnificent but I thought the first game was too much of a
gamble for that.
Two days before kickoff, I asked Weiss
if he was going with the lineup that he has played for the last few games or
put in his “dream team.” He said that was a tough decision and one that he and
the coaches would weigh.
In my opinion, it was the wrong one. By not starting with the players the coaching staff has
gone to for the last few games, we were gambling on talent rather than
chemistry. We played horrible football after the first 10 minutes as we
resorted to the long ball.
Yes, we threatened early on but so did
they. Once Thailand settled down they figured us out.
You might say that in hindsight the
substitutions worked for the Philippines but you have to think why not start
Reichelt or even Christiaens? The moment they donned the national colors they
have been superb additions.
The
early injury to Phil Younghusband blunted our early momentum.
After an accidental head butt, Phil
went out twice and spent collectively some 10 minutes in the sidelines getting
treatment from the team physios. Playing with 10 men blunted our attack or what
semblance of it we had. That was enough time for Thailand to organize their
defense and play
Then Jerry Lucena got hit on the back
of the head and he went out for like two minutes or so and that gave Thailand
even more time to establish control of the match.
I believe that up to the point where
Phil got hurt, we gave them fits. In a post-match conversation with Thailand
assistant head coach Alexandre Polking, he said that the early threat forced
them to change their tactics.
With Phil and Jerry out one after the
other, Thailand was able to wrest control of the match. It didn’t help that our
midfield was pretty much non-existent or even influential.
Winfried
Schafer is a genius.
In my pre-game story, Schafer lamented
the long ball style of play that Thailand previously resorted to. As a
Bundesliga veteran and a midfielder for Borussia Monchengladbach, he would
distribute the ball to his forwards. His first instinct as a player is to pass
the ball in an efficient manner.
The style of play that Thailand showed
is a far cry from the smash and grab tactics of 2010 under Bryan Robson. The War
Elephants were more deliberate in their build up. They played those small
triangles on the attack and usually took one dribble before passing. Teerasil
Dangda, the Muangthong United striker who leads the Thai Premier League in
scoring was able to magnificently set up his teammates.
Schafer also preached fitness and
conditioning and his players looked sharp, fit like horses, and darn precise.
After the Philippines threatened in
the early goings, Thailand’s adjustment was simple. From a 3-4-3 formation,
they went to a 5-4-1 formation. The extra defender on our right side saw the
supply of balls shut down from that area.
On the attack, boy, were they
creative. Anucha Kitpongsri (Chonburi) started out as the left-winger but he
would sometimes lead the attack or drop back and let Theerathon Bunthaman
(Buriam United) take his spot in the secondary. That gave us different looks.
Both players play the same position for their respective Premier League clubs
and can play either the wing or as a defender. Their build up from the back was
especially impressive.
The system that Schafer has been
promoting was on full display and if I wasn’t a Filipino, I’d be dancing and
chanting along with their fans.
What
was that all about, Coach Mike?
One thing about the Suzuki Cup that
you have to appreciate is the tactical nous of coaches. The influence on
European coaches in the Southeast Asian game has been incredible. Even the
regional coaches have learned much and have become heroes in their own right.
Malaysia has Krishnasemy Rajagopal.
Singapore has Raddy Avramovich. And Thailand has Winfried Schafer.
The Philippines has seen much success
under Michael Weiss but in two years’ time, I have yet to see that organized
build up from the back that he has talked about played on a more consistent
basis.
I agree with Weiss that the referee,
Otsuka Haruhiro, made plenty of questionable calls that favored the Thai divers
but they did not by any chance change the complexion of the game. Incidentally,
it was Haruhiro who also awarded yellow cards to two of our players that caused
them to miss the match against Tajikistan in the AFC Challenge Cup. But again,
four Thais were cautioned while there were only two to the Philippine side. But
the costliest was the ejection of Weiss that means he will not be on the bench
for the match.
I cannot understand this: during the
post-match press con he said that he merely wanted to roll the ball to the
fallen Thai player who fell after a collision with Dennis Cagara. Well, that
didn’t look like a roll to me as he took a basketball free throw at the Thai
and sank it (looks like living in the Philippines has seen the roundball game
rub off on him somehow). And so Haruhiro sent him off. I don’t get it, he was
even arguing with the fourth official who wanted to send him to the dugout.
Instead, he watched from the stands. That for sure will make the match commissioner’s
report. I just hope there are no further sanctions.
Prior to the ejection, with time
running out, a free kick was won by the Philippines. Weiss pointed to his
temple indicating to use one’s brains. No idea what he meant by that but I can
only surmise from what happened is that he commended his players for using
their brains.
Unfortunately, he didn’t when he threw
the ball to the Thai player. It was a moment of pent up frustration he lost it.
And now he won’t be there for the next game.
I asked Schafer what he thought of
this and he expectedly dodged any controversy. But he did say that, “He’s
(Weiss) a young coach and he will learn.”
Yes,
we will learn and yes, there is still hope.
Vietnam, even with the return of 2008
hero Le Cong Vinh looked impressive in the first half. But Myanmar’s halftime
adjustments saw them threaten on the counter and they won a penalty that proved
to be the equalizer.
The Philippines’ late game adjustments
worked and that was a magnificent cross by Reichelt that Paul Mulders volleyed
home to pull back one. The momentum swung our way and we threatened a bit more.
But the Thais, as they did in the first half, choked the ball out of the
midfield to turn the tide once more.
That was a lesson in small ball
tactics, passing, and team play that was served us.
On Tuesday, Vietnam will come out like
gangbusters because they know, like us, that the match will be literally win or
go home.
The Azkals have to win against Vietnam
and Myanmar. No draws but wins with goals aplenty scored.
I remain a firm believer that the team
will learn from this defeat and next Tuesday will be every bit as important as
that home match against Kuwait during the World Cup Qualifiers of last year.
I’ve told friends that it will take us
a generation for us to see us become a real football power. Everything that the
Azkals are going through right now will prepare us for that. It’s a painful
defeat no doubt after we threatened early and after the Mulders goal where the
Thai crowd was stunned, we sure are on the right track.
Tuesday. For the marbles. And
refrigerator magnets.
